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Homemade brake pressure bleeder

Yukon Jack

Yukon Jack

1/2 ton status
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Jul 25, 2002
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Location
Rose Hill, KS
A while back I saw a post somewhere on making your own pressure bleeder for brake and hydraulic clutchs. Since I do most of my work on my truck alone I figured this was worth looking into.

Here are two links that I saw in the past that detail how to make the pressure bleeder.

http://www.arkansaspontiacs.org/techstories/bleeder%20story.htmhttp://www.arkansaspontiacs.org/tec...der story.htm

http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/bleeder.htm

It is very easy and cost me very little. I had an old garden sprayer that had a broken wand so I got it cleaned up and used it for the sprayer. Then all that is needed is a piece of metal to secure to the brake reservoir and a barbed ended metal fitting that I attached to the metal plate after tapping the hole. I put a piece of rubber on the metal plate to aid sealing against the reservoir. For a hydraulic clutch I assume you would want to buy an extra cap and drill it for the fitting.

I put a small tube in the fitting like on of the links recommended so some of the fluid would siphon out of the reservoir so it wouldn't be over filled when you are ready to pull the metal plate off the reservoir.

I also added a pressure gauge as the links mention you don't want more than 20 psi. I had an old gauge so I just drilled a hole in the tank and screwed in the gauge. No leaks even without sealing it up.

I would recommend putting something under the reservoir as I did have a little leaking each time until I got the metal plate tightened down enough. I used c-clamps to secure the plate to the reservoir.

This tool works like a charm. The only drawback that I found was that when initially getting fluid to flow I was adding a bit of air to the reservoir so I ended up flushing all the old fluid then the air and then the new fluid. That was fine for me since I was intending to get rid of all the old fluid and that made it easy to see when I was into the new fluid.

powerbleeder2.jpg

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I like this, since it can be hard for me to find someone to pump the pedal for me. Question though: Can (Why not) use a second stock master cylinder cover instead of the plate? I would think that it would seal better, and it would require is having a fitting installed into it. Just a thought.
Joshua
 
I did it this way so when I go from bleeding the rear brakes to the front brakes all I have to do is flip this one around. If I had a stock master cover, I would have to have a way to move the hose to each reservior. I guess you could put hole in the cover over each reservior and just get a threaded plug for the reservior that you are not bleeding.
 
That makes sense. I guess I was thinking along the lines of welding a small tube between the front and rear cover humps so both ends can be presurized together. I realise this requires a welder (I have a tig to do this).
The other option would be to install two airline quick disconnect fittings, so you could just move the pressure line to which end you wanted.
I am definitely not criticizing your plate, rather I just want a clean way to do this so I don't drip fluid everywhere (I hate that when the paint peels!)
Thanks,
Joshua
 
Those are good suggestions and anything to cut down on the mess is a plus for sure. A tight fitting lid such as the stock lid would definitely make for a much better setup.
 
Side note if you put a ball valve inline on the hose before the cover you can pressure the tank up and evacuate nearly all the air before you even hook to the MC.
 
Good suggestion. That would also let you store the fluid in the tank to prevent moisture from getting into the fluid I imagine.
 
I got the power break bleeder built and flushed the entire system. The gravity bleed and pushing the pedal just never gave me a great feel. The breaks now feel better then they ever have after the power bleed and flush at 15psi. I found one of the best things to use as a gasket was a tooldbox mat from Home Depot it cost 5.97 and I only needed a bit of it so the rest will be used as a non-slip matt on the workbench. I originally used a factory cap instead of the 1/4" plate but I never could get it to seal and fluid leaked everywhere.

bleeder1.JPG

bleeder2.JPG

bleeder3.JPG

bleeder.JPG
 
Glad it worked well for you. Looks like you built a great power bleeder. That is a good idea being able to do both reservoirs with out having to pull the plate.
 
I made one of these badboys and used it on my 98 K3500 today. I bought a new MC cap (freakin $18!!!) and screwed the barb fitting into it. To siphon the level back down inside the MC, I jus got a femal barb fitting and screwed it onto the back on the one screwed into the cap. The cap I bought didnt come with a rubber seal but I tried it without it anyway and with just the cap snapped on it was leaking like a mofo. I think I dumped about 1 bottle of brake fluid on the driveway. I then put a c-clamp on it. I was hesistant to do this at first because it has the plastic MC and cap but it worked really well and elminated most of the leaking. I dont have a pressure gauge on my sprayer yet but it was barely able to push fluid though the system with the pressure I Was using, I didnt have the balls to pump it up any higher.

Does the brake pedal have to be in any specific position for this to work by itself? It wasnt working too well by itself for me but when I started pumping the pedal it worked great. It didnt really do the pressure bleeding part since Iwas pumping the pedal but it kepy the MC full of fluid for me lol. I forgot to bench bleed my MC when I installed it and I rand 4 bottles of brake fluid through the system today and I think there is still soem air in it. I deffinately cleaned out the fluid though. The old fluid was jet black, I think it was contaminated with power steering fluid from the hydrobooster.
 
No the brake pedal does not need to be touched - that is one of the main benefits of this system, no pedal pumping.
 
Got a question for you people who made the pressure bleeders:

Will it still work by using the actual pump on the bottle itself?

Or does air have to be used to get a consistant pressure?
 
The bottle pump has been adequate for me ... on my sixpack, sometimes I gotta pump it up more than once, 'cuz the lines are so long... but the thought of putting air compressor-style pressure on the master cylinder scares me!

I've never gone about 10-15psi on the bottle; more than that and you're gonna pop seals on the master! S'pose you could use a regulator from the comperssor, but that's work...

-- A
 
Yeah the bottle pump is more then enough, if you are only bleeding you brake and nnot flushing the lines, it wont even use any fluid, only the air pressure will force the fluid down, and if you need more the pump will force it in, so no over flowing MC's.


A tip is to REMEMBER to bleed the pressure from the sprayer BEFORE you remove it, i lent mine to a buddy, and let me tell you even a LITTLE pressure in that sprayer means a LOT of brake fluid every ware LOL.

also I used gasket material from the plumbing section of my local hardware store.

had 3 pieces 6"x6", 1 rubber, and 2 cork like (thick and thin) for only a few bucks, used elmers spray glue to hold it down.

I also bought a cheap C clamp to use and welded a angle iron to the bottom, like a V so the V goes over the round part on the bottom of the MC, and wont slip off
 
darkshadow said:
I also bought a cheap C clamp to use and welded a angle iron to the bottom, like a V so the V goes over the round part on the bottom of the MC, and wont slip off
Click to expand...

That's a great suggestion. I've got a couple cheap C-clamps so I could easily do that. Funny, last time I used my bleeder I used one of my cheap C-clamps and the darn thing broke right in half and I had fluid going everywhere until I could bleed the pressure off of the pressure tank.
 
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