• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.

    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Vacuum brake bleeder

Nelson

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
I finally got my new brake lines in place and free from the leaks that plagued me before. The tubing I initially bought was evidently too hard to allow forming a proper bubble. Now it is time to bleed the lines. I just bought a Mityvac to help me do the bleeding. In years gone by I used to do the bleeding with a partner pumping the brake pedal. The bleeding was done with the sequence being to start at the farthest wheel from the m/c and working toward the closest. The instructions for the Mityvac state to start with the wheel closest to the m/c. Should I use their recommended sequence since I will be working with a vacuum rather than pressure or should I use the traditional farthest to closest sequence?

Nelson
 
I used the traditional approach, farthest to closest. Guess I didn't realize the Mitvac called for a different procedure. It shouldn't make a difference, because in both cases you're make higher pressure force the fluid towards a lower pressure, and the fluid flows the same direction. Note that the bleeder threads introduce some air bubbles right at the bleeder, so when bleeding with the Mityvac, you'll get some big bubbles from the air in the cylinder, then a stream of small bubbles from the threads. I let gravity force a little fluid out to make sure those little bubbles didn't get lodged in the bleeder before I close it.
 
I'm not too far from you. I'm in Medina. I am the original owner of a Mk 2 Sprite that has been off the road since 73 and is now nearing completion of a total rebuild.

Nelson
 
I grew up in Walton Hills, graduated from Bedford high in 78 and moved to Arizona twenty years ago. Can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone from Northern Ohio.
 
I have a MityVac and it is a great tool to have.
Do the farthest to closest sequence.
 
Back
Top