on Ebay there's about 50 different 1-person brake bleed kits. Does anyone have any advice on how to bleed brakes by yourself? kits that work or don't?

(apart from the obvious advice, ie, with someone else)

there is a coke bottle method, but the method i used involves a glass jar or ridgid jar with a lid, a clear hose that will adapt to the bleed nipple and a vaccume cleaner

make a hole in the lid of the jar to accomodate the clear hose and make another hole in the lid to accomodate a hole for the vaccume cleaner spout
attach clear hose to bleed nipple and the other end into the jar lid and let it protrude into the jar about 50mm
attach vaccume cleaner spout into jar lid and screw the lid onto the jar
turn vaccume cleaner on and undo the bleed nipple wait till fluid is clean and free from bubbles.
then close bleed nipple and go to the next caliper

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5216814847_7a9d893740.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42758865@N06/5216814847/)
vacuum pump (http://www.flickr.com/photos/42758865@N06/5216814847/) by billyblunt (http://www.flickr.com/people/42758865@N06/), on Flickr

sorry about my typo, it should be one-man brake bleding


Fixed ........ Ol Fart

I'll be doing it the altera shows next time as it seems pretty simple....may need to keep an eye on the master cylinder fluid level - check and refill after each wheel.

Easy

Pepsi or Coke bottle, some vac hose, drill and wire

Get drill, drill hole in top of lid, feel hose down to bottom of bottle with enough hanging out to fasten onto nipple (of caliper that is)
Drill small 1/8th hole near top of bottle
Get wire, make a hook and wrap around top of bottle, allows it to hang and not fall over

Wallah, simple, quick and pretty much free, if you break it or lose it then who cares, you make another one

You undo a nipple, get in car, 8 or so gentle pumps, then check the fluid, tighten nipple, go to next wheel and go again

Mal, you've done it again, many thanks.

Pardon my ignorance, Whats with the vaccum cleaner in that method, I kinda follow but dont..?

Pardon my ignorance, Whats with the vaccum cleaner in that method, I kinda follow but dont..?

it saves you getting into the car and pumping, all work can be completed in one position, apart from topping up the master cylinder.

The only problems I see with Madmagna's method is (1) that after each stroke there is a tendency for the master cylinder on the return stroke to suck back the fluid with bubbles which is why the workshop manual says to hold a finger over the bleeder to prevent this (we used to tighten the bleeder) and (2) pushing the brake pedal all the way to the floor allows the master cylinder piston to enter the back of the cylinder where there may be pitting/corrosion/crap which can damage the piston seal. This used to be a problem back when the MC bore was cast iron and rusted easy, but nowdays the alloy they use is better quality....as long as the fluid is changed regularly.

The only problems I see with Madmagna's method is (1) that after each stroke there is a tendency for the master cylinder on the return stroke to suck back the fluid with bubbles which is why the workshop manual says to hold a finger over the bleeder to prevent this (we used to tighten the bleeder) and (2) pushing the brake pedal all the way to the floor allows the master cylinder piston to enter the back of the cylinder where there may be pitting/corrosion/crap which can damage the piston seal. This used to be a problem back when the MC bore was cast iron and rusted easy, but nowdays the alloy they use is better quality....as long as the fluid is changed regularly.

but doesn't that require a second person??

there is a coke bottle method, but the method i used involves a glass jar or ridgid jar with a lid, a clear hose that will adapt to the bleed nipple and a vaccume cleaner

make a hole in the lid of the jar to acomodate the clear hose and make another hole in the lid to accomodate a hole for the vaccume cleaner spout
attach clear hose to bleed nipple and the other end into the jar lid and let it protrude into the jar about 50mm
attach vaccume cleaner spout into jar lid and screw the lid onto the jar
turn vaccume cleaner on and undo the bleed nipple wait till fluid is clean and free from bubbles.
then close bleed nipple and go to the next caliper

this is awesome - gotta try it when it's time to change the brake fluid on the Magna. on topic, i've always used a tube with a one-way valve stuck on the end (the cheap one-man brake bleeder kits you can buy) and then gently pumped the pedal, making sure you don't bottom the pedal out as mentioned by Hako.

comes up with acceptable pedal feel however i suspect this vacuum method will result in a firmer pedal.

this is awesome - gotta try it when it's time to change the brake fluid on the Magna. on topic, i've always used a tube with a one-way valve stuck on the end (the cheap one-man brake bleeder kits you can buy) and then gently pumped the pedal, making sure you don't bottom the pedal out as mentioned by Hako.

comes up with acceptable pedal feel however i suspect this vacuum method will result in a firmer pedal.

Yeah I agree, will definitely be giving this a shot in the future! Been lucky so far as the wife has always been around to pump the pedal!!

The only problems I see with Madmagna's method is (1) that after each stroke there is a tendency for the master cylinder on the return stroke to suck back the fluid with bubbles which is why the workshop manual says to hold a finger over the bleeder to prevent this (we used to tighten the bleeder) and (2) pushing the brake pedal all the way to the floor allows the master cylinder piston to enter the back of the cylinder where there may be pitting/corrosion/crap which can damage the piston seal. This used to be a problem back when the MC bore was cast iron and rusted easy, but nowdays the alloy they use is better quality....as long as the fluid is changed regularly.

I and a lot of the trade have been doing this for so many years. The back stroke "may" pull back a tiny bit, but not where near what is pushed out, this is easily proven by the fact that about 12 pumps will near empty one side of the master cyl.

Also, when you undo the bleed nipple, you also get the piston all the way down, if there is any corrosion there, you need to know about that now, not later anyway Have never had an issue on any Mits for for hat matter any car I have ever worked on to be quite honest. Even on my old XT Fairmont no issues.

The reason the manual uses the finger over hte bleed nipple is they are assuming that you have 2 people there, there are 2 main methods of bleeding one person, both of which have been covered and are equally as effective