I approached my first brake bleed with some trepidation but all went well - that Motive Pressure bleeder (or "Motiv" for those spelling challenged people) is a sweet unit!

Just a couple of things I noted:

I used the pressure bleeder "dry" at 20 psi (although Garrett suggested 25 psi). I know you don't want the reservoir running dry, but must it stay between the Min-Max marks? I had to depressurize and top up the tank 4 times - a pest as 20 psi takes a lot of pumps to get to!

I found tapping the flexible and hard brakes lines as well as thumping the caliper often dislodged some air bubbles so seemed to help.

Don't bother buying the Motive collection bottles - I broke one on first use!

The lack of a swivel connector tubing on the base model Red-label Power-Bleeder is a PITA so I can see buying the deluxe Black-label Power-Bleeder as it has a swivel-connector before my next bleed session!

Marc
p.s. Here is a gratuitous shot of the new front brakes installed!

 

i'm not affraid to bleed , otherwise i wouldn't have tried unblocking my starter motor with a hammer and a piece of wood !!!

 

I don't think it needs to remain above the "min" mark - just make sure it doesn't run dry! I bleed it until there's about 3mm or so of fluid in the bottom of the reservoir - just because I don't like having to undo everything to repump either! Lazy! Usually during a standard bleed, it doesn't need to go very low. Changing the fluid entirely is a different story... then you're in for several pumping sessions

 

It's the clutch you have to be careful of level when bleeding. It has a high cross over point from the fill area, so I keep the fluid as high as possible. With just the brakes I think you have a lot more volume to work with.

I got air in my clutch a couple times til I figured it out. kept looking at reservoir going its not near empty... Well if you look the clutch side was. I think its done this way if the clutch side gets a leak the brakes will still work fine, even if all the fluid leaks out of the clutch lines.

 

I just did my brakes last weekend,new pads and rotors all around.I didn't change the fluid cause I didn't want to have to bleed the brakes.To make a long story short I finial chose to change my fluid,and go with some really good fluid.After doing the brakes changing the fluid was nothing.One thing that really made it go faster was a little mod to the power bleeder.If you drill a small hole and install a valve stim you can us a compressor or air tank to charge the system .Saves a lot of time pumping.You can also do the same thing to an old fire extinguisher for summer fun.

 

Why use a Motive bleeder dry? I simply dump the liter of fluid into the bleeder and do the flush into the can I just emptied. It's easy and quick. The Motive is pretty easy to clean and dry so it's ready for the next use.

 

Tom's got it. You're just making more work for yourself if you use it dry.

 

Why? I did not have to empty or clean it when I was done.

Marc

 

I agree - if it is not cleaned thoroughly, you have a SLIMEY mess. And besides, what do they do when they are done bleeding and need to lower the resevoir level to the Full mark?

I'v been using the dry method, but I don't see any reason to pump it up to anything over 20 PSIG (I go to 15). You just need a little positive pressure to force the fluid out.

 

I believe I got the 25psi from Adrians book ...whatever works!

 

I use 10-20 psi and it works fine. More pressure makes it flow faster.

When done, I break the pressure to the bleeder, remove the bleeder and then remove any excess fluid from the reserviour with the syringe I used to remove the old fluid from the reserviour before I started. Usually it isn't necessary to remove any because it does not have to be over-filled to bleed. More fluid flows in and the air on top stays where it is. I dump any residual fluid from the bleeder into the can it came out of and take the can for disposal. The bleeder can be rinsed with some water and wiped out with a paper towel. It takes about 30 seconds to clean.

There are plenty of ways to do a bleed. Each of us gets to choose how we do it. I wanted to be sure someone who has not done it before understood the alternative method. I don't understand using a system that is likely to allow you to "drain" the reserviour. I would not want to stop and go fill it up each time as it would make the process take longer than is necessary.

 

Marc,
I use mine dry as well. The extra time spent topping off the reservoir during a full flush is no real issue considering the unit stays clean.

I agree about the Motive catch bottles - the design is garbage. The plastic nipples break as soon as you look at them. I drilled the lids and screwed in a set of barbed brass fittings from the plumbing aisle at Home Depot The crimped wires that come with the bottles are crap as well - I removed these and rest the bottles on a level surface.

The Motive unit (Black Label) is well made and does exactly what it claims. I'm very satisfied with it.

Andreas

 

Turn the bleeder on its side so it doesn't draw more fluid and continue bleeding the last caliper until the max fill level is achieved.

 

Not a problem. Counter-rotate the adapter about one turn before screwing it on to the master.

 

Just take the pump off, pour remaining fluid back into the brake fluid container and turn the bottle upside down on a few paper towels for a few seconds. You can then wad up the paper towels and use a screwdriver to move it around in the bleeder. Remove paper towels. You're done.

If you want, the factory says you can clean the unit with denatured alcohol. I haven't done that yet though.

Honestly, it is a lot faster than adding fluid to the reservoir, reattaching the adapter, pumping to pressure X 4.