Power Bleeder Woes

[surflvr911sc]

I’m almost finished with my suspension and brake maintenance and upgrades. New left strut, new shocks, new A arm & sway bar bushings, new ball joints, Turbo tie rods, rebuild & paint (black) brake calipers, and new brake lines.

All I had left to do was to bleed the brake system. My wife was in the garage w/ me so after I tried out my new Power Bleeder she was going to help me do a final bleed w/ the pedal.

I hooked the bleeder up, pressurized it, and went to the right rear to start the bleed. I couldn’t believe how quick I started seeing blue fluid. This was going to be so easy.

My wife said that I had dripped fluid onto the floor. “Yeah, I did that when I pulled the calipers off.” Go to the left rear but it was going much slower. I checked the bleeder and it was empty! “Damn, I used a liter already!” Then I see it. Under the car is a lake of blue brake fluid. I forgot about the vent tube. The vent tube only ran to the front of the car by the evaporator fan so the front of the car was full of fluid. Well, I thought I would be done tonight.

So for next time, when I get my brake fluid that I will be ordering tonight, what is the best way to block off the vent tube? Should I pinch it off or plug it with something? Where is the best place to run the vent tube out of the car so it doesn’t vent into the trunk?

I wish I had taken a picture so you could all see my stupidity. After I quit cussing it was pretty funny. Thanks!

[rstoll]

Been there, done that!

[Don Plumley]

Yeah, I made a big checklist with "clamp the vent hose" in bold, a couple of times.

A c-clamp and two small pieces of wood or a pair of small, flat blade vice-grips would work. I use a surplus desk clamp from a swing arm lamp and a piece of hard rubber and a small pair of vice-grips when I do it.

Remember, brake fluid is caustic to paint. Careful with your clean up!

[Jim Sims]

Brake fluid will damage/remove paint so you may have a problem there in the trunk. Some people use a pair of visegrips or a pair of surgical clamps to clamp the vent line shut; if the line is brittle this may crack it. Another method is to remove the vent line from the master cylinder reservoir (taking care not to snap off the plastic barb on the side of the reservoir in the process) and then place a rubber or plastic cap over the the barb. An alternative is to get a small bit of hose the same size as the drain hose and stick something like a golf tee in one end and then push the other end of the hose over the master cylinder reservoir hose barb. There are some other precautions in bleeding with a power bleeder. Do a search under the keyword "brakes" and my name "Jim Sims"; there under "What is the procedure for bleeding brakes?"you can find a little essay I wrote about bleeding 911 brakes. The browser I'm using will not allow me to post the link. Cheers, Jim

[surflvr911sc]

Thanks for the suggestions. I rinsed the front of the trunk out with water twice, so hopefully it won’t eat it up too bad. No fluid got on any exterior paint thank God. I’ll check out your thread Jim, thanks.

[rstoll]

What is the procedure for bleeding brakes?

[89911]

hemostats to pinch off the vent lines. I have a few!