Ron_H

For those who use a power bleeder, please inspect the clear plastic line carefully before you use the tool if you don't use it very often. I used mine today for the first time in a year. I found a crack close to the screw on fitting that screws to the reservoir. I cut the broken part off thinking it had been kinked all year in the box. I replaced the hose clamp and pumped up the pressure. Then in the middle of the hose a crack developed instantly spraying super blue fluid all over everything including me. And the pressure was not easily relieved because I had wrapped my hand around the hose at the crack.

I recommend replacing the plastic hose each year before using the tool. Or wear a plastic suit and wrap the engine and front of the car in plastic wrap.
Evidently, the plastic hose deteriorates easily.

Nicole

Ug - that doesn't sound like a lot of fun - for you and the paint of your shark. Hope you were able to get the job done in the end!

dr bob

Ron-

What kind of hose is on your bleeder? I used some simple clear poly with fabric braid, the kind you/I can get from Home Depot. So far so good with 8 years of use life. I know that the clear vinyl stuff will suffer in brake fluid and really almost any petro products. Good since you can see what's flowing, but it's one-use only. The fabric-reinfoced poly was the best compromise, since you can still see the fluid inside while the poly holds up better to the fluid.

For those playing along at home, Be Sure to cover the fenders and the engine bay bits with plastic sheet wheneever you handle brake fluid near the car. I cut apart a plastic gargage bag and tape it to the fenders so it doesn't slide around. Stray splatters of fluid will quickly damage the paint beyond recovery, and in the heat of battle you may not notice in time.


Thanks for the heads up Ron!

Mako 928

Ron
Sorry to hear this, what a disaster. I would not have thought this would happen. I will now replace the hose AND use plastic garbage bags. I admit I have been lax in protecting the paint. Good point Dr. Bob

IcemanG17

Ron
I bought a used motive from my neighbor for almost nothing....the line right at the tank was cracked from being in the box to long...so I just cut it and put a new hose clamp on it....works fine....

Prionace Glauca

Ron and Dr. Bob are spot on.
"Please inspect your pressure bleeder hoses before using."

I had a pressure bleeder hose failure last weekend. As per the operating instructions I did check the bleeder, dry no fluid, it held pressure. I filled the bleeder and started the bleeding procedure. During the work I moved the "loaded" bleeder slightly. The small movement put just enough strain on the hose to cause it to fail and spray BF out in a 20 deg forward arc. (insert pucker factor high here) The full fender cover set and the old beach towels saved my sharks skin. What a mess. I cleaned up with a garden sprayer with lots and lots of distilled water.
As Dr. Bob has stated, please see the attached picture ,it seems that the original clear vinyl hose that was supplied with the bleeder is permeable to BF over time.

dr bob

From the original fabrication in 1999, here's what I used for the pressure hose. IIRC, this was off-the-roll poly stuff from Home Depot. I could have used a smaller garden sprayer but they were out of the mini ones that day. It's been holding up well since then. I do admit that I use the clear vinyl hose for the other end, from the bleeder nipple to the catch bottle, but that's under no real stress. The vinyl stuff does get yellowed and brittle in storage between sessions, even after getting a thorough detergent and water bath before it's all put in storage. The poly stuff still looks good.

Ron_H

Yup. My hose was cracked right at the outlet from the bottle, and I also just cleaned up the break and put a new hose clamp on it. It held pressure and I was about to get down to business when I noticed the line was slightly kinked from the rotation of the female coupling to the car reservoir. I moved the bottle to relieve the kink and the line cracked and started spraying all over the garage. Unfortunately, I didn't have the car fenders, hood, windshield /glass , engine parts covered. Next time I shall use Dr. Bob's sound advice and cover everything in plastic sheet. My hands were covered in brake fluid so I could not get a grip on the top of the bottle to relieve pressure without releasing my grip on the spurting line. I shall also run down to Home Depot to get some of the reinforced line Dr. Bob suggests. I already bought some clear line at OSH, but it will suffer the same fate as the previous line if I use it once. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and polishing the paint and cleaning the garage floor. The engine will have to make do with what has already happened as I could only wipe down the top parts and the engine compartment that was visible.

SeanR

It's a great idea to keep a few feet of the clear hose around just in case. I try to keep some around for this, it's great for the mity-vac also.

dr bob

For those sitting at home with lots of time and nothing to do with it, here's a re-post of the instructions I wrote for making your own power bleeder. All the parts came from Home Depot shelves except for the master cylinder cap graciously supplied by Dave Roberts. The cap is common on other ATE-equipped cars like Volkswagens of a similar generation, so you may be able to find one locally. Be Sure to get or make a good gasket to seal the cap to the MC cover.

PDF of the original post follows:

tailpipe

for my power bleeder i just adapted the VW master cap with an air fitting and hook my shop air through another regulator set at about 15 psi no extra reservior just whats in the car as long as u don't bleed to much out it works great and no chance of getting fluid all over i also leave the cap a little loose so when i disconect the shop air at the regualtor the leftover presure will leak out before i take the cap off

AO

Note to self: Add hose to shopping list at Home Depot

Rob Edwards

For a motive products bleeder, is the tubing 1/4" or 3/8" I.D.? (Darn day job, keeping me from measuring my bleeder hoses.....)

Mako 928

Bled the brakes/clutch today W/ some super blue and the first thing on the list was to replace the plastic hose to the power bleeder. Thanks again Ron for this post, I also covered up W/ alot of plastic (Dr.Bob) Again this was something I would not have thought would happen.

SharkSkin

I just used my bleeder again recently, hose was still pliable and I had no issues. I wonder if they switched to a different hose by the time I bought mine?