05-22-2007, 08:07 PM
You know, I have to admit that Bob (Flash) just might know a thing or three about these 968 things we seem to keep beating our collective heads against!
Motive Power Bleeder and two Liters of ATE Super Blue arrived at my door today (delivered by an extremely cute UPS Driver; Yes, FEMALE!!! WHAT were you thinking??? Really neat spiked hair, and obviously works out, both on and off the job.... but hold it; I'm getting WOT here!)
The Motive PB is one fine piece of equipment! I would have to say even a bit "overengineered", but I sort of appreciate that in a product. Especially one that could potentially spew caustic brake fluid all over my perfect paint!!!
So, I read the instructions (conveniently printed on the back of the PB!). Yes, it really is so simple a Caveman could do it! Okay, that is way overdone, but I just couldn't resist!!! So I dumped in a liter of ATE SB, hooked everything up and went to the right rear brake... outside first, thru the wheel (love those 99TT's with nice wide slots!), then inside. Actually the old fluid didn't look as bad as I expected, but it did have some very small white "flecks" in it as it came out...no idea what those would be...
Long story short, all of the bleeder screws worked perfectly, and the brakes bled out in a matter of minutes. I used 15 lbs of pressure on the PB, and it worked like a charm. I did top off the fluid with half of the 2nd liter after the third brake...
Saved the clutch system for last since it was empty all the way thru... Now here is where Flash gets the credit...he mentioned that he had to bleed the clutch, and then use the old "Push, Hold, Release" and bleed it again with the Power Bleeder...That is exactly what I had to do to mine to get a nice firm clutch pedal!!!
I did use quite a bit of fluid to get the clutch tight, and wound up running almost all of the two liters into and thru the system, but still cheap for something your life depends on out there!
Couple of "Tips"... there is a small plastic "Cup" with slots in it that sits inside the opening of the Brake Fluid Reservoir, that the Fluid level sensor rides up and down inside... carefully remove this Cup before trying to bleed the system! Makes things go a lot faster! And get a length of 1/4 inch I.D. clear plastic tubing about 2 to 3 feet long...this is perfect for going over the bleeder nipples and into a gallon milk jug to hold the spent brake fluid. If you keep the end of the tubing in the fluid in the jug, you won't have to worry about pulling air back into the system. And the brake caliper nipples take an 11mm wrench, as opposed to the Clutch Slave Cylinder, which takes a 7mm wrench. Use good quality wrenches so that you don't "round" off the bleeder nipples! And finally, get a nice plastic Syringe that you would buy to inject marinade into meat, and use that to carefully adjust final fluid level in the Reservoir...
Bottom line...The Motive PB makes this an easy job that will keep your brakes and clutch operating in "Tip Top Shape" for the full driving season! And next year, just replace the Super Blue with the ATE Amber, so that you can see when the change is complete! And oh, yeah...listen to Flash...he knows!
Motive Power Bleeder and two Liters of ATE Super Blue arrived at my door today (delivered by an extremely cute UPS Driver; Yes, FEMALE!!! WHAT were you thinking??? Really neat spiked hair, and obviously works out, both on and off the job.... but hold it; I'm getting WOT here!)
The Motive PB is one fine piece of equipment! I would have to say even a bit "overengineered", but I sort of appreciate that in a product. Especially one that could potentially spew caustic brake fluid all over my perfect paint!!!
So, I read the instructions (conveniently printed on the back of the PB!). Yes, it really is so simple a Caveman could do it! Okay, that is way overdone, but I just couldn't resist!!! So I dumped in a liter of ATE SB, hooked everything up and went to the right rear brake... outside first, thru the wheel (love those 99TT's with nice wide slots!), then inside. Actually the old fluid didn't look as bad as I expected, but it did have some very small white "flecks" in it as it came out...no idea what those would be...
Long story short, all of the bleeder screws worked perfectly, and the brakes bled out in a matter of minutes. I used 15 lbs of pressure on the PB, and it worked like a charm. I did top off the fluid with half of the 2nd liter after the third brake...
Saved the clutch system for last since it was empty all the way thru... Now here is where Flash gets the credit...he mentioned that he had to bleed the clutch, and then use the old "Push, Hold, Release" and bleed it again with the Power Bleeder...That is exactly what I had to do to mine to get a nice firm clutch pedal!!!
I did use quite a bit of fluid to get the clutch tight, and wound up running almost all of the two liters into and thru the system, but still cheap for something your life depends on out there!
Couple of "Tips"... there is a small plastic "Cup" with slots in it that sits inside the opening of the Brake Fluid Reservoir, that the Fluid level sensor rides up and down inside... carefully remove this Cup before trying to bleed the system! Makes things go a lot faster! And get a length of 1/4 inch I.D. clear plastic tubing about 2 to 3 feet long...this is perfect for going over the bleeder nipples and into a gallon milk jug to hold the spent brake fluid. If you keep the end of the tubing in the fluid in the jug, you won't have to worry about pulling air back into the system. And the brake caliper nipples take an 11mm wrench, as opposed to the Clutch Slave Cylinder, which takes a 7mm wrench. Use good quality wrenches so that you don't "round" off the bleeder nipples! And finally, get a nice plastic Syringe that you would buy to inject marinade into meat, and use that to carefully adjust final fluid level in the Reservoir...
Bottom line...The Motive PB makes this an easy job that will keep your brakes and clutch operating in "Tip Top Shape" for the full driving season! And next year, just replace the Super Blue with the ATE Amber, so that you can see when the change is complete! And oh, yeah...listen to Flash...he knows!

