Vacuum Bleeder?
 

How good are these for bleeding brakes? Thinking of one from Arbor Fright.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

Used a Mighty Mite one to bleed the brakes when I converted my Ranch Wagon to disc brakes. Works OK but not as well as a pressure bleeder. If you're doing it your self you need to keep an eye on the M/C level. Don't want to suck it dry.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I use a Mityvac. It has worked well on everything I've used it on. They are very useful for testing vacuum operated components also.
I use it to initially bleed the air out of the system, followed up by doing a pedal push bleed to pressurize the system, remove any air that might still be present, and verify no leakage in any components.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

Ditto on #2 and #3........pretty easy to use, with good results.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I had a "Mighty-Vac" years ago and it would not work at all. Looking back, I'll bet it was bad out of the box.

Anyway, the experience really soured me on them.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I prefer a pressure bleeder. A good quality system can be found for under $100. Making an adapter is simple.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I too prefer a pressure bleeder. I have both and no mater what I do the vac bleeder always sucks air around the end of the bleed nipple so it is hard to tell if there is still air in the brake line.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

Thanks guys! I forgot about the pressure advantage - finds leaks.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I have pressure bled brakes for 47+ years. There are vehicles that you will never get brakes without a pressure bleeder. It is the only way we bleed our race car brakes. I make them out of garden sprayers. We also use a pressure bleeder with a diaphragm for high pressure bleeding fresh systems. Works fantastic fast & a one man job.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I have used both the vac bleeder, and the Motive Products pressure bleeder.The vac seem to do a good job, but the pedal wasn't that great. Then I used a Motive Products bleeder, made my own adapter, (MC cap), and on the 1st pass it blew out a bunch of air still in the system. Good pedal now. Motive Products bleeder is pretty reasonably priced. Been going back a forth with them trying to determine if they have an off the shelve adapter for the 1050, 1051 early Ford MC. Will advise the part # if they do.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

You're better buying speed bleeders....

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

Ant....went through an 8 months process with my '40 brakes and bought 2 of the bleeders which did not work. Bought the Motive unit....made up my own adapter with an extra Master Cyl. cap and bingo....very first time try I had solid brakes. Just buy the pressure tank and make up your own adapter. Motive DOES NOT have one that works.

If you want a photo of my adapter send me your email and I'll show you what I did.

Thx....Mike

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

What about the old fashioned way? “Hey buddy wanna help me bleed my brakes?” Then he gets a strong leg and you lose a buddy?

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I have had good results on my motorcycles and the ‘39 using a piece of small diameter hose snuggly fit over bleeder nipple, the other end immersed in a coffee can of water sitting on the floor. The height difference between the bleeder and the end of the hose creates a small pressure difference that prevents sucking air back into the wheel cylinder.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

The HF near me sells Mighty Vac brand. My old aluminum Mighty Vac was all corroded up and I bought a new one and was glad to see it was mostly plastic. Have no problem bleeding brakes with it.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I still use a vacuum pump but have found that in nearly all cases, I have to wrap the bleeder nipples with teflon tape due to leakage around the thread while the bleeder valve is open. This is the major problem with vacuum bleeding process. Some wheel cylinders have tighter threads than others but they all wear down eventually.

Pressure bleeding is better but is a bit more expensive and a person has to be careful when changing to different types of brake fluid.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I had several plastic parts on my MityVac disintegrate. Who knew that Dot 3 would attack the plastic parts of a brake bleeder?

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I never get brake fluid as far as the vacuum pump. I just plumb in a jar to catch the fluid so that I don't get any in the pump.

The real pita is constantly getting up to check & replenish the master cylinder fluid level. I figure I can use the exercise though plus I don't have to do it very often anyway.

Re: Vacuum Bleeder?
 

I was never able to get a vacuum tool to work for me, on several different cars. I believe due to sucking air at the bleeder nipple, as Rotorwrench described above.