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Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:58 pm
by disneyd
I'm looking at buying a Motive Power Bleeder and wanted to see what anyone here thinks of them, or if there is something better out there.

I'm not thrilled with the idea of pressurizing the master cylinder reservoir, as they aren't designed for pressure as far as I know. Also, not crazy about a rubber line full of pressurized brake fluid (it will replenish the reservoir as you bleed the brakes). I see the potential for brake fluid all over the paint if it pops. Just wanted to see if anyone has been using one with no problems or not.

Problem is I'm usually by myself when bleeding brakes, and its time to flush the brake fluid on several of our vehicles now.

I have the mity-vac, but getting it connected to the bleeders properly is often a pain and sometimes it'll suck air in around the bleeder threads.

I've used speed bleeders over the years and liked them... just hate buying them for things like a truck and I've heard their quality hasn't been so great lately.

Any other options? Jess's car is due, as is the Z06 and the truck.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:02 pm
by MARKP
Get one of the kids to push the pedal... that's what my dad used to make me do. :-)

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:02 pm
by thrdeye
I have one if you just want to buy your fitting. I like it.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk


Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:20 pm
by Phil Smith
I have one and it works well when you are working along which is my case most of the time.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:49 pm
by TedV
getting them to seal on the master reservoir is a bitch. If you get them to seal ( IF. I really mean you aint got a snowballs chance in hell) but when they do seal they work great. Remember to wash any brake fluid off as soon as you are done, if not before.

I've had better luck vacuum bleeding. then once done with vacuum, let it gravity bleed while tapping the caliper to dislodge air bubbles and wait for fluid to bleed out around the bleeder screw if screw seems loose.

best method is having a pedal pumper with their other foot or block of wood under the brake pedal to keep it from going all the way to the floor. If they are really whiny, I will do the vacuum deal, then have them there to do the last go around.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:04 pm
by lcoleman
Motive is OK. In a professional environment, I'm told they last about a year. I think maybe less for a casual user, as I suspect the seals degrade if they sit with brake fluid in them. Functionally, they work fine. I also hear that if you run them dry, just oiling the piston and relieving pressure to add fluid straight into the reservoir, they last longer. I haven't tried this; time is money for me. Almost all German cars have the same thread size/pitch on the reservoir, so that makes life easier for me at work. Not sure about your domestic stuff.

The Mityvac 6840 is the bee's knees, professional-grade. It's also hard to justify the cost, lol.

Don't bother with vacuum, it's slow and inefficient.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:25 am
by Brian
I’ve been using them for years on german cars with the screw cap reservoir. These seal well as Lucas mentioned. No experience with the generic adaptor. The pressure is pretty low - 20 psi or so. It’s not enough to distort the reservoir on the vehicles I’ve used it on. If you put brake fluid in the bleeder, they only last a few years. You can use the bleeder without putting fluid in it easy enough by keeping an eye on the fluid level in the reservoir. I stop and top off after each caliper. A good catch bottle on the caliper makes it pretty foolproof.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:43 am
by thrdeye
Brian just stated the way that I used mine. No fluid in the jug, just kept an eye on the level.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:34 pm
by sentrase
I have the Motive bleeder with the dry breaks. I only put the fluid in the master cylinder reservoir and with the dry breaks I don't have to release the pressure from the Motive's tank when I refill the the brake reservoir. I have the Motive's aluminum cap for the GM vehicles too if you want to try the thing out.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:56 pm
by lcoleman
Oh man, 20psi is pretty extreme. I usually do 10-15. Stay under 10 on an older car....ask me how I know.

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:43 pm
by disneyd
Kristi, I haven't seen any with a dry breaks option. Hows that set up?

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 4:52 pm
by sentrase
disneyd wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:43 pm Kristi, I haven't seen any with a dry breaks option. Hows that set up?
You have to buy the dry breaks separately. This is the thread with all the part numbers: https://rennlist.com/forums/993-forum/6 ... d-use.html

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 5:22 pm
by disneyd
Cool. I think I’ll give that a try. Sorry my phone changed your name to my sister’s name. [emoji12]

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:07 am
by scottgib
You are still married aren't you?

Re: Power Brake Bleeder Question

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:49 pm
by disneyd
Yep!