Tech Week! One Man Half Brain Brake Bleeder.

I've been real tired of bleeding brakes, the last 2 have fought me like an MMA dude on methamphetamines.

I have a vaccuum bleeder that does ok, but if there is a leak somewhere it is useless as it wont pull the fluid and it doesnt put any pressure on the system to show ya where it is.

There are several styles of pressure bleeders that do a good job but are somewhat unhandy to use and the last battle took place on a Sunday afternoon when none was available and I said screw this crap. There has to be a cheap better way of doing this RIGHT NOW.

Here's the result of a day of pissed-off-ed-ness to the highest level and some off the wall thinking.

First off the parts list,,,,, used up crappy oil pump, old brake bleeder screw, some rubber hose, 2x5/16 bolts, 1/4 pipe plug, gasket material, couple feet of round stock, small piece of 1/8 flat, 6" of 1/2 tubing and an 1/8 pipe nipple. In other words, crap you should have laying around.



I had this high volume high pressure oil pump off a blown injected sbc thats been over 200 mph 5 times, the 6th pass it had a valve hang open and disaster ensued. I wasn't gonna throw it away as it was expensive and nearly new, however its racing days were over.

To make a fliud transfer device you need to tap and plug the big hole where the main stud goes thru for a 1/4 pipe plug and tap the guide pin holes for 5/16. All the holes are already the correct size so no drilling is needed!



I welded a 6" piece of 1/2" tubing in the pickup tube too.

You'll need to cut a small chunk of 1/8 flat drilled to bolt to the output side of the pump and it will need a hole in the center tapped to 1/8 pipe so you have a place to put the rubber hose and a gasket too.


I welded legs to the plate so its freestanding and added a short piece of hex stock and a faucet handle to spin it, this is optional but highly recommended.


Now some of you smart fellas are thinkin that you could spin this thing with a drill and make things a lot easier.

Yes you can, however,,,,, there is a major drawback to that idea. you can spin it with a drill, you can also accidently spin it to fast and blow the line off and it will soak one or both of your pants legs with brake fluid, drench any surrounding walls and piss off both shop cats before you can get off the trigger. Up to you how you approach this issue.





Now to use it to bleed some offending brakes,,, take the old bleeder and drill straight out the bottom and install it in one side of whatever end of the car you like. It doesnt matter what side or which end, I've tried it several different "wrong" ways and had success no matter what.

Hook up the rubber line to the pump and the other end on the bleeder, open the bleeder on the opposite side of the same axle and start turning the pump. Before long the fluid will begin to come out the open bleeder on the other side, (if your feeling sporty you could run another rubber line from that bleeder to the bottle of brake fluid to save a mess).

Once you have fluid with no air bubbles coming out the other side close that bleeder and continue turning the pump. This will force the fluid up thru the lines and into the M/C. If there are any leaks you'll see the fluid dripping from it. Check the M/C every once in a while to keep it from over-flowing.

When the M/C is full change out the bleeder for one that doesnt have a hole all the way thru it and move to the other end of the car and repeat the proccess.

I filled/bled the entire brake system from dry to finished and air free by myself in 5 minutes flat. It took me a half hour or so to build the pump and 2 hours to clean up the mess from the drill fiasco. And the best part is it cost me $0.00 as I had all the needed stuff laying around.

Hope this helps someone out!

 

Nice! I used the pump vac times twice in the last week on a car and neither time with success. I'm using this one!

 

Very good idea. Have the cats calmed down yet?

 

Your tech posts are always the best. That's a great bleeder you built!

 

Great idea! Now it's time to make a video of it in action.

 

Great idea!
Set up the camera and go get the drill and the cats. We wanna see this!!

 

Very clever. 5 minutes! WOWOWOW! Gary

 

X2 hahaha

Great tech!

 

Great bleeder and I bet you can find a leak in no time

 

Now I know why I kept all those oil pumps, Great tech, I'm making one of these!

 

Great tip! Now all I got to do is find that old pump and get started.

Drew

 

x2! Good tech. Man, now I gotta make up my mind between the two front runners. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

If you only have half a brain, what's that make the rest of us, that didn't think of this ???? Great lowbuck, extremely useful tech.

 

Thanks for the replies!

As for the cats, they are fine, but when I pull this thing off the shelf they call their union steward and I get to deal that. Gonna have to make some changes to the contract at the next negotiation.

One of the added benifits of this pump is that it can be used on just about any fluid, solvents wont eat it so its uses cover a lot of range.

As for a vid,, if I get time I'll shoot one of it under pressure, its really shocking how much it can pump at full honk!

 

Um Jay? There is a little switch on top of your drill that controls speed, try it sometime

 

Not ALL drills are the variable-speed variety. Most MODERN ones are, but not ALL.

 

That's a cool idea. I have one car that really kicks my ass on brake bleeding for some reason. I'll have to look around for a spare oil pump.

 

Cool tech!

I am going to build one...

The neat thing I like is that I probably have all the stuff!

Sam

 

Great tech!

 

Now this is something I can use!! great tech

 

great tech! I've tryed almost every bleed system i could think of (1/4 brain) a freind showed me this. It is the greatest: go to a large animal vet. and buy the biggest plastic syringe he has. now some 1/4 inch hose. suck it full of brake fluid. preasure the brake lines. no need to bench bleed MC, just bolt it on and preasure it up! you want to change fluid, just suck it out of the master!! all for $5-$6 dollars.
any one want to buy an peice of shit mighty vac??

 

I am now looking for a pump.
Thanks for posting!

 

This looks very cool...I hate bleeding brakes. So, just to clarify, you would put the bleeder on the rear pass. side wheel cylinder and apply pressure until the rear drivers side is running clear then you would do the front pass. side until the front drivers side is clear of bubbles?? Or are you still putting the pressure on each individual wheel cylinder?

 

Pressure only goes in one wheel cylinder per axle.

Hydraulics are a path of least resistance deal, so if you open the bleeder on the other side the fluid will go that way first. That pushes all the air in the crossover line out the other side.

So once you have good clear air free fluid coming out the other side you close that bleeder and continue turning the pump, this will force the air in the feed line all the way up and out the master cyl.

Once that chamber of the m/c is full change out your hollow bleeder for a real one and move to the other end of the car.

I guess I should add that you need to keep the lid on the M/C so there's no splashing of fluid as it fills.

Thanks again for the replies! This is looking like one of the best tech weeks ever!

 

great idea. i would have never thought of it. so glad you did. looking forward to video. thanks for posting....jack

 

You mean brain and a half! You always come up wit cool chit.

 

Okay I think I am getting the picture now, went back and read again, you were starting with a completely dry, empty system? I can see myself pumping too much in and overfilling the m/c...
What advantage is their to drilling out a bleeder screw instead of just opening the one you are attaching the hose too?
Sorry for what may be simple questions but this is a really cool idea and am excited to try it...thanks-

 

This is oustanding and super simple.
"Dan" raised the question as to why drill out a bleeder and not just open one to allow the fluid to flow?
Is it simply to allow fluid to flow with less restriction?
Sorry for the dumb question but I am curious.
Great tool to build. Thanks.

 

Yes and yes, on both of the above....
Your hollow bleeder screw can be used in a snug fitting hose, the "special" bleeder can be snugged all the way against the wheel cylinder seat, and ya' got less brake fluid mess dribblin' everywhere.

 

Yup thats the idea, straight thru flow, those drilled bleeders also help your vaccuum bleeder work much gooder too.

I have many different sizes that I've used over the years, after a while you wont have to buy anymore.

Yeah I started with a dry system, if your stating with a wet system just empty the M/C and go for it, by the time the resivior is full again you should have all the air pushed out anyway.