687072mustang wrote:

Someone here every use speed bleeders?? Where they worth the effort and cost to replace the original? Thanks for any info.

I installed them and did not think they worked very well. I instead bought the pressurized bottle kit and it worked a heck of a lot better. I did not put any brake fluid in the bottle, I just used it to pressurize the system.

https://www.amazon.com/Orion-Motor-Tech-Pressure-Compatible/dp/B0C2PW39DR?pd_rd_w=tCBwb&content-id=amzn1.sym.387ee456-4956-4e76-b250-c69850555f39&pf_rd_p=387ee456-4956-4e76-b250-c69850555f39&pf_rd_r=KFBB9B82BB6GS5WJH65T&pd_rd_wg=eqgQW&pd_rd_r=7a005700-9361-418d-9c2a-c247944f034b&pd_rd_i=B0C2PW39DR&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_grid_rp_0_1_ec_ppx_yo_dt_b_search_bia_t

Last edited by KeithP (9/28/2024 6:24 PM)

John Ha wrote:

Can't speak to the speed bleeders but I also bought one of those pressure bottles.  I could not get it to not leak around the master cylinder cap.  As a result, it didn't pressurize the brake system all that well. 

You could pretty easily make one of those for about 1/3 the cost of the commercial ones - it's really just a hand pump-up garden sprayer and a master cylinder cap drilled and equipped with with a barb fitting. 

I went back to the "small hose on the open bleeder screw with the end in the jar and pumping the brake pedal" method.  It's much less expensive, much easier, and it works well.

I agree. Never went with the new, trick methods of bleeding the brakes. I've always used the "up", "down" method and it has always worked well for me too. Also, it gives the wife a chance to get involved with maintaining the Mustangs and its something we can do together. (but she really hates having to crawl under the car....)
 

Last edited by Ron68 (9/29/2024 11:46 AM)

I tired the speed bleeders and wasn’t satisfied with the process.
When a second person was available, the ‘two-person’ pump the brake pedal method worked just fine.
When I was alone, I’ve used the “one person” vacuum hand pump method, and it worked fine also.

The last few times I've done mine by myself.   I put a plastic tube on the bleeder with the other end in a pickle jar.  Then I opened the bleeder, pumped the pedal 10 times or so, refilled the master cylinder, then looked at the expunged fluid in the line to the catch jar.  If the fluid wasn't clear, I pumped another 10 times.  Once the fluid in the line to the jar was clean, I closed the bleeder and moved on to the next brake slave cylinder. 

This process works fine for me - the pedal was properly firm after everything was bled.  When releasing the pedal the master cylinder apparently pulls replacement fluid in from the reservoir, not from the brake line (just as it would if a major leak in the brake system occurred).  I thought that's how everyone does it ...

Last edited by John Ha (10/02/2024 12:24 PM)

BobE wrote:

John Ha - If this works for you, great.  However, to my knowledge, when you let up on the brake pedal with the bleeder open, it will suck back fluid and/or air from the catch jar.  As long as it sucks fluid and not air, from the catch jar, you should be OK.  

Yes, it does, but you always start with enough clean fluid in the jar to submerge the bottom of the hose.  It does use more fluid, since I would never reuse the stuff in the catch jar (unless maybe I was starting with an empty system).  Still, IME a quart of fluid is a small price to pay for properly functioning brakes.  I try to bleed the fluid through on my vehicles about once every 2 years.  I find not only does this maintain system performance, but it also seems to make calipers, etc. last indefinitely. 

I have done a lot of brake work.
I use an old plastic Windex bottle with a plastic tube going in the top, feeding all the way to the bottom.
I place it under the car, one wheel at a time, with a flashlight shining so I can see bubbles.
I loosen the bleeder and pump the brakes until bubbles quit, but fluid level is rising. I hang my head out the open door as I pump the brakes so I can see the bottle. Bubbles stop; done.

The same apparatus also works quite well for gravity bleeding.

I have a vacuum bleeder but I found it gives false bubbles as it sucks air in around the bleeders. So it never gets used.

I think those that pressurize the master cylinder probably work great, but I am too lazy to spend the time to rig one up. I probably bled brakes on five cars in the time it takes to build one.

I have had this same device for over thirty years. Not much to go wrong with it.