Power Bleeder - Why you need this tool

[tmontague]

My wife bought me a Motive Power bleeder for xmas last year and I finally got around to using it this morning. All I can say is where has it been all my life, probably one of the most useful automotive tools I have in my shed.



I wanted one simply because I bleed the brakes on my cards at least ever 2 years to stop the nipples from seizing which they do around the salt belt way too often. Since I also do track days I bleed the brakes on my Yaris a few times a year too. I used to have my wife push the pedal while I worked the bleeder (2 person method) and then I graduated to the one person method using a Gatorade bottle with and tube and some brake fluid in the bottom. Both methods worked fairly good but took way too long, especially if you were trying to flush through new fluid then it could take a while.

Their are various power bleeders on the market but the reason I wanted this one was because it worked by pressurising the master cylinder. I had a vacuum pump type bleeder that you use to pull vacuum on the bleed nipple, it never worked properly and always leaks no matter what method the internet said to try. Since the Yaris' slave cylinder also uses the same master cylinder as the brakes I was also able to bleed the clutch properly for once.

I previously had to do some prep to get the power bleeder to get a proper seal on the master cylinder. Since Toyota doesn't use a screw on cap on the master cylinder I purchased the power bleeder with a universal seal that you use a chain and wing nuts to secure it down on top of the master cylinder to ensure a tight seal. This works fine but the plastic and metal cowling above the cylinder block this cap from properly fitting on the cylinder.



With how much I bleed my brakes there was no way I was going to remove both cowlings every time I wanted to bleed my brakes. I opted to use an angle grinder on both cowlings to get the clearance I needed. I then painted the metal pieces and rolled them back to avoid rust and sharp parts.

The bleeder worked exactly how I imagined it would. I jacked the car up on 4 jack stands and I never even had to remove any wheels. i just attached a hose and an empty Gatorade bottle to catch the old fluid. 5 mins at each brake was more than enough time to get all the new fluid in the system. I use my vacuum hand pump to remove any old fluid from the m/c and added new fluid.

***I made an almost huge mistake when I went to bleed the slave cylinder. Learn from my mistakes and do not do what I did. ***

I planned on using a 4" C clamp to clamp the slave cylinder closed while I bled it to ensure no air could be trapped in it. I forgot that the 18psi that the power bleeder had on the system would cause it to blow the seal. As soon as I removed the bolts of the s/c to put the c clamp on it the slave cylinder blew the seal and leaked fluid everywhere. I immediately dropped the pressure and assessed the s/c. I ended up being able to put everything back together again and nothing was damaged and ti all hold fluids fine under pressure.











Two way to properly bleed the s/c with a power bleeder:

1. (the way I ended up doing it and the easier of the two) leave the s/c installed on the car andonce the bleed nipple is open and old fluid is coming out, use your hand and work the end of the shift fork back and forth so that it compresses the s/c shaft all the way into the s/c. This ensures any air trapped in their will escape.

2. Remove the s/c from the car BEFORE you pressurise the bleeder and clamp it completely compressed with a c clamp and make sure the c clamp is snug and not going to work loose. Then bleed the s/c by just opening the bleed nipple.

The psi I found to be perfect for the Yaris was 18-20, it says not to go above 20 and I found less than 18psi lead to a slower bleed. The brakes feel more firm and quicker to engage and the clutch feels like a different car. Much smoother pedal feel but at the same time more firm. This is something I'll be doing every month or so during track season. I used a DOT 3 high performance fluid from my local CT, it's nothing special but I've had no problems with it on track in the past so I don't feel the need to go to something expensive.



I would highly recommend this tool for anyone who regularly bleeds their brakes a lot or had multiple vehicles that they bleed brakes on and do a lot of brake jobs on. Saved me a lot of time and it isn't very expensive