Brake Bleeding Without Spillage?

[FJRmgm]

Mityvac Brake Bleeding Kit. I've had mine since '94, and it works great although I think I only paid $35.

+1 - a very handy little gadget that makes brake bleeding an easy job.

[Sport-Touring]

[rgbeard]

Damn you guys are all more sophisticated than I.  

I use a piece of clear hose and an empty water bottle.

Y'all are using NASA grease-n-shit.   damn.    

[Roaddog]

Has anyone got tips for old-school brake bleeding (speedbleeder, hose, wrench, hand) without spilling fluid when pulling the hoses off of the calipers? I tried crimping the hose but the fluid still poured out.

Thanks!

Does anybody read anything anymore?

[kevin_stevens]

Damn you guys are all more sophisticated than I.  

I use a piece of clear hose and an empty water bottle.

Y'all are using NASA grease-n-shit.   damn.    

True, Diet Coke *is* more sophisticated than bottled water.  The... bouquet is exquisite.

KeS

[Bjorn Toulouse]

Does anybody read anything anymore?

Maybe you're reading something that the rest of us are missing.
Care to elaborate?


Rex

[tigertom1965]

I have one of those Mityvac things and hated it. I kept gettin the bubbles through the bleeder and couldn't ever get the brake lever feel to firm up. I also found out the hard way if you crack the bleeder to much the fluid immediately evacuates your brake line (One front line for me) and then it is almost impossible to bleed it using the Mityvac. I could never get the air out of the line.

So I bled everything the old fashioned way. Pumped lever, held lever to grip, cracked bleeder, closed bleeder, pumped lever, etc.... and that worked fine. Make sure you keep the reservoir full and the cap on. Just had to wire tie the lever to the grip over night and all was well the next day.

I also accidently pulled the clutch lever when the reservoir cap was off and somehow got air in the clutch line. What a pain that was. Just wanted to replace the fluid in the reservoir for the clutch and pulled the lever thinking it would help bring up the gunk from the clutch. Well it did all right, almost all over the gas tank and fairing.

Those reverse bleeders that hook up to the reservoir look interesting. They are not vacumn operated but pressure operated. Just don't know enough about them. They are also almost the same price as the Mityvac I think.

[Roaddog]

The O.P. talks about pulling the hoses off the calipers. Perhaps he meant pulling the hoses off the bleeders as opposed to pulling the lines off the calipers. He said the fluid just kept running out. If you had a bleeder hose run into a bottle of fluid (normal procedure) how would it keep running all over and make a mess? If you loosen the lines at the calipers, all the fluid in the lines will run out. Maybe I'm just confused.

[Roaddog]

Maybe you're reading something that the rest of us are missing.
Care to elaborate?


Rex

Sry, forgot to quote.

[Castaway]

Okay, the OP is finally chiming in. Actually, I attempted to add a post early on but it apparently didn't make it.

Yes, by pulling the hoses, I meant the bleeder hoses, not the brake lines. I unfortunately bought some clear plastic hose that was too large to fit snugly onto the speed bleeders. If I had bought the correct size I could have simply let the hoses hang down from the bleeders, but since the fit wasn't snug enough I routed 'em up over the brake lines, making for complicated removal - I didn't think of that at the time.

None of these questions would have come up if I had the hoses that I've used over time, but those got thrown out in a recent move.

BTW, this was the first time that I bled the fluid up at the MC by simply loosening the bold a touch while squeezing the lever. My brakes have been a bit spongy and I think it helped, though I still would like less 'slack' at the lever.

[RodRides]

Use a hose on the bleeder valve.  Here is a how to.

https://youtu.be/m2Gu0ExObrw