[DeTomaso] Super-cool tool!

MikeLDrew at aol.com MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sat Aug 30 20:25:58 EDT 2008


Hi guys,

I just got in from playing around in the garage, using a super-cool tool that 
I just bought.   I love it!

You may recall that during my clutch linkage adventures, I had to disconnect 
the brake lines from the master cylinder to the junction blocks, in order to 
remove the master cylinder.   Since it had been plumbed incorrectly anyway, I 
figured now was the time to rig up some new hard lines, and flush the old fluid 
out (which had been in there since about 1994, far too long!)

A few months ago I was up at Chris Difani's barn outside Sacramnto, and we 
bled the brakes on my silver Scirocco.   He had this neato tool that made the 
job childishly simple, and more importantly, easily done by one person, and when 
I got home I couldn't wait to buy one for myself.

Made by an outfit in Berkeley, CA called Motive Products, the basic Power 
Bleeder kit consists of a small canister equipped with a hand pump, pressure 
gauge, and a hose.   A threaded fitting on the end of the hose allows you to 
connect various adapters which then replace the cap to your master cylinder.

Unlike a Mity-Vac, which relies on vacuum to suck fluid through the system 
(and is often ineffective due to leaks between the hose and the brake bleeder), 
this device uses positive pressure at the master cylinder to force fluid 
through the system.

Since I had fabbed up the new lines myself, my first job was to test the 
system for integrity.   I fastened the generic adapter to the top of the Ford 
master cylinder my car uses (which is a somewhat hokey affair using J-hooks and 
chains), and attempted to pressurize the system, with no luck.   This is how I 
discovered that one of my lines was leaking, and I was able to attend to it 
before discovering the hard way!

Once that was sorted, I removed the adapter, used a syringe to remove all the 
old fluid from the master cylinder, and filled the master with fresh fluid.   
Taking a hint from Garth Rodericks, I used ATE Super Blue brake fluid.   This 
is just about the best brake fluid you can buy (save for exotic things like 
Castrol SRF which costs $80 a liter!) with extremely high dry and wet boiling 
points, and it has the advantage of being bright blue.   Because of this, there 
is no doubt when you are flushing your brake system; when the fluid coming 
out turns from gold to blue, you're done!   They make exactly the same fluid in 
a traditional amber color (ATE Typ 200), so the next time I change the fluid 
(hopefully in less than ten years!?), I'll switch to that, and when the blue 
fluid turns gold, I'll be done.

With the reservoir filled, I re-attached the adapter, then poured one liter 
of fluid into the Power Bleeder and secured the lid.   After a few minutes of 
pumping, I had 10 psi showing on the gauge.   There's no need to go any higher 
than that, and in fact if you overpressurize the thing, you run the risk of 
generating a leak where the adapter seals to the master cylinder reservoir, and 
spraying brake fluid all over the place, never a good thing!

With the car in the air and the wheels off, I went to the right rear corner, 
hooked up a bleed hose and simply cracked the bleeder open.   Amber fluid 
started flowing out, followed by a bunch of air, then the fluid slowly changed 
color and eventually it was pure blue.   Done.

I repeated this process with the other seven bleeders (each Wilwood caliper 
has two bleeders), working from furthest to nearest to the master cylinder.   
Once that was finished, I turned the power bleeder on its side, to expose the 
pickup tube inside of it to air instead of fluid.   I then cracked one front 
and one rear bleeder.   Air flowed through the hose, and when the hose was 
empty, I let it flow a bit more, to ensure that there would be a slight air gap at 
the top of the reservoir (I didn't want to pull the adapter off and have brake 
fluid spill out).   Once that was done, I gently unscrewed the lid from the 
power bleeder to relieve system pressure, then disconnected the chain setup and 
removed the adapter and installed the lid.   Job done!

I then changed adapters, and installed the one with came with the kit.   
Virtually all European cars use the same standard thread size for their brake and 
clutch master cylinder reservoirs, and the Pantera is no exception.   I again 
used my syringe to remove the fluid from the clutch master cylinder reservoir, 
filled it up with new fluid, then screwed the adapter on and pumped it to 10 
psi again.

I have an internal hydraulic throwout bearing.   I was somewhat surprised 
when I cracked the bleeder open and nothing happened.   I expected fluid to start 
flowing through it, but either due to the design of the master or the 
throwout bearing, fluid was still trapped.   I got in the car and cycled the pedal a 
few times.   There was no resistance, meaning there was no clutch action, but 
the pedal would go to the floor and I could see fluid flowing from the power 
bleeder into the master.   After a few strokes I checked the bleeder hose, and 
pure blue fluid was coming out.   I closed the bleeder, depressurized the 
canister, carefully removed the adapter and replaced the lid, and that job was 
done too!

I can't believe how easy and effective this tool is.   What used to be a 
chore requiring two people is now a fairly straightforward operation that I can do 
by myself, and at least theoretically I'll have better results than the old 
down-open-closed-up technique.

Best of all, this thing is laughably cheap.   The basic European Bleeder, 
which includes the bleeder itself and the adapter to fit our clutch master 
cylinder and stock brake master cylinder, costs only $49.95.   They also make a 
Black Label version for $69.95 that uses a machined billet adapter with a swivel 
fitting instead of the standard plastic one.   After using the cheaper one, I 
would say that the swivel fitting would make it slightly easier to use (when 
you thread the plastic adapter on, you have to also rotate the power bleeder 
around and around or the hose gets all kinked up), but it's difficult to say 
whether it's worth another $20 or not.

If you have an aftermarket master cylinder like I do, you'll probably need 
the generic rectangular adapter, which costs $34.95, and brings the total cost 
to $89.90.

That's what I bought, but after looking at the website, I see that you can 
buy the Early American rectangular bleeder for $69.99, and a European adapter 
for $19.95, and wind up with all the same hardware, for only $84.90, saving five 
bucks for some strange reason?

Here's some photos of this dandy little tool in action:

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/PressureBleeder.jpg

Note that I lined the trunk compartment with a heavy-duty garbage bag in case 
of fluid spillage; I also covered the brake master with a towel during 
operation, for the same reason (fortunately I had no spillage of any kind).

All this stuff is available directly from the manufacturer; their website is 
very simple and easy to navigate, and when I ordered my stuff, it was shipped 
the next day and arrived the day after that--can't complain about that!   So 
surf on over to:

http://www.motiveproducts.com/

and get one for yourself!

Cheers!

Mike


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