I seem to bleed two to the three sets of brakes a year. I'm getting tired of having to have someone in the car working the brake pedal. What's an economical and dependable handheld brake fluid sucking tool and where can it be found? Thank you-Rick
Next time you can call me. Haha. Otherwise, when I recently did my fluid flush I was reading a little about "power" bleeders online. Considering this one for myself. https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Products-107-System-Bleeder/dp/B00CJ5DZE2 Haven't tried one myself, but seems like a pretty easy concept. Apply pressure, open bleeders.
I have a Motive Bleeder. It worked great on my Audi. Not so great on my EVO (when I had that) and my Outback. The 3-prong cap I can't seem to get a proper seal on it with either car when I needed to change my brake fluid. For the Audi it was easy since it was threaded and no issues with getting that properly seated to seal. Works great when you can get a proper seal and you can fly through a bleed in less than 20 minutes by yourself.
I have Motive power bleeder too. Like loxx said, they are kind of a pain in the ass to get the cap screwed onto the 3-prong reservoir. After you go Hulk on it and get it on, it's a piece of cake. To avoid getting the power bleeder all dirty and full of fluid, I just simply filled the master reservoir up, put the power bleeder on it then bled brakes till I needed to put more fluid in. Probably a slower way of doing it since you'll have to screw on the pain-in-the-ass cap and remove it several times throughout the process to keep the reservoir topped off, but makes cleanup easier. Just need to keep an eye on your fluid level of course. Worth the money IMO.
Black plastic here. I wasn't even aware there was an aluminum alternative. Does that one fit easier and still provide a sufficient enough seal? Looks like it's about $45 so I don't think the cost justifies spending the extra money for me at least...I don't have the need to use it often enough.
I had the aluminum one but mine was not red and just the metal finish color (for the 3 prong). I think I do still have my Audi cap which is red aluminum too (that is collecting dust since I don't own an Audi anymore). Couldn't even get my alloy cap to fit on my EVO (when I had it)...it just didn't work for me. Traded it for a plastic one which was a bit easier to get to fit on the EVO brake reservoir. Ironically we used the plastic cap on my Dad's Forrester and that worked fine to seal. But for me seems I just have bad luck when using it on my Outback (don't know if it makes any difference but Dad's Forrester is a '07 and my Outback is a '14).
The car I am initially wanting to do this on is an 88 Camaro that does not have a screw cap on its reservoir. I am looking for something handheld at the caliper that I can pump and pull fluid thru with.
I've had success with this little guy. https://www.walmart.com/ip/ABN-One-...4493&wl11=online&wl12=198353757&wl13=&veh=sem
https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-7400...id=1493136525&sr=8-3&keywords=fluid+extractor I have been using this for years to bleed brakes at the calipers, perform small engine oil changes cleanly as well as evacuate gas tanks. I have the model that can pump in fluids as well as evacuate them but from the same company. Good quality and still going strong today. For comparison, this is the exact one that I have: https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-7201...rd_wg=7YFPh&psc=1&refRID=CCMWJCPNPSGSDF7J09SW
+1 for the Motive. I've had one for a few years and used it countless times. So much easier and faster than the 2 person method, and always results in great pedal feel. A couple tips: 1. They make different attachment caps for different vehicle makes. The one that I have is Subaru specific, but I believe it also works on Nissans or something. Motive's website has a slew of them: https://www.motiveproducts.com/collections/adapters 2. On some cars, I was getting a million tiny bubbles when I'd open the bleeder screw, even though there was no air in the brake lines. It was pulling in air from around the bleeder screw threads. I put teflon tape on each bleeder screw, and it completely fixed the issue. Just a nice stream of fluid, and easy to see if there are actually air bubbles in the line. I've heard from some people that the vacuums that pull the fluid from the screw (vs. the Motive the pressurizes at the reservoir) are a pain in the rear, and don't work very well. YMMV.
That sounds like what I need. I feel like even tho I bled the hell out of them and it seemed better at first, it's still not quite as solid as I want it to be.
I still got a decent bleed/pedal feel before I teflon taped them, so that might not be your issue. That said, putting teflon tape on the bleeder screws and rebleeding them is a pretty easy fix to see if that improves the pedal feel.
