Guys - My '63 Lark's on a lift while I've re-plumbed the brakes and the bleeding process involves my wife watching the pickle jar while I use a stick to push the pedal. (Funny visualization, I know) She's gracious enough to volunteer but I know it's as boring as dirt watching the bubbles... I'd like to get a cheapo camera I could use to aim at the jar, while watching on my android phone. I thought about mirrors but would prefer a camera since they're not expensive anymore. I know this is a weird one, but I'm hoping someone else has tried something similar and could rectummend a camera.
The way I’ve been doing it lately is gravity bleeding. Place a piece of clear plastic hose firmly on the bleeder and have it raised up a foot or so. Crack the bleeder and watch the brake fluid start filling the hose. Once the fluid runs clear with no bubbles, you’re done. Refill the master and move onto the left rear. I’ve been pretty successful doing it this way on my own.
you can bleed by placing clear tubing on bleeder and sit it in a half filled jar with fluid and pump away....the air will come out but when you release the pedal you wont suck air back in..close bleeder...pump pump pump...open bleeder...pump ..pump..pump...works good...sometimes..
If you're going to dust some money on a cheapo camera, just buy some "Russell speed bleeders" instead I had 9 of them on my Corvette race car [including the clutch]
Was shown this way, and told to use it 53 years ago. ( drum brakes ) My senior mentor. ( at a chain discount repair garage ) repairing cars since the 19-nineteens. dispelled my objections of air reentering through the open bleeder by pointing out that the return springs hold and allow no W.C. piston movement, because, the open bleeder holds no pressure, ( or air, for that matter ). Thus no air revision. Just shut the bleeder, refill master, done, onto the next. Open bleeder valve, slow stroke 'til steady stream, close bleeder and refill master, each wheel. We never tried to catch the squirt. ( oil dry and the daily 'floor show' to keep clean ) We did lots of cars each day at $32 each, fronts and rears, including W.C. rebuild.
What a bunch of freaking amateurs using lame methods that they heard about from the spit and whittle club. If you can convince your wife to get out there and look under the car to watch bubbles while you play mickey mouse games you can get her to properly pump the pedal while you open and close bleeders and correctly bleed a set of brakes. I'm 77 years old and did brakes for a living for years and taught students to do brakes for 13 years after that and I never heard of the lame ass thing of "gravity bleeding brake until I got on the Hamb. Pure armature nonsense. Any place you have a line higher than the rest of the lines to it you will get air bubbles.
Works for me. Usually. Sometimes, I end up having to do something else, then get her back out to the shop to finish. But I try gravity bleeding first, because it's easier than disturbing her....
Clearly since you have never heard of it everyone else is a lame ass amateur. Or maybe, just maybe you don’t know absolutely everything….nah that can’t be it. Oh and as long as the reservoir is the highest point you won’t have air at the top of a high point in the lines…
Speed bleeders and / or vacuum bleeder are worth the money, versus having to ask wife. I bought a mighty-vac, lasted awhile and the seals blew out, they sell rebuild kits, or I can tear it down and likely replace the o rings. Harbor freight has vacuum bleeder for half the price of mighty-vac. Based on my experience with mighty vacuum not lasting long, harbor freight version looks pretty good.
I just open the bleeders 1 at a time, wait until I see no bubbles just fluid coming out then move to the next. Once all 4 are done ( or front or rear pair depending on repairs). Then comes the 2 person process, press pedal down, close bleeder, pedal up, open bleeder, pedal down, rinse wash repeat until I have all the air out. Too many places, bends, turns etc in the brake lines for air to sit without some element forcing it thru the brake line. I've had many, more than I can count, cars in the shop because someone replaced brake parts and tried all kinds of "ways" to bleed the brakes alone and still couldn't get the air out. 20 minutes later with me and a fellow worker we had nice hard pedal and good braking. The only 2 ways I've ever gotten happy bleeding brakes is 1- a power bleeder that clamps onto the top of the master cylinder and forces fluid thru the system and all the bubbles with it (due to constant movement of the fluid) and 2- two man, pedal up and down bleeding. Now I've never tried the self bleed valves, I can see how these would work as they don't allow any reversion of the air bubbles back and forth in the brake lines... ....
That gravity thing doesn’t work too well when the master cylinder is below the wheel cylinders. However, the air will migrate back to and through the master cylinder, and the bubbles will come up there. Just need to have some patience in that air will eventually find its way out.
The brake line just have to be lower than the MC, so about two feet or so in height from the MC to the wheel cylinders. It's amateur not armature.
Use a jug with a line through the cap and make sure there is also a small vent in the cap so the jug doesn't pressurize. Fill the jug with fresh fluid so that the line is submerged. Make the line long enough to set it higher than the bleeder and set it somewhere you can see it from inside the car. Attach the line to bleeder and crack it open. Start pumping with nice controlled pushes of the pedal. Keep doing this until the air stops showing up in the jug and close the bleeder. Before disconnecting the line at the bleeder lower the jug to the floor so the fluid doesn't siphon out of the jug when you remove the line. Repeat at each wheel until done.
^^^^^^^ And no one else has ever spelled anything wrong?^^^^^^^ Mr. 48 is a wealth of info, I would hate to see him get pissed off & leave over something this stupid.
Yes I agree, spelling mistakes everyone makes, however calling everyone a bunch of amateurs for using a method he didn’t know about is a little out of line as well. Oh and gravity bleeding is absolutely in our apprenticeship text books.
The other way I bleed brakes myself is to open the bleeder depress the pedal with my pedal depressor, close the bleeder, release the pedal and repeat, it’s lots of up and down but works.
Jeezus. A clear glass Mrs. Renfro's hot sauce jar with any kind of liquid in it and some clear tubing has served me well for 50 years.
That’s my other method. I crack the bleeder, then push the pedal down with a piece 2x2 and jam it on front of the seat to hold it down. Yes, lots of up and down. Now I just use the gravity method…less up and down
Yep! Crack 'em loose and pump away. Then re-tighten and you're good to go. Great at the track between races [especially with Wilwood calipers with 2 bleed screws each]
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