I am sorry but would it not be more simple to remove your tires remove your brake pads use a c-clamp to compress your brake calipers therefore the system remains closed ,and any air that may have been in the system is expelled . replace your pads,replace your calipers your tires and lugs,check your fluid level.and reservoir cap for tightness pump your breaks until tight. your done.by using a c-clamp to compress the calipers. no need to bleed.same applies to flushing the system , i am sure you will figure it out from here.have a nice day and don't work so hard.
artbyrobot quick bleeder screws will save you a majot headache. You open the bleeder and pump the brakes until the air is out. They have a built in check valve and won't allow air to come back into the line
@leroy Okay this suggestion is absolutely genius and I would have never thought of it in a million years. My solution was outside the box but this solution is WAY outside the box and would work amazingly. I'm very impressed!
Seems to be extra work.. all the extra fluid to make it from caliper to reservoir.. a simple bleeder kit does the same thing with less fluid, just dump the fluid from kit to reservoir
The reason why your brakes were still squishy after you bled the master cylinder is because earlier in the day when you were bleeding the last brake and accidentally ran out of fluid in the reservoir you introduced air into BOTH the master cylinder and into the rear wheel's brake line. Therefore you needed to bleed air out of BOTH the master cylinder and the brake line leading to the rear wheel. You could have remedied this problem by running a long hose from the rear brake to the master cylinder to bleed both the rear brake line and the master cylinder at the same time. If you didn't have a long enough tube to reach from rear of car to master cylinder you could take a short tube and attach it to rear brake bleeder and run it UP into a liquid filled container higher than the brake bleeder. Put the tube end into the liquid in this container. Most people put this container BELOW the bleeder height sometimes requiring around 40 stabs of the brake pedal to eliminate air bubbles. If you put the container ABOVE the bleeder height you will find that it takes 1-5 pumps to bleed the line completely. Please note that this second method will bleed the brake line only. Make sure you bleed the master cylinder by running the tube from either one of your front wheels to the master cylinder reservoir.-MARYLAND MOBILE MECHANIC-Johnpaul.
how about if you just keep the master cylinder topped up and catch the fluid ina reservoir out of a bleeder and just keep bleeding that way? wouldn't the master be rid of air eventually?.. unless im missing something?
I just wanted to leave a quick testimonial on how this video saved me in a pinch. I made the same move when changing just the P/S caliper of my 2008 Impala - I let all the fluid drain out. I couldn't get system pressure, and I thought I was screwed! While watching this vid, I walked to Home Depot and bought 20 ft. of 5/8" hose for $8 (cut to length). It took ALOT of pumping and patience, but it worked like a charm! Thanks, saved me alot of aggravation, time, and money.
Thank you so much for this! I was a mess last night when I couldn’t get a firm pedal and tripped ABS light after replacing my calipers. Then I watched this and it worked like a charm.
Man your method is the BEST... imagine bleeding the MC and each wheel in 4 minutes .... no more air bubbles in the brake system at all... total time bleeding 4 wheels 20 minutes including smoking cigarette and drinking Pepsi .... i can't believe i am done in that short time and having excellent result... perfect brack... i wasted my money buying vacuum shitty tool. again Thank you.
Hell yes after about 4 hours to remove brake booster then doing it again to put on a new master cylinder. I dreaded the thought of having to go through all of that pain and Agony to take the master cylinder off to bench bleed it. You saved me many hand cuts and taking my firearm and shooting my Mazda CX9. I will not pay hundreds of dollars for something I can do. It worked thanks a million. I went a step further and bleed all wheels using this method.😉😉😉😉
Legend! Thanks so much, you saved me! I made the same mistake and let the reservoir get too low when flushing my brake fluid. This method works brilliantly and so quick. Cost me $5 for some nylon tube. I really thought I was going to have to get it towed to a mechanic to remove the master cylinder and bench bleed it. Thanks again
even if it did have to be bench bled, that is very DIY-able. I am DONE with mechanics. Finding an honest or at least low charging mechanic is like finding a unicorn. I had one once but he got too old and slow at getting cars back to me. Had to wait 6 months to get my car back from him once LOL.
working on my car is my way to relax my mind from the outside world..and while working or troubleshooting the car, stumble upon a new and much easy technique to do that particular job is really satisfying.. isn't it?😄
Thanks for taking the time to film and post this. Theoretically I think that you were actually still only bleeding the front left line and in the process getting the air that you may have introduced into the master. The main thing that you accomplished with that loop was to recycle the fluid so that you didn't have to keep refilling or buying more fluid. For anyone that is thinking of doing this, you should make sure to flush all your lines first to get all the old fluid out so that you don't recycle the old fluid back into the master. The coffee filter was definitely a good thing to catch any debris. As you found that once you got that large quantity of air out, the was still air in the other lines and you still needed go back and re-bleed at each wheel, starting with the farthest from the master (back right). The other potential issue is that the air in the "closed loop" line was getting fed back into the master, so if it was a true closed loop the air wouldn't actually escape, so you need to make sure that the looped line is positioned in the master in such a way that the air can escape and doesn't get trapped, thus defeating the purpose. In theory, you could actually create that closed loop at each wheel and bleed the whole system that way, however again I stress that you should probably flush the old fluid first and definitely use a filter.
I watched the entire video... You are aware he was flushing his brake system beforehand and was on the drivers side "the last wheel" when he ran the cylinder dry, right? That would mean the system has all new fluid right? And wasnt the large quantity of air nothing more than air that is in the hose when you buy it off the shelf? What is the "closed loop" you are referring too...The hose he bought or something in the brake line system?
I was able to restore full hydraulic pressure to my brake system because of this video thank u for making it! I already knew I wouldn't have to replace my master, as the reservoir never fully depleted, so no air got into the master cylinder. All I had to do was get the hose (5/16 OD 3/16 ID), and ran it to the baffle in the reservoir. My brother pumped the brakes while I slowly added a small amount of fluid, and amazingly the fluid coming from the reservoir was already immaculate, to the point that once the process was complete I simply drained the hose back into my brake fluid container. Thinking about doing the others just to be certain there's no air in the system whatsoever but I'll have to wait till the weekend lol
Bad idea. You should never reuse brake fluid. It may look clean but it definitely has absorbed moisture from the air and small particles are in it from the brake system.It's cheap, so toss the old fluid.
Great video... I had the exact same problem and searched for a solution. Most suggestions were to remove the master cylinder to resolve the trapped air issue. ABSOLUTE NONSENSE and obviously the dealerships want you to believe this so you won't try it yourself. This man had the right idea with bleeding the MC from the nearest hub, but an even easier option, rather than looping back to the reservoir, is to just let the fluid run into a bottle like you would normally do when bleeding and continually top up the MC. A couple of depressions of the brake pedal and gravity will do the rest for you. You might need to bleed the other brakes in the normal order to make sure all air is expelled but this method most DEFINITELY WORKS!
Heck there are people out there that install master cylinders dry and just get the air out by bleeding the wheels and it works fine,might take a little longer.
Great job! Out of an abundance of paranoia, I was looking for a way to bleed the master cylinder in the event that I let the fluid get too low. I found your video and it was incredibly helpful. Hopefully, I won't have to use it, but I've banked it in my knowledge. Thanks & have a great day! 😊
This method is more effective if you partially or fully fill the vinyl tube with fresh brake fluid first and make sure the tube is raised so that any air will rise away from the nipple. Otherwise, as you let off the brake peddle, air can be sucked back into the brake caliper. Just thought I'd mention that. . .
If you pump the brakes and watch the air going back into the master cylinder. You are correct. When you let off the pedal. All that air can be sucked back into the master cylinder. However…….if you pump the fluid and watch the air go into the master cylinder. You hold the pad Al down for about 5-10 seconds. This will allow time for the air to rise to the top of the master cylinder and pop the bubble. I have bench bled the master cylinder only…..on the car by itself. On an older car, with the ability to see what was going on. I could see down to the bottom of the reservoir. The air bubbles need time to rise and pop. Letting off the pedal too soon doesn’t allow for that. Also…….the fluid should be crystal clear if you can see it. When it is not. It means you have allowed moisture or old fluid or solvent contaminants into the system. When I cleaned my whole system. I flushed it out with brake clean and then compressed air to get rid on it. I forgot to compresses out the master cylinder. When the new fluid was put in. It contaminated with the solvent. I took apart the master cylinder and rebuilt it. Fluid has to be transparent
Thank you for posting this one. My pedal was hitting the floor after changing a front caliper line. I purchased an aquarium pump tube and also used the coffee filter. 2007 Tacoma.
Hi this is very helpful , sometimes I have had air reintroduced from the threads of old or sloppy bleeder screw , in a quick fix till getting a new bleeder screw some mechanics put grease round the screw threads to stop the air getting sucked in when bleeding .
Got caught like you with air trapped in the master cylinder of my mazdaspeed3 during the process of changing brake pads all around. Vehicle was parked in a remote outdoor location which added to my dilemma. Was a bit skeptical at first. Ended up trying it out of pure desperation and it worked great! Just had to go through the process with both front calipers in order to get the brake pedal up. Thanks.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I just did this on my old 2983 Lima Ranger. It worked like a boss! And this is coming from someone who if he came anywhere near the shade tree, he kill it.
Thanks you for making this video! I melted my stock brake pads at the track, front pistons popped out and no brake fluid. The car is still under warranty and I know the dealer would not warranty what ever needed doing... So I decided to do my first brake job. After the first bleed, I could drive it but it was spongy. Bleed, drive, hit ABS, Bleed. I did this 3 times and no real improvement. I then tried this method on the Left Front and bled the other 3 wheels. That gave a 10% improvement. Back to Home Depot to buy a 20 ft cable so I could reach all 4 wheels. I did the LF, RF, RR, LR, then repeated the LF and RF. After I saw no bubbles and a solid line of fluid in the hose. I did 50 more pumps. Now I have my brakes back! I really do think a 20 ft cable is the best because you can check the entire length of the hose to make sure there are no bubbles. Thanks!
I followed your procedure after I replaced the master cylinder. I did this on all 4 wheels. I did not use any other bleeding methods. I could see the bubbles in vinyl tube went through and then disappeared. Thank you so much !!! It worked perfectly on my Toyota Corolla 2007 LE US edition. I bought 2 Russell 639750 speed bleeder. I placed one on front driver and the other rear passenger. The remaining two bleeders are regular bleeders. The Russell speed bleeders work much better than the regular bleeders. But they are very fragile. If you over tight, it will break. The regular bleeders will not break if you over tight. it could not be better on my Toyota Corolla 2007 LE However, I tried your method on my other car: Toyota Corolla 2011 LE. I did not replace the master cylinder on this car. I did replace two bleeders with Russell 639750 speed bleeders: one front driver and one rear passenger. I used your method a bleeding method. The bubbles disappeared after I pressed 30 times/each wheel on the front wheels. It worked perfectly on the front wheels. I TRIED THE SAME WAY ON THE REAR WHEELS. THE BUBBLES WERE SMALLER AND SMALLER. BUT THE BUBBLES WERE STILL IN THE VINYL TUBES AFTER 500 TIMES/EACH WHEEL. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT I DID WRONG? PLEASE NOTE THAT REAR DRIVER IS A REGULAR BLEEDER, REAR PASSENGER IS A RUSSELL 639750 SPEED BLEEDER. MANY THANKS. I FEEL THE BRAKE IS A LITTLE SOFT WHEN I PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL. NO OBVIOUS SIGNS OF OTHER BRAKE PROBLEMS: NO BRAKE FLUID LEAKING, NO BRAKE PAD WEAR, NO BREAK NOISE, BRAKE PERFORMANCE EXCELLENT THOUGH SOFT FEEL, NEW BRAKE FLUID. Russell speed bleeder 639750: www.amazon.com/Russell-639570-Speed-Bleeder/dp/B000CPCOB6/ref=au_as_r?_encoding=UTF8&Make=Toyota%7C76&Model=Corolla%7C1013&Year=2007%7C2007&ie=UTF8&n=15684181&s=automotive&vehicleId=1&vehicleType=automotive
Sounds to me like there is air getting in at the connection with the hose and the bleeder. It would be a good idea to spread silicone grease around all joints to block off any air from entering and I believe this should solve it.
Thanks! Saved my butt as far as I can tell on a Subaru Forester. I messed up on the first bleed I tried instead of the last like you. I think it was good that I started on the front left.
Hi dude. I have just done this in my Fiat Palio and yes, it worked!!!. After doing this I flushed the rest of the calipers to eliminate the rest of old break fluid ... Thanks so much!!!
I never do bleed the master cylinder before mounting it on the vehicle. You can do it that way but it's a waste of time IMO. Really only have to attach line fittings loosely then fill the reservoir and wait a minute or two till fluid begins dripping from the lose fittings, then tighten them. Not so difficult.
@@joserivas2992 I call this "gravity bleeding". It also works for wheel cylinders and calipers in most cases. I forgot to mention, you must leave off the reservoir cap while bleeding, else the brake fluid can't flow downhill through the tubing by the weight of the fluid.
I have replaced rotors and pads multiple time always successful. This time I also replaced calipers, so I had to do a lot more bleeding and, in the process, introduce air to the master cylinder. Thought I'd give your method a try, but it didn't fix the soft pedal. I had to bleed the master cylinder which I did in the car. I wasn't sure it was going to work because after removing the fittings from the master cylinder bleed kit a lot of oil was draining out before I could get the lines installed. After bleeding all 4 again I have a firm pedal and brakes are strong. I did use your tip and purchased 3/16 ID tubing which fits the bleed screw without leaking. Using the 3/16 tubing and a hole drilled in the cap of a power aid bottle sitting on top of a cinder block to get it above the bleed screw. This setup made bleeding easy without a helper. This one went 10 rounds, but I won. Thanks for your tip.
When you removed the bleeder fittings from the master cylinder, that stuff you saw leaking is just remnants of whats left in the holes, technically you can get a brand new booster and fill it to the brim with fluid and it might weep a little but its not gonna empty on you (unless you leave it sitting over night), once you start using that plunger it opens the ports and then, oh yeah, you'll have fluid everywhere. The bowels of a master cylinder are a lot bigger than people think ,there's a lot of fluid in there.
Artbyrobot what a great video thanks for taking the time to make it.Took me about 30 minutes to do the master cylinder and all 4 calibers ...this method worked for me thanks for posting it.
Howzit genius. End of bench bleed unless you want to remove and replace master. Brilliant idea. Two points i like to add to this procedure. Shorten the tube a bit. Prime the tube most of the way with fluid before attaching to nipple and reservoir. Im busy with trying to figure out why my pedal drops after a while on the road. Still brakes ok though. All wheels bled. Still same. No leaks. Booster and master fine. Will now try this new master bleed method and see how it goes. Its a ford ranger 2.2 diesel. Your method makes absolute sense even without the presentation. Thank you mr einstein. From south africa.
Thanks for the great video and tips. Couple of points I'd like to add: Even if you messed up the original task & got air into the lines, I think it was really worthwhile replacing all the used fluid with new. I wouldn't like any old fluid recirculating back into the master cylinder. The seal on the main piston is too important to risk damage so the coffee filter was a good idea but there's also rust, moisture and other grime in solution to consider - a $2 generic inline fuel filter might also have worked well there. I have a "new old stock" master cylinder for an old vehicle about to fit. The reason for the replacement is the old cylinder seal got worse after it was actuated too far on a previous brake bleed. In that case, (& the main reason we're warned against fully depressing the pedal) there was most likely a ridge formed in the old cylinder over which the seal was scraped as it rammed past, ruining it. A final point: As brake fluid is quite hygroscopic (absorbs water from the surrounding air), the whole time I kept seeing your new fluid bottle with its lid off! I wish you'd capped it between top-ups. It's the other reason the master cylinder has a sealed lid - we shouldn't leave it open to the air for too long and preferably, choose a day of low relative humidity to do a job like this. Thanks again.
HELL YEA!! Good JOB...That's using your head...I work on cars, and I applaud your response...I'm going to look up Hygroscopic...Thank you for thinking of ---> "Action Reaction" We need a lot more thinking in our Country ...God Bless"
I was unaware of pressing the brake pedal down too far on the brake flush/bleed job I did on my jeep and I know I pushed that pedal to the floor many times while bleeding. I follow Chris Fix and he gave me the confidence to do the job, but he makes no mention of the importance of this action. I did introduce air into the cylinder and that is why im here on this post. Im praying the spongy pedal I have is resolved by getting the air out of he system and doesnt require me to replace the brake cylinder. :(
@@miloo318 to be fair, I suspect that's only an issue on older cars like mine (a 1980 WB Holden) which probably still had the same master cylinder for 37 years before I replaced it. After so many years of the piston bearing against the same section of cylinder wall, it creates a ridge at the top of travel, not dissimilar to the combustion cylinders where the pistons reach TDC.
Btw, that new cylinder has made a huge difference because it also prevents air entering the lines like the old one used to - so the brakes haven't needed bleeding for years now. I also treated myself to a vacuum bleeder kit - a simple hand-operated vacuum pump that makes one-man brake bleeding a lot easier. I already had a one-man kit which was basically a short length of tubing with a one-way valve but the way I stow it in a jar between bleeds means it's retained a tight curl and now requires weighting to keep it vertical and in a jar (I cut a hole in a plastic lid insert to hold it in place). Mainly, the biggest issue that I have with the one-man kit is needing to be at the pedal rather than the bleed screw so I have to trust that levels are right - that I'm not overflowing and/or the bubbles are all out as well as trusting that the reservoir level hasn't dropped too low. With the vacuum pump, you just draw out the fluid and air and even though you can't see what's happening at the cylinder end, you have more confidence that everything is ok because you can clearly see how much fluid is being drawn out. It's also less hassle and much quicker to do the job.
@@TechNed Thank you for your response. I hope you are right that one brake bleeding episode doesnt ruin a brake cylinder. I do have a spongy brake so I am hoping if I can get the master cylinder bled I will be in good shape. Some are talking about bleeding a proportional valve that is in some way affiliated with the ABS to resolve spongy brake. Who knows!
Cool man! I might need to do this on my frontier. What a suspense to watch... was waiting for that celebratory remark. Thanks again and all the best to your channel
I did me brakes, and rotor, and had an issue with my banjo bolt leaking, I was so frustrated, I just let all the fluid out without pinching the line figuring i need to flush my brake fluid anyways. Fortunately I found this video, and it's now been two years and my brakes still work with no issue. One thing to be aware of, if you are doing this, have a few big bootles of brake fluid. I used up over 2 bottles because I didn't know what I was doing. You can always return them if it's not open.
Kudos ! A clever workaround to removing master cylinder. Just a thought, if there is access you can do a so-called bench bleed on the car, using the same bench bleed tubes as you would on your workbench, or do it by loosening the tubing connections to the M/C with the help of an assistant on the pedal, and lots of rags wrapped around the fitting, but being careful to not release the pedal until the fitting is closed. Of course you would do each half of the M/C separately. 4 or 5 strokes ought to do it.Also you are the first I have seen on RUclips that shows any concern for introducing debris into the M/C.The coffee filter is ingenious, I will start using one.I'm surprised at how many RUclips videos start out with removing a protective screen, which invariably does not get replaced until they are all done.Nice Job Art.
Mike, I did the same damn thing, I got distracted and missed refilling my brake reservoir causing it to run empty while pumping brakes. I have a spongy brake pedal now, which I didnt have beforehand. Can I use your method to get the air out of the brake cylinder, with the cylinder remaining on the car (Jeep Wrangler)? Im not sure this will resolve my issue bc I do have ABS and im reading something about having to bleed that too! Plus, I have since learned pushing the pedal all the way to the floor can and will damage the piston seal. I did this many times in an attempt to get all air out of the system on my brake flush.
Even if you didn't need to bleed the master, just cycling the fluid thru the coffee filter to collect any debree should be a good maintenance thing to do. Thank you for uploading this.
Just gave this a try. It did not work perfectly, but I was also doing it on a brand new master cylinder. It did make a marked improvement though, I think a good gravity bleed would take all of the air out of my system at this point. Thanks for the video.
Just started to watch this and I would say straight off you tend to get air bubbles suspended in the fluid at the bleed nipple and these may take a long time to get out if you pump them back in.
Was getting ready to remove my master cylinder after air got in when replacing all 4 calipers... Came across this video and it worked like a charm!! I couldnt believe it, saved me the headache taking the MC off for a bench bleed.
Leo, Tell me how you did it, please. I got air inn my MC the same ay he did. I dont want to take the cylinder off. He bleed only from the drivers side to get the air out of the MC, Did you do the same thing since you replace all four calipers?
@@miloo318 Hey, ya I did the same thing he did. Ran a CLEAR hose from whichever caliper was closest to the MC, Front Driver's for me, making sure the seal was tight on the bleeder valve and then crack the valve open. I then stuck the other end of the hose as deep as I could without forcing in the reservoir for the MC, I taped this end on to make sure it stayed in place. The I Slowly pumped the brake pedal, just make sure you keep an eye on the MC fluid level and top up when it gets low making sure to never let it go lower than the opening of the hose. Took some time before I started seeing the air gaps in the hose but once I did I just kept slowly pumping the pedal until I saw no air bubbles for a good 10 - 15 pumps... whole process took around 20 minutes. Also, don't press the pedal all the way down to the floor... I was stopping about 3/4 way down. After that I just bleed the rest of the lines using the one man bleeder while never letting the MC empty.
@@leodoiron9106 I will heed your advice moving forward but I have already mashed the pedal to the floor many times when bleeding my brake system. I realize now I may have ruined my brake cylinder. Chris Fix ( I subscribe to him and his video gave me the confidence to tackle this project) never talked about this in his how to brake bleeding video. How far along were you, (what wheel were you on) during your bleeding process when you failed to put fluid in the reservoir? I had bled my right rear, left rear and was on passenger (right) front when I ran out of fluid in the reservoir.
If I understand well, you are simply applying the communicating vessels principle: by keeping the hose full of fluid AND above the level that's inside the master cylinder, you are forcing the air inside this system to come above. You can actually just fill the hose with fluid and insert it tight at the bottom of a jar filled with fluid located at the same level as the master cylinder, then pump the brakes a few times (perhaps even just keeping the brake pedal depressed would allow the air to come above). As others mentioned here, it may be good to repeat the same at one rear wheel (just place the jar above the wheel but at the same level from the ground as what the master cylinder is located), to bleed the rest of the master cylinder. Don't hesitate to correct me if you think I'm wrong.
It is my understanding that you are repeatedly pressing the brakes hundreds of times which churns up trapped air inside the master cylinder and you are moving that air bubble filled fluid down and out through the caliper nipple and then it ends up back in the reservoir where the trapped air bubbles surface and leave the fluid. Over time, all the air escapes according to this path. Just depressing the pedal would not work.
Thanks for posting this video. I did exactly what you did on my 66 mustang. After market master cylinde whicj i was not able to bench bleed so my brakes were not working. I got the hose at home depot for $5.00 and now my brakes works perfect
sort of but also the difference is moving 5 gallons or more of fluid through and using small pumps to aerate the fluid and get rid of the trapped air in the cylinder by churning up the air bubbles into the fluid. It is many many small taps on the brakes that work out all of that air. You have to recycle the fluid in this way unless you want to use 5+ gallons of brake fluid at $5/16oz
@@artbyrobot1 I've suffered the same fate as you and accidentally let it drop and get air in. I've got through two litres of brake fluid and then started to re use it but I have to keep moving from collection bottle to the reservoir by hand. It's taking forever. I wish I had some tubing like this handy. One extra problem I've realised is that air is getting in through the threads of the bleed nipple
Thanks!!! I had a caliper (driver's front) The seals blew and poured all the fluid out of the master cylinder. I attached a hose to both front calipers and back to the master cyl, I watched the air going through the tubing, the tubing only cost $6 at home depot. WORKED GREAT!!! 2015 Dodge Charger,,, tip for ya,,, When I crack a bleeder loose for the first time, I quickly take it all the way out, put some anti-seize on the threads, and tighten as usual. Use a 6 point wrench on them,, NEVER broke one!
I have a 2005 997 Porsche Carrera. I had my calipers rebuilt and polymer coated. I also added new rotors and changed my flexible brake lines. After reassembly, I used my Motive System to bleed the brakes. After four rounds of bleeding, the pedal still did not feel right. I used this method, as I had no one to help me. The Porsche calipers have two bleed valves per caliper. I bled the front four. I pumped the pedal until there was continuous fluid in the clear hose. You can see the air and feel the difference in the pedal. It took many presses of the pedal to achieve the continuous fluid, however, it did work to get all the air out of the system. Thanks.
The Motive Power bleeder is a great bleeder. I purchased one just to use on my C2 and C3 Corvettes years back because they are some of the worst cars to bleed. It came with the same adapter just for the 2nd and 3rd generation Corvettes. Power bleeders mount to the top of a Master Cylinder. Comes with a large plastic bottle that fills with brake fluid. Has a pump and gauge. You pump the bottle up to a certain pressure. Can't remember the pressure but I believe it is 20 pounds as of the moment and just let it sit under the hood. You then use a bottle and clear hose and take it from wheel to wheel. Put the hose on your bleeder screw, a box wrench to your bleeder and bleed away. Sometimes you can bleed the whole car without having to pump the plastic cylinder again. They are great but you need too many adapters today if you want to use it on many vehicles the reason I vacuum pump all other vehicles I work on today.
Fill the hose with fluid first before attaching to the bleeder. Make sure there is no air in the line. Use gravity to get the air out... then attach and pump the brakes. Makes sense to me....
I thought this too! But wouldnt putting fluid into the tube make it harder for the air to travel into the hose that already has fluid into it versus just the existing air?
Same results when you use a Mt. Dew bottle with a short tube, hanging from the shock bolt. No need to run the tube all the way up to the master cylinder. It does work good and only takes 1 person to do it.
yes, however, my aim was to do small brake pumps to churn up and remove the air over the course of moving say 5 gallons of fluid through the system. That would be a LOT of reservoir top-ups using the bottle method whereas using my method you get auto reservoir top-ups.
This method is only helpful if you can get the master cylinder itself level. Otherwise air will likely still be trapped. Alternatively you may be able to get away with the mc tilted forward (down) slightly.
Thank you for making that point. Remarkably I've searched online and asked on reddit and no one ever mentioned that. Could be why I'm having so much trouble.
I did the same thing you did on my 2002 Blazer LS air in the MC. I will try this method in your video as soon as I can get back to it and will let you know how it worked, Thanks !
This is an interesting idea. You still have the concern of the master running low and introducing air into the system, again. The hose is so long, it will take, at least, a full master cylinder to fill it. So, I don't see the advantage, unless you prefilled the hose, which you didn't. To bleed the master, simply disconnect the lines from the master and connect a hose from those holes in the side of the master to the top of it to drain back into the master. The air escapes and refills the master. Once that air is out of the master, reconnect the brake lines. Yes, there will be a small bubble at each line when reconnected but, bleed the lines again. This will save on cost of a 20' hose and an extra bottle of fluid. Your long hose also will have to be emptied when complete......waste and potentially messy. I guess I don't see this process as efficient. Wow, you just said you have a vaccum bleeder. This whole process is a waste of effort. Just vacuum bleed the system making sure to watch the level of fluid in the master this time.....done in 10 minutes. Dude, don't empty the hose until the job is done. You have to keep filling it. Better yet, just stop and vacuum bleed.
I have replaced all my bleeder valves with speed bleeders. They have a one-way valve inside so fluid goes out, but air doesn't go back in. You put them in just like regular bleeder valves. To bleed, you loosen 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn, put a vinyl hose on the valve as usual, and pump the brakes. No 2nd person needed. I just replaced a broken brake line. After I bled the brakes, I still have pedal to the floor. I'll try bleeding the MC, and re-bleed the brakes.
Hi Art,Great Just did mine,but my hose was miles shorter than yours (had a job getting that first LOOONG bubble into the res. Eventually got there..and all the rest followed easy. It's a hairs breath between shut and open on the bleed screw though ;) Gotta bleed my 3 other wheels,Great tutorial Art. Cheers Again Phil,Liverpool UK
Why can't you just run a hose from the caliper to the brake fluid on the ground isn't that the same as running it to the master cylinder as long as the master cylinder doesn't run dry
You can also leave the master cylinder on and bench bleed with your hands by disconnecting the two lines and having someone press & hold the brakes, and the tightly press two fingers over the master cylinders brake-line output holds while putting strong pressure while the helper let's off the brakes to prevent air coming in. Rinse and repeat and you will eventually see no air bubbles coming out past your fingers. Takes about 15-30 pump & holds! Never did this method, but I guess I could find some crystal clear silicone fuel tubing with zip ties over tube on bleeder screws.
This works quite well, I just did this myself with a slight modification, I attached an extra hose to my rear calipers as well. To those that don't think this works, you guys need to go look at how bench bleeding is done, it's the exact same principle as with this, pump fluid through the ports on the master cylinder until all air is gone, and there are master cylinder bleeder kits that essentially does the same thing as this, which is rerouting back the fluid pushed through the ports back so you don't need a ton of fluid. The only issue with this video is that he didn't have a hose on one of his rear calipers, which should be fine since the air got in when he was bleeding one of the front caliper, but in my experience, air will go into any space that isn't filled with other stuff, so better attach a hose to the rear as well. Also, if you really want to do this thoroughly, and bleed the master cylinder and calipers at the same time, I suggest you buy a few 3 way fittings and connect the hoses together from all calipers, then route them back to the reservoir, then just pump till all the hoses show no bubbles at all, then have a friend hold the brake pedal down when you close off the bleeder screws one by one (pump a few times, hold, close one bleeder, repeat).
We did it!! Thank you so much man! Just did this after a ton of work and almost having to buy a new master cylinder and bench bleed. Awesome video man. Saved me a lot of money👌
This worked perfectly on a 2005 Chevy Cobalt LT 2.2 liter! I did all four wheels, starting farthest from the master cylinder, and working forward. I replaced a master cylinder in this customer's car and had what I finally guess was just air in the lines and hopefully not a bad booster. Sure enough, it was just air and this method solved it! Thank you!
You could accomplish the same thing by attaching a short length of hose to the caliper and put the other end into a bottle with enough fluid to submerge the end of the hose. As you filled the bottle you could just close the bleeder and empty the bottle back into the master. No need to fill up that long hose. That is actually a great way to bleed each caliper.
I have a rear motorcycle master cylinder I just rebuilt and I can't get the air out. On a motorcycle the rear caliper is really close to the master cylinder reservoir so I won't need such a long piece of hose, but this idea should work. Thanks!
IF you can get to the fittings on the booster... no bench bleeding. You can use the fittings as bleeder valves. With them snug, have someone pump up the brakes and while they hold it, crack open the fitting on the front, the air will come out. Snug it. Have them let off the pedal. Fluid will be pulled out of the reservoir. Do both ports. Then bleed the calipers and wheel cylinder as usual.
I've been fighting a brake problem since April on my Audi. I've changed the master, booster and vacuum pump and am now to the point to bleeding AGAIN. I rebled my master only to have all the fluid leak out while I attached the lines which are not easy. I was thinking about bleeding a master is just a return hose, why not attach the hose to the calipers? A little searching and I found your video - you confirmed my plan! I will get tubing tomorrow along with another quart of fluid and do it the simple way. As a suggestion, instead of the coffee filter why not use a small engine fuel filter spliced into your hose? Also, if you put your tubing on the ground plugging off the open end and then gently pry the other end off the bleeder you won't spill a drop - as long as the open end is lower than the bleeder end. Thank you in advance!
great idea, but you only did one side of the master.i would have done all 4 wheels(no need to remove wheels) the hose is cheap enough.just turn the wheels to access the bleeders in the front, and go under the rear to access the rear wheels. then you would bleed the entire system. both the rear and front journals of the master cylinder as well as the abs modules ,calipers wheel cylinders(if drums in the rear)and lines to the wheels. and whallah!! COMPLETE!! bleed. im gonna do this to my 06 ranger,as i think it has issues with air in the master and or abs unit after changing a line. thanks art.
The video is titled Easiest Master Bleed. It is about bleeding the master cylinder not the entire system. Bleeding your brakes is a pretty standard widely understood process. This is for bleeding the master cylinder without needing to remove it to bench bleed it. At the end of the video he says he will go and bleed each brake now.
@therockkkkher yeah but all David Magazzi suggests to do afterwards is a normal brake bleed of each wheel. That's easy and a very common thing to do with how to steps easy to find. I did bleed the 4 wheels afterwards but this video saved my butt and I couldn't find similar instructions elsewhere. (I tried bleeding the 4 wheels first but did not solve the problem until I followed the steps in this video first).
After you’re done with the hose, it Sure will waste a lot of fluid. What a waste of good clean fluid. You sure talk a lot to your camera. Lol. Good job
This was a simple low cost method without a bunch of expensive tools. Forcing fluid up from the wheel cylinder would require some type of pump. Costs more than a few bucks of plastic hose.
That's totally ingenious! My mom and dad's 2005 Buick Century master cylinder went out a couple weeks ago. They don't have the money to send it to the shop and I can't find a bench bleeder kit to work with their car. Out of all the master cylinders I have replaced, diy, I had the idea years ago to do it like this but wasn't sure if it would really work. Now I wish I had. Thanks for posting this.
So what are the chances of stuck trash in the system, downstream from the master cylinder dislodging And returning into the resevoir with you method? Recontaminate the master cylinder and tear a seal internally? Buy, or make the small return tubes. Or Bench bleed the master cylinder.
probably good chances but that is why I put a coffee filter so no worries. Also, I fully bled the system prior to this process so it was already new fluid in it.
I would never recommend letting the fluid come out from the caliper and putting it back into your brand new master cylinder, what you have now is old dirty fluid mixed in with the new fluid on your brand new master cylinder, it would have been a much smarter idea to run the hose into a clean soda bottle and topping off the master cylinder every three pumps or maybe even every two pumps, you will be able to tell when all the new fluid is coming from the bleeder valve into the bottle just by its color and when you get a stretch steady stream of Queen fluid going into the soda bottle you can close the bleeder and pull the hose off, and do that at each wheel if you want to change out all the fluid, if you're not really worried about the fluid that exists in the line already you really only needed to bleed at the farthest wheel on the front and back, pumping the old fluid from the wheel cylinder back into the brand new master cylinder is a very foolish thing to do, it is more likely for contamination to ruin the master cylinder then the wheel cylinder or caliper.
@@markquinlan6406 but didn't he say he already bled all 4 cylinders/ wheels previously? Saying they all had new fluid and bled any noticeable air out of each? If so, wouldn't that basically prevent that issue? Plus, added coffee filter? ( not too sure about the coffee filter/ twist tie thing, but....). It wouldn't be perfect...but wouldn't that essentially avoid that recirculating contaminated fluid issue? I'm just asking....not claiming fact. I'm just trying to learn. Thnx
I'm really hoping this works for me too, as when I replaced the wheel studs on my century I took off the wrong bolts on the caliper, along with loosening the bleeder, both of which were unnecessary. That model of Buick has two other bolts that hold on the bracket that attaches the brake system to the rotor and I went in all gung ho thinking I knew what I was getting myself into 😂...I lost quite a bit of fluid but not so much that I depleted the reservoir, so I'm going to try this method when my brother gets back from the store
I'm scratching my head trying to determine how this is any different from the self bleeding your brakes method. Seems like the same method but instead of running the tube into a cup of fluid as you described, he's running a longer tube back to the fluid reservoir...which is a cup with fluid in it.
I bought a 99 jeep grand cherokee cheap that had no brakes whatsoever. Master cylinder has been completely dry for some time. Now that I have replaced all 4 rotors, brake pads and one caliper along with the two new brake lines I will have to give this a shot.
The ideal behind bench bleeding is to move the MC piston its entire range while MC is level, thus pushing any air out. You are not moving the piston its entire range and air bubbles will still be trapped in the MC.
You can probably add a inline filter to the tubing. I wpuld probably bench bleed any ways (without kit) prior to this method and since i have a civic with 2 calipers, i can probably do both at the same time. I dont think ive ever had my brake fluid that airless before. Gonna be a good braking experience.
Good technique but you only bled the air out of the primary side of the master. You would need to repeat this with one of the rear wheels to bleed the secondary side of the master cylinder
wrong. bleeding in this method anywhere but the wheel nearest the master would introduce air into the rest of the system including potentially the abs system and then you have huge problems on your hands. that is terrible advice you just gave.
A master cylinder has two separate hydraulic systems - a primary for the front brakes and a secondary for the rear brakes. Some cars have the primary control the front right and left rear and the secondary front left and right rear. Apart from in the reservoir there's NO fluid connection between the two circuits (not in an ABS pump or in a proportioning valve or combination valve) so that if fluid is lost from one of the circuits the other still works. So air from one circuit cannot cross over into the other.
if that were actually true, it does not explain how mechanics get away with bleeding just at the wheel closest to the cylinder and get all the air out. what you are suggesting would indicate that only up to half the air could get out and you are guaranteed to introduce air into the rest of the system when you bleed from the other wheels. This means introducing air into the abs system which is to be avoided
I disagree about getting air into the abs system, it is a closed hydraulic system isolated from the chassis brake fluid by pistons that are controlled by valves. I do agree that he is getting air out of only one half of the M/C. I would bleed the Master cylinder out at its two tubing connections, one at a time of course until you do not see any more air coming out, you will also hear it - this method takes practise, but still has to be followed up with the all wheel bleeding as he suggested. If in doubt bench bleed, and if there is room this can be done on the car. Brake fluid is the cheapest component of a brake system - so if in doubt bleed some more. It's worth the peace of mind to use a bit extra and it isn't something you can keep around once it's been opened anyway.
It seems like what you are describing is basically bleeding the one wheel. I don't understand how your are doing anything different then that. I would love to see the difference. If that is what you are doing then it would stand to reason that any time you bleed the brakes the you would push the air ought of the master cylinder. I agree master cylinders are divided into two sections as a safety situation. Short concise videos are the best.
There must be a reason why people bench bleed first. How does this method remove the trapped air? I don't see how this method is any different from just topping off your master cylinder from the bottle, as you bleed from the wheel cylinders. Judging from the comments, it must work. I just want to understand how it gets rid of the trapped air when the normal way doesn't.
Great video. I just did exactly the same thing as you, so this will help a lot. Do you only need to run this process off of one caliper? Also, doesn't the air you send out from cylinder just get sent back in via the tube? or is it then dissipated when it hits the fluid in the reservoir? Thanks.
cool! Thanks for letting me know! I'm so glad this is helping someone since the idea of pulling out the dang thing is shuddering to even consider! haha
as to your question, it worked for me via just the one caliper and then a full bleed of each caliper (a full brake flush of whole car). However, some people do what I did with the one caliper on all 4 calipers and that is probably an even more certain way to do it. But the person who recommended this technique and does it all the time (pro mechanic) said he just does the one caliper and then a normal brake flush of all brakes after
To answer your second question, the fluid reservoir is where the air escapes the tube in the form of bubbles and escapes out of the top opening of the reservoir. The bubbles rise and leave the system.
I may try this method but I plan to use a vacuum pump to suck the air from the cap. I got a cap from the junkyard and plan to modify it with a barb fitting so I can hook up my homemade vacuum pump to it.
just gotta be very careful when moving around the car if bleeding out other calipers using the same long hose method.dont want to get any fluid that might end up on the tube outer coming into contact with your paintwork.
You can pump it from the callipers also back up to master cylinder with a pump as after this you still have to bleed all the brakes as the cervo could of pushed air to another line
The master cylinder is suppose to be full with fluid and then be capped off to bleed it by using the brake pedal. Bleeding with a vacuum bleeder you leave the cap off. Didn't like what I was seeing when you tried to vacuum bleed it. Based on the little fluid you were getting out of the bleeder into the hose it seemed like you were trying to bleed with the cap on the Reservoir a common mistake people do using that vacuum type of tool your are using. I know I have the exact same vacuum tool. You kept squeezing and pumping and getting basically no fluid but a lot of air. With the Cap off of the reservoir 3 or 4 squeezes or pumps and you should stop. Look at your gauge and you should of built up 30-40 pounds of pressure on the vacuum pump as the needle will drop as it pulls fluid into the system and out of the caliper into the little bottle that is suppose to be in the clear line between the Caliper and vacuum tool. When you stop seeing bubbles in the clear line attached to the caliper you are bleeding tighten the bleeder and go to the next furthest wheel from the Master Cylinder. The sequence is Passenger rear to Drivers rear to Passenger Front to Driver Front right next to the master cylinder. I tell you this from experience 38 years as a owner in the Auto Parts business. Retired 5 years now.
The cap was off. Maybe air was getting in through the cap of the vacuum hose plastic container which required me to keep pumping to maintain enough suction.
artbyrobot could be. There is a very thin O-Ring under the plastic cap of the little bottle that comes with the vacuum bleeder that might of been missing. What you are suppose to do before anything is test your equipment and not assume it is working correctly. Put your finger over the hose you plan to connect to the bleeder and pump squeeze the vacuum tool 2-3 times and look at the gauge to see if it is holding vacuum. Only then knowing it is holding vacuum should you use the tool. There is a little pin off the side of the gauge to release the vacuum when working with the tool if you need to let off the vacuum pull. This way you are not introducing Air into the system.
Could be. There is a very thin O-Ring between the cap and bottle on the bleeder. With it missing or damaged in some way it would leak and not hold a vacuum. You are suppose to test your Vacuum tool out before starting to bleed by placing your finger over the hose that will be going over the bleeder screw attached to the little bottle and pumping 2-3 times watching the gauge to see if it is holding vacuum. The needle should not drop at all. You should have to push in the pin on the gauge to release the vacuum or let go of the hose from your finger for it to lose vacuum. Otherwise using the vacuum bleeder like that you are only introducing air into the system. There is no way you could of gotten the air out of the system using the tool the way you did. Not picking on you just pointing out the obvious. Give you a lot of credit for producing the video but as you saw you have a lot of people following this video thinking everything you did was the right thing to do. As I mentioned earlier pumping the brakes with the cap off of the Brake Reservoir will also bring air into the system. You should never do that. If you have a link to the video you saw that told you to do that I would like to see it. Are you sure they weren't telling you to use a vacuum tool instead being the system would be open with the cap off of the top of the Master cylinder Reservoir? I am suspect about that because pumping the brake pedal with the cap open is a no no.
You are suppose to check your vacuum tool first to make sure it is holding vacuum by holding your finger over the hose you plan on putting on the bleeder screw with that little bottle attached. 2-3 squeezes of the trigger on the vacuum pump and look at the gauge. The needle in the gauge should not move a bit showing the unit is holding vacuum. You should have to push the needle on the gauge to release that vacuum or take your finger off the hose. The way you did it you were just introducing more air to the system and there is no way you pulled the air out of the system doing what you did when bleeding. I could see it in the video. You should of had a steady stream of fluid coming out of the hose looking for bubbles going to that little bottle in between the brake caliper and vacuum pump. Pumping again once all vacuum is shown to be lost until the air bubbles stop. Not continuing to pump and pump. Not picking on you here. Just pointing out the obvious. Give you plenty of credit for producing your video but you have people coming to it here on RUclips thinking everything you did was the proper procedure and it wasn't. For the heck of it if you don't mine can you post the link to the video showing you how to bench bleed the M/C like you did on the car. I would like to take a look at it.
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I am sorry but would it not be more simple to remove your tires remove your brake pads use a c-clamp to compress your brake calipers therefore the system remains closed ,and any air that may have been in the system is expelled . replace your pads,replace your calipers your tires and lugs,check your fluid level.and reservoir cap for tightness pump your breaks until tight. your done.by using a c-clamp to compress the calipers. no need to bleed.same applies to flushing the system , i am sure you will figure it out from here.have a nice day and don't work so hard.
artbyrobot quick bleeder screws will save you a majot headache. You open the bleeder and pump the brakes until the air is out. They have a built in check valve and won't allow air to come back into the line
@leroy Okay this suggestion is absolutely genius and I would have never thought of it in a million years. My solution was outside the box but this solution is WAY outside the box and would work amazingly. I'm very impressed!
what the hell that is incredible! I didn't know that exists! Amazing suggestion man!
Seems to be extra work.. all the extra fluid to make it from caliper to reservoir.. a simple bleeder kit does the same thing with less fluid, just dump the fluid from kit to reservoir
The reason why your brakes were still squishy after you bled the master cylinder is because earlier in the day when you were bleeding the last brake and accidentally ran out of fluid in the reservoir you introduced air into BOTH the master cylinder and into the rear wheel's brake line. Therefore you needed to bleed air out of BOTH the master cylinder and the brake line leading to the rear wheel. You could have remedied this problem by running a long hose from the rear brake to the master cylinder to bleed both the rear brake line and the master cylinder at the same time. If you didn't have a long enough tube to reach from rear of car to master cylinder you could take a short tube and attach it to rear brake bleeder and run it UP into a liquid filled container higher than the brake bleeder. Put the tube end into the liquid in this container. Most people put this container BELOW the bleeder height sometimes requiring around 40 stabs of the brake pedal to eliminate air bubbles. If you put the container ABOVE the bleeder height you will find that it takes 1-5 pumps to bleed the line completely. Please note that this second method will bleed the brake line only. Make sure you bleed the master cylinder by running the tube from either one of your front wheels to the master cylinder reservoir.-MARYLAND MOBILE MECHANIC-Johnpaul.
how about if you just keep the master cylinder topped up and catch the fluid ina reservoir out of a bleeder and just keep bleeding that way? wouldn't the master be rid of air eventually?.. unless im missing something?
How is the air actually leaving the MC with this method?
im gonna need alotta tube
@@jbbolts exactly 😂
@@miloo318 it aint
I just wanted to leave a quick testimonial on how this video saved me in a pinch. I made the same move when changing just the P/S caliper of my 2008 Impala - I let all the fluid drain out. I couldn't get system pressure, and I thought I was screwed! While watching this vid, I walked to Home Depot and bought 20 ft. of 5/8" hose for $8 (cut to length). It took ALOT of pumping and patience, but it worked like a charm! Thanks, saved me alot of aggravation, time, and money.
"Man I hope this doesn't work, I don't wanna rob myself of the chance to do my first bench bleed," said no one ever lol, gj man
Thank you so much for this! I was a mess last night when I couldn’t get a firm pedal and tripped ABS light after replacing my calipers. Then I watched this and it worked like a charm.
Couldn't figure out why my calipers weren't releasing and my pads just stuck to rotor- this was the solution. Thanks for the vid and safe traveling!
Have 93 Honda Accord brake calipers locking up Wonder if I have to do the same thing to get them to release
Man your method is the BEST... imagine bleeding the MC and each wheel in 4 minutes .... no more air bubbles in the brake system at all... total time bleeding 4 wheels 20 minutes including smoking cigarette and drinking Pepsi .... i can't believe i am done in that short time and having excellent result... perfect brack... i wasted my money buying vacuum shitty tool. again Thank you.
Hell yes after about 4 hours to remove brake booster then doing it again to put on a new master cylinder. I dreaded the thought of having to go through all of that pain and Agony to take the master cylinder off to bench bleed it. You saved me many hand cuts and taking my firearm and shooting my Mazda CX9. I will not pay hundreds of dollars for something I can do. It worked thanks a million. I went a step further and bleed all wheels using this method.😉😉😉😉
yes the consensus from the comments was to bleed all wheels with this method and I agree with it. Glad this video helped you!
@Mike Hey do you remember if you jacked up the car for the master cylinder is leveled first
Legend! Thanks so much, you saved me! I made the same mistake and let the reservoir get too low when flushing my brake fluid. This method works brilliantly and so quick. Cost me $5 for some nylon tube. I really thought I was going to have to get it towed to a mechanic to remove the master cylinder and bench bleed it. Thanks again
even if it did have to be bench bled, that is very DIY-able. I am DONE with mechanics. Finding an honest or at least low charging mechanic is like finding a unicorn. I had one once but he got too old and slow at getting cars back to me. Had to wait 6 months to get my car back from him once LOL.
Please tell me how you did it :)
@@miloo318i think thats what the video is for,lol
working on my car is my way to relax my mind from the outside world..and while working or troubleshooting the car, stumble upon a new and much easy technique to do that particular job is really satisfying.. isn't it?😄
true
5/16 OD 3/16 ID size vinyl. Awesome video I love good research from DIY guys.
Thanks for taking the time to film and post this. Theoretically I think that you were actually still only bleeding the front left line and in the process getting the air that you may have introduced into the master. The main thing that you accomplished with that loop was to recycle the fluid so that you didn't have to keep refilling or buying more fluid. For anyone that is thinking of doing this, you should make sure to flush all your lines first to get all the old fluid out so that you don't recycle the old fluid back into the master. The coffee filter was definitely a good thing to catch any debris. As you found that once you got that large quantity of air out, the was still air in the other lines and you still needed go back and re-bleed at each wheel, starting with the farthest from the master (back right). The other potential issue is that the air in the "closed loop" line was getting fed back into the master, so if it was a true closed loop the air wouldn't actually escape, so you need to make sure that the looped line is positioned in the master in such a way that the air can escape and doesn't get trapped, thus defeating the purpose. In theory, you could actually create that closed loop at each wheel and bleed the whole system that way, however again I stress that you should probably flush the old fluid first and definitely use a filter.
I watched the entire video... You are aware he was flushing his brake system beforehand and was on the drivers side "the last wheel" when he ran the cylinder dry, right? That would mean the system has all new fluid right? And wasnt the large quantity of air nothing more than air that is in the hose when you buy it off the shelf? What is the "closed loop" you are referring too...The hose he bought or something in the brake line system?
No need to recycle that old garbage fluid
@@j-deezy321thats not the recycling hes talking about ,lol
I was able to restore full hydraulic pressure to my brake system because of this video thank u for making it! I already knew I wouldn't have to replace my master, as the reservoir never fully depleted, so no air got into the master cylinder. All I had to do was get the hose (5/16 OD 3/16 ID), and ran it to the baffle in the reservoir. My brother pumped the brakes while I slowly added a small amount of fluid, and amazingly the fluid coming from the reservoir was already immaculate, to the point that once the process was complete I simply drained the hose back into my brake fluid container. Thinking about doing the others just to be certain there's no air in the system whatsoever but I'll have to wait till the weekend lol
Bad idea. You should never reuse brake fluid. It may look clean but it definitely has absorbed moisture from the air and small particles are in it from the brake system.It's cheap, so toss the old fluid.
Great video... I had the exact same problem and searched for a solution. Most suggestions were to remove the master cylinder to resolve the trapped air issue. ABSOLUTE NONSENSE and obviously the dealerships want you to believe this so you won't try it yourself. This man had the right idea with bleeding the MC from the nearest hub, but an even easier option, rather than looping back to the reservoir, is to just let the fluid run into a bottle like you would normally do when bleeding and continually top up the MC. A couple of depressions of the brake pedal and gravity will do the rest for you. You might need to bleed the other brakes in the normal order to make sure all air is expelled but this method most DEFINITELY WORKS!
Heck there are people out there that install master cylinders dry and just get the air out by bleeding the wheels and it works fine,might take a little longer.
Great job! Out of an abundance of paranoia, I was looking for a way to bleed the master cylinder in the event that I let the fluid get too low. I found your video and it was incredibly helpful. Hopefully, I won't have to use it, but I've banked it in my knowledge. Thanks & have a great day! 😊
This method is more effective if you partially or fully fill the vinyl tube with fresh brake fluid first and make sure the tube is raised so that any air will rise away from the nipple. Otherwise, as you let off the brake peddle, air can be sucked back into the brake caliper. Just thought I'd mention that. . .
If you pump the brakes and watch the air going back into the master cylinder. You are correct. When you let off the pedal. All that air can be sucked back into the master cylinder. However…….if you pump the fluid and watch the air go into the master cylinder. You hold the pad Al down for about 5-10 seconds. This will allow time for the air to rise to the top of the master cylinder and pop the bubble.
I have bench bled the master cylinder only…..on the car by itself. On an older car, with the ability to see what was going on. I could see down to the bottom of the reservoir. The air bubbles need time to rise and pop. Letting off the pedal too soon doesn’t allow for that.
Also…….the fluid should be crystal clear if you can see it. When it is not. It means you have allowed moisture or old fluid or solvent contaminants into the system. When I cleaned my whole system. I flushed it out with brake clean and then compressed air to get rid on it. I forgot to compresses out the master cylinder. When the new fluid was put in. It contaminated with the solvent. I took apart the master cylinder and rebuilt it. Fluid has to be transparent
Thank you for posting this one. My pedal was hitting the floor after changing a front caliper line. I purchased an aquarium pump tube and also used the coffee filter. 2007 Tacoma.
Can you share the details of your experience please?
I messed up the brakes in my '12 BMW 650i exactly the same way you did. Got it fixed following your method. Brakes operate like new now - Thank You!
Awesome, glad the video helped!
Can you tell me what brake caliper you bleed from that fixed your problem?
@@miloo318 Front, Left. The one closest to the reservoir.
It is possible to draw air from loosened bleeder at caliper, put heavy bearing grease around threads at caliper bleeder, prob solved!
Hi this is very helpful , sometimes I have had air reintroduced from the threads of old or sloppy bleeder screw , in a quick fix till getting a new bleeder screw some mechanics put grease round the screw threads to stop the air getting sucked in when bleeding .
"We did it!" is correct. It worked. Thanks Dude!
Got caught like you with air trapped in the master cylinder of my mazdaspeed3 during the process of changing brake pads all around. Vehicle was parked in a remote outdoor location which added to my dilemma. Was a bit skeptical at first. Ended up trying it out of pure desperation and it worked great! Just had to go through the process with both front calipers in order to get the brake pedal up. Thanks.
Now possible way to introduce air changing pads.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I just did this on my old 2983 Lima Ranger. It worked like a boss! And this is coming from someone who if he came anywhere near the shade tree, he kill it.
That a 1983 Ranger. Tech ain’t my thing either.
Thanks you for making this video!
I melted my stock brake pads at the track, front pistons popped out and no brake fluid.
The car is still under warranty and I know the dealer would not warranty what ever needed doing...
So I decided to do my first brake job. After the first bleed, I could drive it but it was spongy.
Bleed, drive, hit ABS, Bleed. I did this 3 times and no real improvement.
I then tried this method on the Left Front and bled the other 3 wheels. That gave a 10% improvement.
Back to Home Depot to buy a 20 ft cable so I could reach all 4 wheels.
I did the LF, RF, RR, LR, then repeated the LF and RF.
After I saw no bubbles and a solid line of fluid in the hose. I did 50 more pumps.
Now I have my brakes back!
I really do think a 20 ft cable is the best because you can check the entire length of the hose to make sure there are no bubbles.
Thanks!
I followed your procedure after I replaced the master cylinder. I did this on all 4 wheels. I did not use any other bleeding methods. I could see the bubbles in vinyl tube went through and then disappeared. Thank you so much !!! It worked perfectly on my Toyota Corolla 2007 LE US edition.
I bought 2 Russell 639750 speed bleeder. I placed one on front driver and the other rear passenger. The remaining two bleeders are regular bleeders. The Russell speed bleeders work much better than the regular bleeders. But they are very fragile. If you over tight, it will break. The regular bleeders will not break if you over tight. it could not be better on my Toyota Corolla 2007 LE
However, I tried your method on my other car: Toyota Corolla 2011 LE. I did not replace the master cylinder on this car. I did replace two bleeders with Russell 639750 speed bleeders: one front driver and one rear passenger. I used your method a bleeding method. The bubbles disappeared after I pressed 30 times/each wheel on the front wheels. It worked perfectly on the front wheels.
I TRIED THE SAME WAY ON THE REAR WHEELS. THE BUBBLES WERE SMALLER AND SMALLER. BUT THE BUBBLES WERE STILL IN THE VINYL TUBES AFTER 500 TIMES/EACH WHEEL. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT I DID WRONG? PLEASE NOTE THAT REAR DRIVER IS A REGULAR BLEEDER, REAR PASSENGER IS A RUSSELL 639750 SPEED BLEEDER. MANY THANKS. I FEEL THE BRAKE IS A LITTLE SOFT WHEN I PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL. NO OBVIOUS SIGNS OF OTHER BRAKE PROBLEMS: NO BRAKE FLUID LEAKING, NO BRAKE PAD WEAR, NO BREAK NOISE, BRAKE PERFORMANCE EXCELLENT THOUGH SOFT FEEL, NEW BRAKE FLUID.
Russell speed bleeder 639750: www.amazon.com/Russell-639570-Speed-Bleeder/dp/B000CPCOB6/ref=au_as_r?_encoding=UTF8&Make=Toyota%7C76&Model=Corolla%7C1013&Year=2007%7C2007&ie=UTF8&n=15684181&s=automotive&vehicleId=1&vehicleType=automotive
Sounds to me like there is air getting in at the connection with the hose and the bleeder. It would be a good idea to spread silicone grease around all joints to block off any air from entering and I believe this should solve it.
Thanks! Saved my butt as far as I can tell on a Subaru Forester. I messed up on the first bleed I tried instead of the last like you. I think it was good that I started on the front left.
Hi dude. I have just done this in my Fiat Palio and yes, it worked!!!. After doing this I flushed the rest of the calipers to eliminate the rest of old break fluid ... Thanks so much!!!
I never do bleed the master cylinder before mounting it on the vehicle. You can do it that way but it's a waste of time IMO. Really only have to attach line fittings loosely then fill the reservoir and wait a minute or two till fluid begins dripping from the lose fittings, then tighten them. Not so difficult.
that's100% smarter way!!
@@joserivas2992 I call this "gravity bleeding". It also works for wheel cylinders and calipers in most cases. I forgot to mention, you must leave off the reservoir cap while bleeding, else the brake fluid can't flow downhill through the tubing by the weight of the fluid.
I have replaced rotors and pads multiple time always successful. This time I also replaced calipers, so I had to do a lot more bleeding and, in the process, introduce air to the master cylinder. Thought I'd give your method a try, but it didn't fix the soft pedal. I had to bleed the master cylinder which I did in the car. I wasn't sure it was going to work because after removing the fittings from the master cylinder bleed kit a lot of oil was draining out before I could get the lines installed. After bleeding all 4 again I have a firm pedal and brakes are strong. I did use your tip and purchased 3/16 ID tubing which fits the bleed screw without leaking. Using the 3/16 tubing and a hole drilled in the cap of a power aid bottle sitting on top of a cinder block to get it above the bleed screw. This setup made bleeding easy without a helper. This one went 10 rounds, but I won. Thanks for your tip.
When you removed the bleeder fittings from the master cylinder, that stuff you saw leaking is just remnants of whats left in the holes, technically you can get a brand new booster and fill it to the brim with fluid and it might weep a little but its not gonna empty on you (unless you leave it sitting over night), once you start using that plunger it opens the ports and then, oh yeah, you'll have fluid everywhere.
The bowels of a master cylinder are a lot bigger than people think ,there's a lot of fluid in there.
Artbyrobot what a great video thanks for taking the time to make it.Took me about 30 minutes to do the master cylinder and all 4 calibers ...this method worked for me thanks for posting it.
Howzit genius. End of bench bleed unless you want to remove and replace master. Brilliant idea. Two points i like to add to this procedure. Shorten the tube a bit. Prime the tube most of the way with fluid before attaching to nipple and reservoir. Im busy with trying to figure out why my pedal drops after a while on the road. Still brakes ok though. All wheels bled. Still same. No leaks. Booster and master fine. Will now try this new master bleed method and see how it goes. Its a ford ranger 2.2 diesel. Your method makes absolute sense even without the presentation. Thank you mr einstein. From south africa.
do it to all wheels though
Thanks for the great video and tips. Couple of points I'd like to add: Even if you messed up the original task & got air into the lines, I think it was really worthwhile replacing all the used fluid with new. I wouldn't like any old fluid recirculating back into the master cylinder. The seal on the main piston is too important to risk damage so the coffee filter was a good idea but there's also rust, moisture and other grime in solution to consider - a $2 generic inline fuel filter might also have worked well there. I have a "new old stock" master cylinder for an old vehicle about to fit. The reason for the replacement is the old cylinder seal got worse after it was actuated too far on a previous brake bleed. In that case, (& the main reason we're warned against fully depressing the pedal) there was most likely a ridge formed in the old cylinder over which the seal was scraped as it rammed past, ruining it. A final point: As brake fluid is quite hygroscopic (absorbs water from the surrounding air), the whole time I kept seeing your new fluid bottle with its lid off! I wish you'd capped it between top-ups. It's the other reason the master cylinder has a sealed lid - we shouldn't leave it open to the air for too long and preferably, choose a day of low relative humidity to do a job like this. Thanks again.
HELL YEA!! Good JOB...That's using your head...I work on cars, and I applaud your response...I'm going to look up Hygroscopic...Thank you for thinking of ---> "Action Reaction" We need a lot more thinking in our Country ...God Bless"
I was unaware of pressing the brake pedal down too far on the brake flush/bleed job I did on my jeep and I know I pushed that pedal to the floor many times while bleeding. I follow Chris Fix and he gave me the confidence to do the job, but he makes no mention of the importance of this action. I did introduce air into the cylinder and that is why im here on this post. Im praying the spongy pedal I have is resolved by getting the air out of he system and doesnt require me to replace the brake cylinder. :(
@@miloo318 to be fair, I suspect that's only an issue on older cars like mine (a 1980 WB Holden) which probably still had the same master cylinder for 37 years before I replaced it. After so many years of the piston bearing against the same section of cylinder wall, it creates a ridge at the top of travel, not dissimilar to the combustion cylinders where the pistons reach TDC.
Btw, that new cylinder has made a huge difference because it also prevents air entering the lines like the old one used to - so the brakes haven't needed bleeding for years now. I also treated myself to a vacuum bleeder kit - a simple hand-operated vacuum pump that makes one-man brake bleeding a lot easier. I already had a one-man kit which was basically a short length of tubing with a one-way valve but the way I stow it in a jar between bleeds means it's retained a tight curl and now requires weighting to keep it vertical and in a jar (I cut a hole in a plastic lid insert to hold it in place). Mainly, the biggest issue that I have with the one-man kit is needing to be at the pedal rather than the bleed screw so I have to trust that levels are right - that I'm not overflowing and/or the bubbles are all out as well as trusting that the reservoir level hasn't dropped too low. With the vacuum pump, you just draw out the fluid and air and even though you can't see what's happening at the cylinder end, you have more confidence that everything is ok because you can clearly see how much fluid is being drawn out. It's also less hassle and much quicker to do the job.
@@TechNed Thank you for your response. I hope you are right that one brake bleeding episode doesnt ruin a brake cylinder. I do have a spongy brake so I am hoping if I can get the master cylinder bled I will be in good shape. Some are talking about bleeding a proportional valve that is in some way affiliated with the ABS to resolve spongy brake. Who knows!
Cool man! I might need to do this on my frontier. What a suspense to watch... was waiting for that celebratory remark. Thanks again and all the best to your channel
Jomar, you did this and it worked? Do you have ABS? Did you have to do anything with the ABS system?
I did me brakes, and rotor, and had an issue with my banjo bolt leaking, I was so frustrated, I just let all the fluid out without pinching the line figuring i need to flush my brake fluid anyways. Fortunately I found this video, and it's now been two years and my brakes still work with no issue. One thing to be aware of, if you are doing this, have a few big bootles of brake fluid. I used up over 2 bottles because I didn't know what I was doing. You can always return them if it's not open.
Kudos ! A clever workaround to removing master cylinder. Just a thought, if there is access you can do a so-called bench bleed on the car, using the same bench bleed tubes as you would on your workbench, or do it by loosening the tubing connections to the M/C with the help of an assistant on the pedal, and lots of rags wrapped around the fitting, but being careful to not release the pedal until the fitting is closed. Of course you would do each half of the M/C separately. 4 or 5 strokes ought to do it.Also you are the first I have seen on RUclips that shows any concern for introducing debris into the M/C.The coffee filter is ingenious, I will start using one.I'm surprised at how many RUclips videos start out with removing a protective screen, which invariably does not get replaced until they are all done.Nice Job Art.
Mike, I did the same damn thing, I got distracted and missed refilling my brake reservoir causing it to run empty while pumping brakes. I have a spongy brake pedal now, which I didnt have beforehand. Can I use your method to get the air out of the brake cylinder, with the cylinder remaining on the car (Jeep Wrangler)? Im not sure this will resolve my issue bc I do have ABS and im reading something about having to bleed that too! Plus, I have since learned pushing the pedal all the way to the floor can and will damage the piston seal. I did this many times in an attempt to get all air out of the system on my brake flush.
Even if you didn't need to bleed the master, just cycling the fluid thru the coffee filter to collect any debree should be a good maintenance thing to do. Thank you for uploading this.
I like your picture-in-picture video method. Great video!
I tried this and it works PERFECTLY! Brakes feel like a new!!!
Did u have to bleed the other 3 side?
Just gave this a try. It did not work perfectly, but I was also doing it on a brand new master cylinder. It did make a marked improvement though, I think a good gravity bleed would take all of the air out of my system at this point. Thanks for the video.
Did you get your brakes fixed back to normal? Exactly what is the gravity brake bleed method?
Thanks for this video! Got me out of a jam and was much easier than the route I was going to take!
Just started to watch this and I would say straight off you tend to get air bubbles suspended in the fluid at the bleed nipple and these may take a long time to get out if you pump them back in.
Was getting ready to remove my master cylinder after air got in when replacing all 4 calipers... Came across this video and it worked like a charm!! I couldnt believe it, saved me the headache taking the MC off for a bench bleed.
Leo, Tell me how you did it, please. I got air inn my MC the same ay he did. I dont want to take the cylinder off. He bleed only from the drivers side to get the air out of the MC, Did you do the same thing since you replace all four calipers?
@@miloo318 Hey, ya I did the same thing he did. Ran a CLEAR hose from whichever caliper was closest to the MC, Front Driver's for me, making sure the seal was tight on the bleeder valve and then crack the valve open. I then stuck the other end of the hose as deep as I could without forcing in the reservoir for the MC, I taped this end on to make sure it stayed in place. The I Slowly pumped the brake pedal, just make sure you keep an eye on the MC fluid level and top up when it gets low making sure to never let it go lower than the opening of the hose.
Took some time before I started seeing the air gaps in the hose but once I did I just kept slowly pumping the pedal until I saw no air bubbles for a good 10 - 15 pumps... whole process took around 20 minutes.
Also, don't press the pedal all the way down to the floor... I was stopping about 3/4 way down.
After that I just bleed the rest of the lines using the one man bleeder while never letting the MC empty.
@@leodoiron9106 I will heed your advice moving forward but I have already mashed the pedal to the floor many times when bleeding my brake system. I realize now I may have ruined my brake cylinder. Chris Fix ( I subscribe to him and his video gave me the confidence to tackle this project) never talked about this in his how to brake bleeding video. How far along were you, (what wheel were you on) during your bleeding process when you failed to put fluid in the reservoir? I had bled my right rear, left rear and was on passenger (right) front when I ran out of fluid in the reservoir.
Will do mine tomorrow,to sore to finish putting all new brake lines,looks good to me,thx for video.
I feel your comment. I’m old.
Nice job man. I like how the master cylinder didn't have to be removed.
If I understand well, you are simply applying the communicating vessels principle: by keeping the hose full of fluid AND above the level that's inside the master cylinder, you are forcing the air inside this system to come above. You can actually just fill the hose with fluid and insert it tight at the bottom of a jar filled with fluid located at the same level as the master cylinder, then pump the brakes a few times (perhaps even just keeping the brake pedal depressed would allow the air to come above). As others mentioned here, it may be good to repeat the same at one rear wheel (just place the jar above the wheel but at the same level from the ground as what the master cylinder is located), to bleed the rest of the master cylinder. Don't hesitate to correct me if you think I'm wrong.
It is my understanding that you are repeatedly pressing the brakes hundreds of times which churns up trapped air inside the master cylinder and you are moving that air bubble filled fluid down and out through the caliper nipple and then it ends up back in the reservoir where the trapped air bubbles surface and leave the fluid. Over time, all the air escapes according to this path. Just depressing the pedal would not work.
Thanks for posting this video. I did exactly what you did on my 66 mustang. After market master cylinde whicj i was not able to bench bleed so my brakes were not working. I got the hose at home depot for $5.00 and now my brakes works perfect
AMAZING! Comments like this are so gratifying after making the effort to put out a DIY video!
this is just a standard brake bleed but using the hose from the caliper to perform an auto topup of the master cylinder.
sort of but also the difference is moving 5 gallons or more of fluid through and using small pumps to aerate the fluid and get rid of the trapped air in the cylinder by churning up the air bubbles into the fluid. It is many many small taps on the brakes that work out all of that air. You have to recycle the fluid in this way unless you want to use 5+ gallons of brake fluid at $5/16oz
@@artbyrobot1 I've suffered the same fate as you and accidentally let it drop and get air in. I've got through two litres of brake fluid and then started to re use it but I have to keep moving from collection bottle to the reservoir by hand. It's taking forever. I wish I had some tubing like this handy. One extra problem I've realised is that air is getting in through the threads of the bleed nipple
@@peepiepo silicone grease thick around all the threads will fix that issue
Thanks!!! I had a caliper (driver's front) The seals blew and poured all the fluid out of the master cylinder. I attached a hose to both front calipers and back to the master cyl, I watched the air going through the tubing, the tubing only cost $6 at home depot. WORKED GREAT!!! 2015 Dodge Charger,,, tip for ya,,, When I crack a bleeder loose for the first time, I quickly take it all the way out, put some anti-seize on the threads, and tighten as usual. Use a 6 point wrench on them,, NEVER broke one!
that is a fantastic tip!
I had a similar experience to yours, letting the level get too low while bleeding. Your system worked like a charm. Thanks
I did this from the only bleeder valve I had not stuck my rear passenger and it worked awesome...
I have a 2005 997 Porsche Carrera. I had my calipers rebuilt and polymer coated. I also added new rotors and changed my flexible brake lines. After reassembly, I used my Motive System to bleed the brakes. After four rounds of bleeding, the pedal still did not feel right. I used this method, as I had no one to help me. The Porsche calipers have two bleed valves per caliper. I bled the front four. I pumped the pedal until there was continuous fluid in the clear hose. You can see the air and feel the difference in the pedal. It took many presses of the pedal to achieve the continuous fluid, however, it did work to get all the air out of the system. Thanks.
Awesome sounds like I helped someone! :)
The Motive Power bleeder is a great bleeder. I purchased one just to use on my C2 and C3 Corvettes years back because they are some of the worst cars to bleed. It came with the same adapter just for the 2nd and 3rd generation Corvettes. Power bleeders mount to the top of a Master Cylinder. Comes with a large plastic bottle that fills with brake fluid. Has a pump and gauge. You pump the bottle up to a certain pressure. Can't remember the pressure but I believe it is 20 pounds as of the moment and just let it sit under the hood. You then use a bottle and clear hose and take it from wheel to wheel. Put the hose on your bleeder screw, a box wrench to your bleeder and bleed away. Sometimes you can bleed the whole car without having to pump the plastic cylinder again. They are great but you need too many adapters today if you want to use it on many vehicles the reason I vacuum pump all other vehicles I work on today.
@@ffas23 can you plz msg me at 6099705936
Just bleed my master cylinder with this trick, worked perfectly!👍🏻 Saved me a trip to the dealer.
Fill the hose with fluid first before attaching to the bleeder. Make sure there is no air in the line. Use gravity to get the air out... then attach and pump the brakes. Makes sense to me....
I thought this too! But wouldnt putting fluid into the tube make it harder for the air to travel into the hose that already has fluid into it versus just the existing air?
Same results when you use a Mt. Dew bottle with a short tube, hanging from the shock bolt. No need to run the tube all the way up to the master cylinder. It does work good and only takes 1 person to do it.
yes, however, my aim was to do small brake pumps to churn up and remove the air over the course of moving say 5 gallons of fluid through the system. That would be a LOT of reservoir top-ups using the bottle method whereas using my method you get auto reservoir top-ups.
This method is only helpful if you can get the master cylinder itself level. Otherwise air will likely still be trapped. Alternatively you may be able to get away with the mc tilted forward (down) slightly.
A picture to help see. rs45.pbsrc.com/albums/f63/3454545/Illustrative%20Pictures/Brakes/Master%20Cylinder%20Bleeding.gif?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
Thank you for making that point. Remarkably I've searched online and asked on reddit and no one ever mentioned that. Could be why I'm having so much trouble.
@@Oblithian nice link arsehole
I did the same thing you did on my 2002 Blazer LS air in the MC. I will try this method in your video as soon as I can get back to it and will let you know how it worked, Thanks !
How did it go?
This is an interesting idea. You still have the concern of the master running low and introducing air into the system, again. The hose is so long, it will take, at least, a full master cylinder to fill it. So, I don't see the advantage, unless you prefilled the hose, which you didn't.
To bleed the master, simply disconnect the lines from the master and connect a hose from those holes in the side of the master to the top of it to drain back into the master. The air escapes and refills the master. Once that air is out of the master, reconnect the brake lines. Yes, there will be a small bubble at each line when reconnected but, bleed the lines again.
This will save on cost of a 20' hose and an extra bottle of fluid. Your long hose also will have to be emptied when complete......waste and potentially messy.
I guess I don't see this process as efficient.
Wow, you just said you have a vaccum bleeder. This whole process is a waste of effort. Just vacuum bleed the system making sure to watch the level of fluid in the master this time.....done in 10 minutes.
Dude, don't empty the hose until the job is done. You have to keep filling it. Better yet, just stop and vacuum bleed.
I have replaced all my bleeder valves with speed bleeders. They have a one-way valve inside so fluid goes out, but air doesn't go back in. You put them in just like regular bleeder valves. To bleed, you loosen 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn, put a vinyl hose on the valve as usual, and pump the brakes. No 2nd person needed.
I just replaced a broken brake line. After I bled the brakes, I still have pedal to the floor. I'll try bleeding the MC, and re-bleed the brakes.
Me too. They're fantastic.
i didnt realize the logic of this simple contraption/concept. Thanks dude!
Hi Art,Great Just did mine,but my hose was miles shorter than yours (had a job getting that first LOOONG bubble into the res.
Eventually got there..and all the rest followed easy. It's a hairs breath between shut and open on the bleed screw though ;)
Gotta bleed my 3 other wheels,Great tutorial Art.
Cheers Again Phil,Liverpool UK
Why can't you just run a hose from the caliper to the brake fluid on the ground isn't that the same as running it to the master cylinder as long as the master cylinder doesn't run dry
You can also leave the master cylinder on and bench bleed with your hands by disconnecting the two lines and having someone press & hold the brakes, and the tightly press two fingers over the master cylinders brake-line output holds while putting strong pressure while the helper let's off the brakes to prevent air coming in. Rinse and repeat and you will eventually see no air bubbles coming out past your fingers.
Takes about 15-30 pump & holds!
Never did this method, but I guess I could find some crystal clear silicone fuel tubing with zip ties over tube on bleeder screws.
This works quite well, I just did this myself with a slight modification, I attached an extra hose to my rear calipers as well. To those that don't think this works, you guys need to go look at how bench bleeding is done, it's the exact same principle as with this, pump fluid through the ports on the master cylinder until all air is gone, and there are master cylinder bleeder kits that essentially does the same thing as this, which is rerouting back the fluid pushed through the ports back so you don't need a ton of fluid. The only issue with this video is that he didn't have a hose on one of his rear calipers, which should be fine since the air got in when he was bleeding one of the front caliper, but in my experience, air will go into any space that isn't filled with other stuff, so better attach a hose to the rear as well. Also, if you really want to do this thoroughly, and bleed the master cylinder and calipers at the same time, I suggest you buy a few 3 way fittings and connect the hoses together from all calipers, then route them back to the reservoir, then just pump till all the hoses show no bubbles at all, then have a friend hold the brake pedal down when you close off the bleeder screws one by one (pump a few times, hold, close one bleeder, repeat).
I completely agree you are dead on with everything you said.
can u find a pic of such 3 way fittings to connect all 4 caliper bleeders and route to reservoir? thx
@@dee6816 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017UXJBDQ this is what I used
Brilliant solution! Best part of video was your elation, at the end.
We did it!! Thank you so much man! Just did this after a ton of work and almost having to buy a new master cylinder and bench bleed. Awesome video man. Saved me a lot of money👌
This worked perfectly on a 2005 Chevy Cobalt LT 2.2 liter! I did all four wheels, starting farthest from the master cylinder, and working forward.
I replaced a master cylinder in this customer's car and had what I finally guess was just air in the lines and hopefully not a bad booster. Sure enough, it was just air and this method solved it! Thank you!
Thanks for the video. It saved me a lot of grief!
You could accomplish the same thing by attaching a short length of hose to the caliper and put the other end into a bottle with enough fluid to submerge the end of the hose. As you filled the bottle you could just close the bleeder and empty the bottle back into the master. No need to fill up that long hose. That is actually a great way to bleed each caliper.
Just be careful not to loosen the bleeder nut to much as it can leak air into the wheel cylinder through the threads of the bleeder nut.
use grease or vasaline around the thread
I have a rear motorcycle master cylinder I just rebuilt and I can't get the air out. On a motorcycle the rear caliper is really close to the master cylinder reservoir so I won't need such a long piece of hose, but this idea should work. Thanks!
9:55 that moment of excitement......I felt that! Thank you for this. Socks and flops though. Lol.
This worked like a d@mn charm. Huge save for me after I stupidly sucked air into the master. Many thanks!
IF you can get to the fittings on the booster... no bench bleeding.
You can use the fittings as bleeder valves. With them snug, have someone pump up the brakes and while they hold it, crack open the fitting on the front, the air will come out. Snug it. Have them let off the pedal. Fluid will be pulled out of the reservoir. Do both ports.
Then bleed the calipers and wheel cylinder as usual.
Does the the cap to the reservoir need to be on or off when doing all of the bleeding?
Does the reservoir cap need to be on?
I've been fighting a brake problem since April on my Audi. I've changed the master, booster and vacuum pump and am now to the point to bleeding AGAIN. I rebled my master only to have all the fluid leak out while I attached the lines which are not easy. I was thinking about bleeding a master is just a return hose, why not attach the hose to the calipers? A little searching and I found your video - you confirmed my plan! I will get tubing tomorrow along with another quart of fluid and do it the simple way. As a suggestion, instead of the coffee filter why not use a small engine fuel filter spliced into your hose? Also, if you put your tubing on the ground plugging off the open end and then gently pry the other end off the bleeder you won't spill a drop - as long as the open end is lower than the bleeder end. Thank you in advance!
great idea, but you only did one side of the master.i would have done all 4 wheels(no need to remove wheels) the hose is cheap enough.just turn the wheels to access the bleeders in the front, and go under the rear to access the rear wheels. then you would bleed the entire system. both the rear and front journals of the master cylinder as well as the abs modules ,calipers wheel cylinders(if drums in the rear)and lines to the wheels. and whallah!! COMPLETE!! bleed. im gonna do this to my 06 ranger,as i think it has issues with air in the master and or abs unit after changing a line. thanks art.
The video is titled Easiest Master Bleed. It is about bleeding the master cylinder not the entire system. Bleeding your brakes is a pretty standard widely understood process. This is for bleeding the master cylinder without needing to remove it to bench bleed it. At the end of the video he says he will go and bleed each brake now.
@therockkkkher yeah but all David Magazzi suggests to do afterwards is a normal brake bleed of each wheel. That's easy and a very common thing to do with how to steps easy to find. I did bleed the 4 wheels afterwards but this video saved my butt and I couldn't find similar instructions elsewhere. (I tried bleeding the 4 wheels first but did not solve the problem until I followed the steps in this video first).
After you’re done with the hose, it Sure will waste a lot of fluid. What a waste of good clean fluid. You sure talk a lot to your camera. Lol. Good job
the reservoir is a air tight chamber when the caps on.try the other way going vertical.bubbles like to go up,not down..its fights gravity.
This was a simple low cost method without a bunch of expensive tools. Forcing fluid up from the wheel cylinder would require some type of pump. Costs more than a few bucks of plastic hose.
“Thumbs up” for the coffee filter trick! 😎🇩🇪🚙
That's totally ingenious! My mom and dad's 2005 Buick Century master cylinder went out a couple weeks ago. They don't have the money to send it to the shop and I can't find a bench bleeder kit to work with their car. Out of all the master cylinders I have replaced, diy, I had the idea years ago to do it like this but wasn't sure if it would really work. Now I wish I had. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks I'm glad it helped! Positive comments are few and far between so I appreciate reading one from time to time.
Thanks for this information on bleeding brakes. Going to do this tomorrow when my new cylinder comes in.
So what are the chances of stuck trash in the system, downstream from the master cylinder dislodging
And returning into the resevoir with you method? Recontaminate the master cylinder and tear a seal internally?
Buy, or make the small return tubes. Or Bench bleed the master cylinder.
probably good chances but that is why I put a coffee filter so no worries. Also, I fully bled the system prior to this process so it was already new fluid in it.
I would never recommend letting the fluid come out from the caliper and putting it back into your brand new master cylinder, what you have now is old dirty fluid mixed in with the new fluid on your brand new master cylinder, it would have been a much smarter idea to run the hose into a clean soda bottle and topping off the master cylinder every three pumps or maybe even every two pumps, you will be able to tell when all the new fluid is coming from the bleeder valve into the bottle just by its color and when you get a stretch steady stream of Queen fluid going into the soda bottle you can close the bleeder and pull the hose off, and do that at each wheel if you want to change out all the fluid, if you're not really worried about the fluid that exists in the line already you really only needed to bleed at the farthest wheel on the front and back, pumping the old fluid from the wheel cylinder back into the brand new master cylinder is a very foolish thing to do, it is more likely for contamination to ruin the master cylinder then the wheel cylinder or caliper.
@@markquinlan6406 but didn't he say he already bled all 4 cylinders/ wheels previously? Saying they all had new fluid and bled any noticeable air out of each? If so, wouldn't that basically prevent that issue? Plus, added coffee filter? ( not too sure about the coffee filter/ twist tie thing, but....). It wouldn't be perfect...but wouldn't that essentially avoid that recirculating contaminated fluid issue? I'm just asking....not claiming fact. I'm just trying to learn. Thnx
hi, you mentioned you found several sources during your research doing same method. Plze share those sources. Thx
I'm really hoping this works for me too, as when I replaced the wheel studs on my century I took off the wrong bolts on the caliper, along with loosening the bleeder, both of which were unnecessary. That model of Buick has two other bolts that hold on the bracket that attaches the brake system to the rotor and I went in all gung ho thinking I knew what I was getting myself into 😂...I lost quite a bit of fluid but not so much that I depleted the reservoir, so I'm going to try this method when my brother gets back from the store
Did it work?
Many thanks for this. I think I have air in my ABS unit, but this will help eliminate the MC as the culprit
Or you could use a cup of fluid to drop the tube into right under the bleed valve.Air goes out,new fluid goes in.
I'm scratching my head trying to determine how this is any different from the self bleeding your brakes method. Seems like the same method but instead of running the tube into a cup of fluid as you described, he's running a longer tube back to the fluid reservoir...which is a cup with fluid in it.
@@rednroll1 Totally agree. You are jut bleeding your front driver side brake and just recycling the fluid
I bought a 99 jeep grand cherokee cheap that had no brakes whatsoever. Master cylinder has been completely dry for some time. Now that I have replaced all 4 rotors, brake pads and one caliper along with the two new brake lines I will have to give this a shot.
I just wonder why so many keep asking why he is starting with the left front brake... Pay attention! Watch from the beginning and listen....
The ideal behind bench bleeding is to move the MC piston its entire range while MC is level, thus pushing any air out. You are not moving the piston its entire range and air bubbles will still be trapped in the MC.
Great - a guy who say righty tighty (25:11) is teaching me a thing or two about car brakes, Thanks
You can probably add a inline filter to the tubing. I wpuld probably bench bleed any ways (without kit) prior to this method and since i have a civic with 2 calipers, i can probably do both at the same time. I dont think ive ever had my brake fluid that airless before. Gonna be a good braking experience.
Good technique but you only bled the air out of the primary side of the master. You would need to repeat this with one of the rear wheels to bleed the secondary side of the master cylinder
wrong. bleeding in this method anywhere but the wheel nearest the master would introduce air into the rest of the system including potentially the abs system and then you have huge problems on your hands. that is terrible advice you just gave.
A master cylinder has two separate hydraulic systems - a primary for the front brakes and a secondary for the rear brakes. Some cars have the primary control the front right and left rear and the secondary front left and right rear. Apart from in the reservoir there's NO fluid connection between the two circuits (not in an ABS pump or in a proportioning valve or combination valve) so that if fluid is lost from one of the circuits the other still works. So air from one circuit cannot cross over into the other.
if that were actually true, it does not explain how mechanics get away with bleeding just at the wheel closest to the cylinder and get all the air out. what you are suggesting would indicate that only up to half the air could get out and you are guaranteed to introduce air into the rest of the system when you bleed from the other wheels. This means introducing air into the abs system which is to be avoided
I disagree about getting air into the abs system, it is a closed hydraulic system isolated from the chassis brake fluid by pistons that are controlled by valves. I do agree that he is getting air out of only one half of the M/C. I would bleed the Master cylinder out at its two tubing connections, one at a time of course until you do not see any more air coming out, you will also hear it - this method takes practise, but still has to be followed up with the all wheel bleeding as he suggested. If in doubt bench bleed, and if there is room this can be done on the car. Brake fluid is the cheapest component of a brake system - so if in doubt bleed some more. It's worth the peace of mind to use a bit extra and it isn't something you can keep around once it's been opened anyway.
It seems like what you are describing is basically bleeding the one wheel. I don't understand how your are doing anything different then that. I would love to see the difference. If that is what you are doing then it would stand to reason that any time you bleed the brakes the you would push the air ought of the master cylinder.
I agree master cylinders are divided into two sections as a safety situation.
Short concise videos are the best.
There must be a reason why people bench bleed first. How does this method remove the trapped air? I don't see how this method is any different from just topping off your master cylinder from the bottle, as you bleed from the wheel cylinders. Judging from the comments, it must work. I just want to understand how it gets rid of the trapped air when the normal way doesn't.
Awesome video! Thank you! What size, grade etc. tubing did you use?
Its vinyl tubing from the hardware store I mention the exact measurements in the video but don't remember off hand. Glad the video is helping people!
Thank you!
as a side note, the bleeder nipples on different cars are different sizes so your tubing inside diameter may need to be larger than mine.
He says in the video the inner diameter of the tubing is 3/16 and the outer is 5/16
Don't go off that, if you don't have tubing at home, just take your bleeder valve to the hardware shop......; }
Pretty cool man especially for all DIY gus
Great video. I just did exactly the same thing as you, so this will help a lot. Do you only need to run this process off of one caliper? Also, doesn't the air you send out from cylinder just get sent back in via the tube? or is it then dissipated when it hits the fluid in the reservoir? Thanks.
cool! Thanks for letting me know! I'm so glad this is helping someone since the idea of pulling out the dang thing is shuddering to even consider! haha
as to your question, it worked for me via just the one caliper and then a full bleed of each caliper (a full brake flush of whole car). However, some people do what I did with the one caliper on all 4 calipers and that is probably an even more certain way to do it. But the person who recommended this technique and does it all the time (pro mechanic) said he just does the one caliper and then a normal brake flush of all brakes after
To answer your second question, the fluid reservoir is where the air escapes the tube in the form of bubbles and escapes out of the top opening of the reservoir. The bubbles rise and leave the system.
cheers pal, I assumed as much.
Same as bench bleeding.
I may try this method but I plan to use a vacuum pump to suck the air from the cap. I got a cap from the junkyard and plan to modify it with a barb fitting so I can hook up my homemade vacuum pump to it.
i subscribed just because of the quality of the information in this video
just gotta be very careful when moving around the car if bleeding out other calipers using the same long hose method.dont want to get any fluid that might end up on the tube outer coming into contact with your paintwork.
You can pump it from the callipers also back up to master cylinder with a pump as after this you still have to bleed all the brakes as the cervo could of pushed air to another line
The master cylinder is suppose to be full with fluid and then be capped off to bleed it by using the brake pedal. Bleeding with a vacuum bleeder you leave the cap off. Didn't like what I was seeing when you tried to vacuum bleed it. Based on the little fluid you were getting out of the bleeder into the hose it seemed like you were trying to bleed with the cap on the Reservoir a common mistake people do using that vacuum type of tool your are using. I know I have the exact same vacuum tool. You kept squeezing and pumping and getting basically no fluid but a lot of air. With the Cap off of the reservoir 3 or 4 squeezes or pumps and you should stop. Look at your gauge and you should of built up 30-40 pounds of pressure on the vacuum pump as the needle will drop as it pulls fluid into the system and out of the caliper into the little bottle that is suppose to be in the clear line between the Caliper and vacuum tool. When you stop seeing bubbles in the clear line attached to the caliper you are bleeding tighten the bleeder and go to the next furthest wheel from the Master Cylinder. The sequence is Passenger rear to Drivers rear to Passenger Front to Driver Front right next to the master cylinder. I tell you this from experience 38 years as a owner in the Auto Parts business. Retired 5 years now.
The cap was off. Maybe air was getting in through the cap of the vacuum hose plastic container which required me to keep pumping to maintain enough suction.
artbyrobot could be. There is a very thin O-Ring under the plastic cap of the little bottle that comes with the vacuum bleeder that might of been missing. What you are suppose to do before anything is test your equipment and not assume it is working correctly. Put your finger over the hose you plan to connect to the bleeder and pump squeeze the vacuum tool 2-3 times and look at the gauge to see if it is holding vacuum. Only then knowing it is holding vacuum should you use the tool. There is a little pin off the side of the gauge to release the vacuum when working with the tool if you need to let off the vacuum pull. This way you are not introducing Air into the system.
Could be. There is a very thin O-Ring between the cap and bottle on the bleeder. With it missing or damaged in some way it would leak and not hold a vacuum. You are suppose to test your Vacuum tool out before starting to bleed by placing your finger over the hose that will be going over the bleeder screw attached to the little bottle and pumping 2-3 times watching the gauge to see if it is holding vacuum. The needle should not drop at all. You should have to push in the pin on the gauge to release the vacuum or let go of the hose from your finger for it to lose vacuum. Otherwise using the vacuum bleeder like that you are only introducing air into the system. There is no way you could of gotten the air out of the system using the tool the way you did. Not picking on you just pointing out the obvious. Give you a lot of credit for producing the video but as you saw you have a lot of people following this video thinking everything you did was the right thing to do. As I mentioned earlier pumping the brakes with the cap off of the Brake Reservoir will also bring air into the system. You should never do that. If you have a link to the video you saw that told you to do that I would like to see it. Are you sure they weren't telling you to use a vacuum tool instead being the system would be open with the cap off of the top of the Master cylinder Reservoir? I am suspect about that because pumping the brake pedal with the cap open is a no no.
You are suppose to check your vacuum tool first to make sure it is holding vacuum by holding your finger over the hose you plan on putting on the bleeder screw with that little bottle attached. 2-3 squeezes of the trigger on the vacuum pump and look at the gauge. The needle in the gauge should not move a bit showing the unit is holding vacuum. You should have to push the needle on the gauge to release that vacuum or take your finger off the hose. The way you did it you were just introducing more air to the system and there is no way you pulled the air out of the system doing what you did when bleeding. I could see it in the video. You should of had a steady stream of fluid coming out of the hose looking for bubbles going to that little bottle in between the brake caliper and vacuum pump. Pumping again once all vacuum is shown to be lost until the air bubbles stop. Not continuing to pump and pump. Not picking on you here. Just pointing out the obvious. Give you plenty of credit for producing your video but you have people coming to it here on RUclips thinking everything you did was the proper procedure and it wasn't. For the heck of it if you don't mine can you post the link to the video showing you how to bench bleed the M/C like you did on the car. I would like to take a look at it.
The service manual for an Acura TL specifies the bleed order as driver front, passenger front, passenger rear, driver rear.
great job on the video. enough details to accually make sense!