Homemade brake bleeder pressure kit?

Has anyone succesfully made a homemade pressure bleeder similar to the one sold my Motive?

If so, can you recommend a place where you got all of your supplies?

I insist that it does include a pressure gauge so that I don't overpressurize it by accident.

Not to worry too much. I never let the brake fluid get twenty years old. For instance, the fluid in my '92
Mercury could get changed any year now.

Yikes...20 year old brake fluid. Please tell me where you live so I can avoid the same roads you drive on. BTW, I changed my brake fluid in my '98 s10 for the first time last summer. Although the old fluid appeared to have the same viscosity as new brake fluid, it was as black as ink. In fact , I had drained the old fluid into a clear windshield washer fluid jug and when I took it to my local recycling center the attendent said that he could not accept any more used motor oil that day because the tanks were full. I had to do some explaining.

I've never heard of a car that the brakes went "out". I have heard of old farts claiming that when they had a brain fart. You've been watching too many movies.

Thanks for the info, fellas.

Thanks for the response guys.

Can the Speedbleeder and Motive bleeder both be used to completely flush the brake fluid, or are they only used for bleeding out air bubbles?

Also, is there a disadvantage to using the Speedbleeder versus the Motive? A friend told me that bleeding brakes by pumping the brake pedal can potentially damage something if you do it wrong (pump too hard).
Does anyone know what he might be talking about?

Yes, and you can drive safely on bald tires with cord showing through (I did when I was in college), and you only need to change oil every 15K - there is a reason that German law requires some things to certify a cars for roadworthyness. Most Americans maintain their cars POORLY, just keep it going until they get a new one. The problem is margin, and anyone interested enough in cars should make sure that their cars do not hit it. I prefer not to hit the margins, so I maintain my autos - costs a little in time and money, but my kid is in the car. As far as brakes and steering go - these are the most important part of a vehicle - ability to start is tertiary. I did my friends calipers this past weekend - 98 Blazer , 71K miles , never had fluid changed or brake job
- we had to hone them all, they were leaking like sieves - accident waiting to happen - he had them go "loose" in traffic towing a boat.
You can wait until it happens the first time, or you can try to avoid it .

You're wasting your time, this horse was beat to death a number of weeks ago.

OOOOO -- personal, haven't been to a movie in two years, and don't watch
TV - waste of time.

the one thing that you should remember is that your brakes get hot, and water does get into the fluid. This makes it so that your fluid has a lower boiling point, and will corrode your brake system. I'm not driving a race car - this is my daily driver, but I do race it (sanctioned only). If you get enough water in your brake fluid (most people will get this in a couple of years) and you are going down a grade, you may find that your brakes all of a sudden go to the floor because you have boiled some fluid - DOT 3 (what most people use) Ford fluid boils at 290 degress (C) wet, Castrol LMA ( another popular fluid) goes at 311 - your brakes do get that hot, and what you are doing is courting disaster. I use DOT 4 ATE because of this and because it comes in two colors - easy to tell when you've had a complete flush. I drive on the same roads as you, and obviously most of you are going to be doing some mechanicing on your cars, bleeding brakes is quick, easy, and just as important as changing you pads/shoes. Most cars out there are running more than 2% water in their fluid after a couple of years - scary - bleeding your brakes once a year is a cheap piece of insurance that should be done. My cars brake and handle on the road so that I can avoid accidents, not so that I can race them - racing should only be done in supervised situations. I bleed brakes and chekc pads, and keep it clean, and tune it, and change the oil, and so on and so forth because I drive my kid around in it - if there's anything I can do to make sure she's safe, I try to do it - yes I have 5 points and a 4 point cage, and big brakes, and big tires in the summer and blizzaks in the winter and a fire extinguisher, but this is not because I want to go racing, it's for SAFETY. It's so quick to bleed brakes with either a pressure bleeder or speedbleeders that they should mandate it.

By the way, stay away from DOT 5 unless you have a show car - it's no good for daily driving, and you have to flush it VERY often - really likes water

They both will easily do a complete flush, the difference is in how the fluid is forced through the system.

The Motive Bleeder is a tank with a pump that uses the air pressure to force fluid through the lines and out the normal bleed valve. Attach it to the
Master cylinder, pump up the pressure and open the bleed valve at the caliper until all the dirty fluid is out.

The Speedbleeder replaces the regular bleed nipple with one that has a one way valve in it - fluid can go out, but air cannot go back in. This lets you open the valve, then climb back in the car and pump the brake pedal to force the fluid through. You can do the same thing without it, it just take two people.

The big disadvantage to the Speedbleeder is that you are still pumping the pedal. It is not a question of hoe hard you press it, it is a question of how far. If you think about it, normally a properly functioning hydraulic brake system has very little pedal travel if the brakes are properly bled - guessing maybe a 1/4" at the master cylinder. The piston in that cylinder only goes back and forth that small amount. Now outside of that normal travel area, crud will build up. Especially if the brakes are not flushed regularly. So here you are trying to flush the brakes by pumping the pedal - the pedal goes right to the floor and the piston goes right through that built up crud, destroying the seal in the process. Either you never get a firm pedal, or the master cylinder dies soon after. In the case of the fellow with the race car, he is changing his fluid all the time so there is never time for the crud to build up, but for a normal car that has not had proper maintenance this is a major potential problem. If you must pump the pedal, put a block under it to limit the pedal travel - chunk of 2x4 usually works.

Kevin Rhodes
Westbrook, Maine
Sundry European Crocks

I'll go with the Motive, since I have to work on 3 cars, for which
I only will flush the fluid once every 2 years.

A few more questions if you dont mind:

- To flush, do you first pressure bleed with air, until all fluid is pushed out and there is only air in the system, then proceed by filling the resovoir with new fluid and bleeding again? Or do you just dump the new fluid in the resovoir, even with the old fluid in there, and wait till it pushes the old fluid out? What prevents the two from mixing in this case?

- Do you think it would be feasible for me to buy a spare resovoir cap (OEM), and then attach the tube from the Motive to it? I'm not sure what the Motive setup precisely looks like so dont know if this idea would work. But I am hesitant to use their universal adapter because from hearing how it works, it does not seem like a precise setup.

- By the way, just curious, even though I'm not going to buy the Speedbleeder... don't you still need a partner to help you?
Otherwise, how can you tell when all the bubbles are out of the line if you are in the car pumping the pedal and can't see it?