Reverse Brake Bleeding on the Cheap!

I'm ready to bleed the brakes on the Bee. I've read about reverse bleeding and it makes tons of sense. Buying a $160 reverse bleed tool makes zero sense. Anyone got a surefire solution for doing it inexpensively?

Gravity bleed.

On the cars that won't gravity bleed then use the One person bleeder with the check valve.

An old fashion high quality squirt can, with a hose.

At the shop we had what looked like a large hipodermic syringe.It had a hose attached.Fill with fluid put on open bleeder and push.used it a lot on hydraulic clutch setup as they seemed to be a pain to bleed.As fro brakes I gravity bleed then if not great I bleed with 2 people.I always gravity then close bleeders pump and reopen.Worked good and still do it after doing it at the shop for 30 years.Rocky

grocery stores have a large syringe sold for injecting something into turkeys before you cook em. its definitely big enough capacity & the tip appears to be the right size to slip or clamp on a neoprene hose. its cheap, several bucks iirc.

Those probally wont work.Got mine at the parts store and it holds and injects quite a bit.Typically food injectors dont hold or inject as much.I have 2 food ones that I use.Lots different than my car one.Rocky

Russell Speed Bleeders bring it down to a one person operation.

R.

I have no trouble doing it the traditional way.

Mityvacs are reasonable.

One quart jar with a lid. Drill small hole in lid the size of a hose that will fit tightly over your bleeder valve. Insert other end of hose into semi snug,,,,not tight fit into the hole in the lid. Make certain that hoses reaches close to floor of jar. Place 3 or 4 inches of fresh brake fluid in jar sufficient to comfortably cover the end of the hose.

Open bleeder valve and pump away on brake pedal.


Pushing down on pedal forces fluid into jar, fluid in jar prevents air from re-entering brake caliper or cylinder when letting up on pedal,,,,except possibly for a very small amount at initial pumps.

Pump brakes until you see no air bubbles in jar fluid,,up to you how you see the jar if by yourself. Close bleeder. Starting from most distant wheel from MC, go to the next.closer one.

Be certain to check MC for fluid regularly and replenish as required.

This is what wives/girlfriends are for.

Yeah right!...been there, done that! holy bat crap! never again!..talk about an exercise in futility

My wife has helped me more than once bleed them and more.As I said gravity usually does the trick.But some need reg bleeding and a few need reverse bled.rocky

I use a pickle jar with a hose in and another hose out to a vacuum pump. I do use gravity bleeding to get it to a point but then use suction to finish it up. Not sure if other brand of pickle jars will work the same or even jars that didn't come with pickles but my money is on the Vlassic jar.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Some great ideas here. I actually like the giant Syringe idea best.

I use an assistant if someone is around, the rubber hose in the jar method if I can't find anyone to help, gravity bleed if the system is all new, and once I even cut a 2X4 to fit between the seat bottom and brake pedal...pump up the brake, insert between pedal and seat bottom, crack bleeder, repeat as necessary

Hey Lindy . . . did you guys get it started ?!?!?!???! I would just gravity bleed first, then use the vacuum style pump with jar and should be all good . . .

We fought with the brakes on my 92 D250. They did not want to bleed. The power bleeder at work wouldn't do it. MityVac wouldn't do it. Gravity bleeding wouldn't do it.

The only way we could get it done was the old school pedal pumping method. Other ways of doing it just wouldn't move enough volume at a high enough velocity.

I checked my syringes this afternoon & the turkey baster one was 1&1/2 oz and some I bought at the Rocky Manginelli swap meet said something about a catheter tip & are 2 oz. I ain't did too many brakes but bleeding the MC then the fronts then the rears worked so far. On discs I have a helper pump the pedal several times fast to agitate the fluid then with good timing I open the bleeder on his last downstroke. I put a block of wood under the pedal to limit the piston travel to its worn area in the bore & it helps my helper control the pedal movement better.

If using dot 5 synthetic, you must not agitate the fluid. It will bubble up with air and takes forever to dissipate. Air means spongy pedal.

Gravity. It's slow, but you can just do other chores while keeping an eye on the MC.

If the fluid won't drip out by gravity, I just pump the pedal a few times to wash out the scum that's holding things up.

When bleeding I always replace all the old brown fluid with new, clear fluid. New fluid consumed is always about 2-3 cups, no matter which car. It takes a glass jar to be able to see the color difference, and you must empty it often be sure only clean fluid is arriving.

I've witnessed mechanics do gravity bleeding with no hose. But I prefer using a clear hose and a glass jar with the hose submerged. I have a box with all the brake tools and supplies needed just for this. Actually I use 2 glass jars. The 2nd one is just to show the color of new fluid because many times it's hard to discern the color inside a garage unless you have something to compare it to.

Never had any luck with suction, as it would always pull in air bubbles by way of the threads on the bleeder valve.

...if you are still reading, this is is a brand new system, top to bottom, minus the distribution block. What fluid should I use?

Hey Mark, not yet. I got my thermostat in. Just need to check for 12 volts at the distributor and make sure that mini starter will crank it. Top off the fluids and I am Pretty much ready to go. I thought I would get the brakes bled so I am closer to driving it once I get it broke in and the oil changed. I'm tied up moving my dad this week so I haven't contacted Ralph and Scott. Hopefully going to call them sunday once I have all this stuff done. Wish you could be here, bud!

Reverse bleed? Wouldn't air not be able to enter the hose if it's below the bleeder?

It is always less stressful when you have someone seasoned helping you . . . I am sure you will be having a grin from ear to ear, before you know it !!! . . .

initially yes, but the pump doesn't introduce new air once you begin pumping and clear the hose going to the bleeder. Air wants to travel north so it is easily forced up the line and bubbles out the master cylinder.

I agree with bad Bee The fluid in recverse bleed pushes the air thru.Had a lot of hyd clutch units that would not bleed normal.reverse bled and all was well.I think my bleeder syringe was like 4 bucks.Rocky

Isn't there a residual pressure check valve in the prop valve that prevents/makes reverse bleeding difficult?