Motive Power Bleeder

[13T1Z06]

Just tried my new Motive Power Bleeder to flush brake & clutch fluid. A Great Product IMO. Well worth the money!

[toofast]

I have also found my power bleeder to be a great tool. I only wish they made a cap for the corvette, as the universal cap is prone to leakage.

David

[rushign23]

I tried out the Motive with the universal cap--could never
get it to build any pressure--the cap couldn't get a good
seal with the resevoir. I ended up returning it.
I asked the Motive guy why there
wasn't a dedicated cap (with threads) for the C5's. His only
comments were that they *someday* develop a dedicated
one for the C5--I took this to mean that he doesn't get enough
business from the C5 crowd. If you guys want the product,
let Motive know about it, and maybe we'll see this dedicated
cap *someday*...

[Redshift]

We sell (and I've used) this with good results. If you put it on correctly it should seal properly - if it doesn't, either you did something wrong or the unit is defective (9 times out of 10 its usually user error).

I have expressed interest in the custom Cap for us. You could make your own by buying a spare cap from GM and fabbing one up to connect with the Motive lines.

We have these available in our store along with three choices of good brake fluid: Performance Friction DOT3, Motul RBF 600, and ATE Super Blue.

[TX02Z06]

Originally Posted by Redshift

I have expressed interest in the custom Cap for us. You could make your own by buying a spare cap from GM and fabbing one up to connect with the Motive lines.

I made my own brake bleeder. Insecide bottle, brass fittings, a Scharder value, a GM cap and U bolts to clamp the cap.

I now own a Motive pressure bleeder.

The biggest issue with my setup was getting the GM cap to seal. The cap itself WILL NOT hold the pressure and will leak. So I used a U-bolt and clamped the cap just like Motive clamps on thier cap. But I would have to re-adjust it to get a seal. Not too cool when you have brake fluid under 20 -25 psi (what is required for a 2002, per GM shop manual) The Motive cap uses thick rubber and I have yet to have a problem, plus I can use it on other non GM cars.


My experience for the last 15 - 20 brake bleeds

[16Again]

Just ordered my Motive Power Bleeder. Hopefully it will work with no leaks. I'm willing to gamble as i prefer being able to work on my car when nobody is home. I enjoy my garage time ALONE..... with nobody bothering me.
Bob

[No Doubt]

The following article is from Stop Tech's website.

"Pressure bleeding do’s and don’ts

Pressure bleeding on its own is not necessarily a bad thing, but there are several steps one must take to ensure that the bleed event will result in an air-free brake system.

When we talk about pressure bleeding, we are referring to the process in which we pour our brake fluid into a pressure vessel, hook up a pressure source, and run the now pressurized fluid directly into the master cylinder reservoir. One by one the caliper bleeder screws are opened to allow the pressurized fluid to flow through the system until all of the old fluid has been purged. Simple, right?

Well yes, but beware of imitations – not all pressure bleeders are created equal. The professional units (the type you can consider using) separate the pressurized brake fluid from the pressure source (air) using a flexible rubber diaphragm. In this fashion, the pressurized air is kept from forcing its way into the fluid. As we all know, air and fluid should be kept as far apart as possible.

This brings us to the imitations. There seem to be a rash of products available lately that claim to be pressure brake bleeders at a fraction of the cost of the professional units. Like most things that sound too good to be true, well, it’s exactly that.

Like the professional units, these imitations contain a pressure vessel into which new brake fluid is poured. However, in order to pressurize the fluid, an integral pump handle is cycled to build the pressure inside the vessel without any measures taken to separate the pressurized air from the fluid. For those of you who have ever bought a $19.95 do-it-yourself potted plant and bug sprayer from Home Depot you get the idea.

Of course, having pressurized air in contact with the brake fluid will certainly force the fluid through the system just as effectively as the high-zoot professional unit, but as an added bonus we are stuffing air into the brake fluid at the same time. Talk about an unwanted surprise!

While it may not be visible to the naked eye (air can actually entrain itself in the fluid as to be visually undetectable) it’s there right along with all of the nasty moisture trapped inside of it. This of course begs the question: if you are stuffing air and water contaminated fluid into your brake system, why even bother bleeding it in the first place?

Naturally there will be those who argue that the amount of air in question is not important enough to worry about, but think about this for a moment: nearly every automotive manufacturer stores their bulk brake fluid in large containers which are subjected to a constant VACUUM. Talk about an expensive process! If just storing your fluid under regular atmospheric conditions isn’t good enough to keep air and water out, just imagine what shoving 30psi worth of compressed air on top of it is doing.

The professional units can cost hundreds of dollars, and for good reason; unfortunately the cost keeps them beyond the reach of most of us normal folks. Your best bet is probably to get back in the driver’s seat and begin stroking the pedal with your foot again, but ultimately the choice is yours."

[13T1Z06]

No Doubt,

Good information and I agree with your concern.

I should mention that I do not use the Motive unit exactly as directed. I do not put the fluid in the power bleeder but just use the Motive Power Bleeder to pressurize the system at say 10-13 psi and flush/bleed till the car reservoir gets low, refill car reservoir and repressurize to continue.

I have been using the Motive Unit for some time now and was quite happy with it at Daytona as we had to flush the system after each session. Almost 170 (on my speedo w/ 315/45/17's) at start finish then lots of brakes for turn 1 (Roval Course).

[No Doubt]

Have you ever tried one of the vacuum bleeders. I don't mean the handheld things like the Mity-Vac for example, but rather the cannister type that you pump up.

I like those because they don't pressurize the master cylinder and therefore avoid the possibilty of introducing air into the system like they mention in that article.

[DJWorm]

I do not recommend either pressure or vacume bleeders for competition.

The reason is as stated in the article that pressure bleeders dissolve gas INTO the brake fluid which is released when heated. Vacume bleeders will "pull" the gas out of solution and accomplish the same result....air in the system.

Why give your brake system the "Bends". IMHO using a pressure bleeder is like shaking a soda pop bottle and opening it

The only system I would consider is AP's F1 unit as used by F1 teams. It is a non gas interface simultaneous pressure/vacume bleeder.

My recommendations are a set of Speedbleeders, an assitant, if necessary, to pump the pedal and a Mallett or Pegasus Racing catch bottle.

I also recommend bleeding hot and tapping the calipers with a rubber mallet just before and during the bleed process.

[xsiveone]

Have you ever tried one of the vacuum bleeders. I don't mean the handheld things like the Mity-Vac for example, but rather the cannister type that you pump up.

I have a mity-vac that I use for my motorcycle's. Is there a problem with using a device like this?

X

[No Doubt]

No. A Mity-Vac pulls a vacuum so the fluid moves toward the Mity-Vac and along with it any trapped air.

When you pressurize the brake system with a pressure bleeder you risk introducing air into the fluid.

[xsiveone]

When you pressurize the brake system with a pressure bleeder you risk introducing air into the fluid.

Are you including the Mity-Vac as a pressure bleeders?

X

[No Doubt]

No. The Mity-Vac as I said in an earlier post is a vacuum bleeder.

A Mity-Vac pulls a vacuum so the fluid moves toward the Mity-Vac and along with it any trapped air.

Technically speaking however, nothing is "sucked". Everything is pushed by atmospheric pressure.

[xsiveone]

So, the Mity-Vac is ok to use then? I've only used it on the motorcycle's and the braking system is far less complex with much shorter brake lines.

X