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      07-08-2015, 09:18 AM   #45
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I'm reading up on this as I want to do my own brake service. This method uses a pressure bleeder but I've been reading about a vacuum bleeder. Some say that the pressure way introduces pressurized air into the system. This is what I found.

You should not use any sort of bleeder that allows air, especially pressurized air to contact brake fluid. All professional brake bleeders use some sort of bladder to seperate the pressurized air from the brake fluid. You wonder why they cost hundreds of dollars vs what you are looking at. Yes you can bleed the brakes quickly, but you are also adding air to the brake fluid. The air bubbles are small, but carry two side effects:

1. They introduce some additional compressibility into the brake system.
2. They introduce some water, through the air, into the brake system. Brake fluid is highly agroscopic and will take this water.

The best form of bleeding brakes is still the two person job. If that is not available, then you should look at speed bleeders.
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      07-08-2015, 10:46 AM   #46
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Quote:
Originally Posted by radorotrex View Post
I'm reading up on this as I want to do my own brake service. This method uses a pressure bleeder but I've been reading about a vacuum bleeder. Some say that the pressure way introduces pressurized air into the system. This is what I found.

You should not use any sort of bleeder that allows air, especially pressurized air to contact brake fluid. All professional brake bleeders use some sort of bladder to seperate the pressurized air from the brake fluid. You wonder why they cost hundreds of dollars vs what you are looking at. Yes you can bleed the brakes quickly, but you are also adding air to the brake fluid. The air bubbles are small, but carry two side effects:

1. They introduce some additional compressibility into the brake system.
2. They introduce some water, through the air, into the brake system. Brake fluid is highly agroscopic and will take this water.

The best form of bleeding brakes is still the two person job. If that is not available, then you should look at speed bleeders.
I'm not sure that a pressure bleeder introduces air into the system they way you say it does. Surely if you were introducing bubbles(cavitation) into the fluid that would be the case. Most pressure bleeders even expensive ones just use compressed air to force fluid up a tube and into the master cylinder. This does not introduce bubbles into the fluid. Pressure bleeding is generally better than the two person method because it can be done by one technician and it reduces the chances of o-ring damage by pumping the brake pedal through the end of its travel. In the end any time the master is open, bottle is open, fluid is poured you are exposing the fluid to air with moisture so some will get in.
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      07-10-2015, 01:35 AM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FactorX81
Quote:
Originally Posted by radorotrex View Post
I'm reading up on this as I want to do my own brake service. This method uses a pressure bleeder but I've been reading about a vacuum bleeder. Some say that the pressure way introduces pressurized air into the system. This is what I found.

You should not use any sort of bleeder that allows air, especially pressurized air to contact brake fluid. All professional brake bleeders use some sort of bladder to seperate the pressurized air from the brake fluid. You wonder why they cost hundreds of dollars vs what you are looking at. Yes you can bleed the brakes quickly, but you are also adding air to the brake fluid. The air bubbles are small, but carry two side effects:

1. They introduce some additional compressibility into the brake system.
2. They introduce some water, through the air, into the brake system. Brake fluid is highly agroscopic and will take this water.

The best form of bleeding brakes is still the two person job. If that is not available, then you should look at speed bleeders.
I'm not sure that a pressure bleeder introduces air into the system they way you say it does. Surely if you were introducing bubbles(cavitation) into the fluid that would be the case. Most pressure bleeders even expensive ones just use compressed air to force fluid up a tube and into the master cylinder. This does not introduce bubbles into the fluid. Pressure bleeding is generally better than the two person method because it can be done by one technician and it reduces the chances of o-ring damage by pumping the brake pedal through the end of its travel. In the end any time the master is open, bottle is open, fluid is poured you are exposing the fluid to air with moisture so some will get in.
+1

I purchased a Motul bleeder. The compressed air forces the fluid into the reservoir, but not entirely to the brim. Any air which may be contained in the fluid should be released once it is dumped into the brake reservoir as the fluid would sit roughly at the full mark.
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      06-11-2016, 08:51 AM   #48
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Arrow RoHS Bremsflüssigkeitsprüfer...

I picked up this brake fluid tester(Bremsflüssigkeitsprüfer) for my "other" car - since I was not certain when the brake fluid was last changed. Its not a bad tester to have on hand in your tool box.

Made by: RoHS

http://www.ebay.de/itm/391151708601?...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT



Bremsflüssigkeitsprüfer...
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      06-13-2016, 11:54 AM   #49
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thats a pretty cool Dackelone diff gonna grab me one for my next maintenance run for my cars.
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      07-28-2016, 11:43 PM   #50
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If you are using a pressure bleeder why does the car needed to be level? I would think that because it is pressurized that wouldn't matter. I'm asking because I think it would be easier to just raise the vehicle one corner at a time, plus I only own two jack stands.
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      09-04-2016, 04:55 PM   #51
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So I bled my brakes for the first time earlier and was surprised that the bleeder screw at the rears were MUCH much smaller than 11mm so that my box end wrench on hand was useless. Had no choice but to use an adjustable wrench, going really really carefully.

Also, I did flush one full liter of ATE type 200, as I don't know when the last brake job was done on this car though I owned it for about three yrs now (I know it's a year late this brake flush). Surprisingly the fluid was clean and still amber when it came out.

Still took me a good afternoon as this was my first time. Will it matter if I mistakenly bled the LF first before RF? It was so hot in the parking lot I got confused!

Now how do you know if the bleeding made a difference? Pedal still feels the same I think. It always felt that the bite came after depressing the pedal about half an inch. It did stop when needed or when the pedal was pressed firmly on my test drive though so I guess I did it right. It might only feel different I guess if new pads were installed. I just did a fluid flush.

My car is a 2012 128.
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      01-23-2017, 04:14 PM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dackelone View Post
I picked up this brake fluid tester(Bremsflüssigkeitsprüfer) for my "other" car - since I was not certain when the brake fluid was last changed. Its not a bad tester to have on hand in your tool box.

Made by: RoHS

http://www.ebay.de/itm/391151708601?...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I have one of these. The first time I pop open the cap, it reads low. Wait two minutes and the reading changes dramatically. I don't know how quickly brake fluid absorbs moisture, but I'm not so sure I have confidence in this little tester.
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      01-23-2017, 05:11 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr.fabulous View Post
I have one of these. The first time I pop open the cap, it reads low. Wait two minutes and the reading changes dramatically. I don't know how quickly brake fluid absorbs moisture, but I'm not so sure I have confidence in this little tester.
IDK... maybe send your back to be tested. Mine works fine. The old school way the German TUV would test the fluid, was to take a small sample and heat it up until it flashed over. Now every place uses one of these testers with a TUV approval rating. Maybe your tester was a "knock off" ?
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      02-10-2017, 12:06 PM   #54
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I think every two years is too much maintenance. I do it every four years or sometimes more. BTW, I use the brake fluid sold by MB which is DOT 4+!

I also use the Motive Pressure bleeder. I don't bother sucking anything out of the master cylinder. I dump a liter into the Motive and go to work. One thing you have to be careful about is you don't empty the master cylinder, so keep any eye on the level in the Motive!
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      03-17-2017, 07:10 AM   #55
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You can use up to 30psi, according to BMW. We run all our machine bleeders at 30psi. The only cars we dial them down a bit is Minis because there's a rumour around the shop that their reservoirs sometimes blow up. In reality, you get adequate flow at 15-20psi. For a hand pump bleeder just pump til you get adequate flow. The higher the pressure, the more fluid mist sprays when you depressurise the bottle. In my home made bleeder i always put 2L minimum to be safe.

Right hand rear is actually the longest line. On the fronts, the longest is the caliper farthest from the master.

Now, i have to disagree that a steady stream of bubbles means boiled fluid. Almost every car will produce a steady stream of bubbles when pressure bled up to or around the maximum suggested bleeding pressure and usually with the nipples wound out beyond the minimum for bleeding. What happens is the steady stream of fluid pulls in air through the bleeder nipple threads as the fluid flows out of the nipple. The more flow, the more bubbles. Sometimes it's a stream of little bubbles, sometimes it's one big one every few seconds. Add a long bleed hose and the sucking (venturi) effect increases due to gravity
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      07-08-2017, 12:08 PM   #56
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Does anyone know what the thread size is for the bleeder valve, specifically to know which Russel speed bleeders to get? The BMW P/N is 34116780509 and an hour of searching is aburd for something you would think would be trivially available.
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      10-11-2017, 07:12 PM   #57
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my 1st fluid flush

I bought the Bav Auto brake bleeder (likely a Motive) about 3 years ago but used it for the 1st time today. Here are my observations:
1. I have a Mity Vac so used it to take old fluid out of MC (Master Cylinder). A turkey baster is more easy and simple to use.
2. The pump shaft on my bleeder was not smooth-shaft likely needs some lubricant. I pressurized to only 16psi. Fluid came out but slowly.
3. I used the Bav Auto catch bottle and I had marked off 300ml (RR) 600ml (LR), 800ml (RF) and 900ml (LF). By the time I got to LF, the bleeder was running dry so had to add 100-200ml from another can.
4. My rear bleed screws were 9mm BUT my front ones are 11mm.
5. My catch bottle nipple for bleed screws would fit the 9mm but not the 11mm. I had to use a clear plastic/vinyl line for both fronts.
6. I'll make a simple holder for catch bottle to keep it upright.
7. Even tho my car is an 08 and I live in the North East it doesn't go out in winter so my bleeder screws are not rusty. For my winter cars, I put a drop of oil on bleeder screws threads before putting on winter tires.
8. Going out now to do a road test to see if everything is OK. Wish me luck.
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      10-16-2017, 07:12 PM   #58
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Talking

I finally got a chance to bleed my brakes, I am about a year overdue but my fluid was pretty clean looking although I did have air in my lines. Took me a couple hours because I was studying my car while doing the job and trying out my new floor jack etc. I used the Motive pressure bleeder and went through 2 liters without bleeding the fronts because the front passenger bleeder screw is freaking stuck! Lots and lots of air bubbles came out of my rear brake lines! My brakes feel great even without doing the fronts surprisingly.

The Motive catch bottles are really nice but totally overkill, you could use aquarium tubing and a jar instead of the Motive catch bottles. The Motive pressure bleeder is cool but mine leaked air slightly.
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      12-11-2017, 10:58 PM   #59
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If you are bleeding brakes and clutch using the Motive (or any other) pressure bleeder do you do the clutch or brakes first?!
Why do some brake bleed DIY mention inverting the clutch slave and others do not?
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      12-12-2017, 03:25 PM   #60
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ilh View Post
If you are bleeding brakes and clutch using the Motive (or any other) pressure bleeder do you do the clutch or brakes first?!
Why do some brake bleed DIY mention inverting the clutch slave and others do not?
I would do clutch first because the reservoir has to be filled more for bleeding the clutch than bleeding the brakes.
But thats just me.
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      12-25-2020, 10:08 AM   #61
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Bump - couple points

This is a good thread; thanks for posting everyone. I just read it again.
Couple points that I didn't see are:
The thread on the bleeder "screw" is most likely a "pipe thread". It's a tapered thread so it's not like the thread on a regular bolt. But I don't know if Euro cars bleeders have the same thread as NA cars' bleeders. When people say 7mm or 11mm they are referring to the wrench size, not the thread spec.
When you run into a bolt or screw that's very difficult to remove, always work it back and forth. That is, unscrew until it gets very difficult, then tighten it back up a bit. Then unscrew again, then tighten back up. Using this technique you are much less likely to break the bolt. You have to relieve the stress as you go.
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      06-14-2021, 02:42 AM   #62
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so how many liter's a usual full bleed?
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      06-14-2021, 07:49 PM   #63
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If you donot know when they were last bled, I'd recommend 1½ to 2 litres.

If you know they were done not longer than 2 years ago, then 1L: about 120 to 150ml into master cylinder [or the same amount of old fluid you remove], then RR [right rear] = 200ml, LR = 200ml, RF=120-150ml and LF= 100ml.

Do not let the pressure run dry.
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      06-15-2021, 06:09 AM   #64
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Thanks. I didn't know it's that much.
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