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Bleeding brakes, ezibleed replacement


Gazzar

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Good afternoon,

My front brake pipes need replacing, and my ezibleed is nearly dead, due to neglect. 

What is the current best tool for bleeding brakes? My 109 has a pdwa and so is a bit of a challenge to bleed at times.

G.

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A vacuum bleeder would be the very best option if you can find one as it'll remove the air from the various traps.  I suspect they're more expensive, but used in conjunction with the Ezibleed reservoir and cap, with a restrictor on the inlet to the reservoir so that the vacuum can develop in the brake system and allow the air to expand and force its way ot.

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8 minutes ago, Bowie69 said:

Honestly, the Eezibleed, or similar contraptions are very good value for money....

They are, but they have severe limitations on 109s with twin leading shoe systems (which also have the PDWA valve).  They work extremely well on models without those, though.

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My brother had something similar to this which worked very well, you did not need to keep topping up the reservoir and thus you did not run the risk of running out and pulling more air in to the system. It provides pressure similar to manual brake pumping.

The only downside is the cost.

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Yes, the PDWA is a challenge.

I'm going to try one of the Sealey  vacuum kits for about £40 on ebay.  I'll report back.  I might do the photo montage thing I used do back in the day...

 

Thanks,

 

G.

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I think replacing the PDWA valve with a level sensitive cap from a RRC/Disco/Defender is going to give earlier and more reliable warning than the valve, and would allow the valve to be deleted.  The trouble is that it wouldn't warn of a failed master cylinder seal in one circuit.

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Happy enough with the valve, never caused me problems, and rebuilds look simple enough, so no real reason to delete. I might add a level cap at some stage, though. 

 

G.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bit of an update.  I used the Sealey Vacuum bleed device to drain the system today, it's easier to use than the ezibleed, and is better built, I think.   The Gunson stuff always leaves me feeling that if they'd spent an extra couple of quid, then they'd have a much better product, it's good, but the Sealey is better.

I did have a bit of a struggle to get the bleed cap over the nipple, but that can be fixed with a bit of silicone grease, a good complaint, if you will.

What was interesting, was that half way through the drain process, the fluid had a load of air bubbles for a bit, then the fluid reverted to pure fluid until it ran dry.  I wonder if they were in the system all along, or just the vacuum pulled air from the reservoir for a bit...

I'll upload pics in a minute.

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The air was probably already there - bubbles, then clear , then empty can only mean trapped air.  That is the whole point of vacuum bleeders rather than pressure bleeders - they suck out trapped air and are far more thorough.

How much did it cost?

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40 GBP or so, eBay. Quite pleased so far. The job is a bit of a pig, too much corrosion everywhere, for my OCD, but it will get through the MOT. Once the lightweight is finished I will rebuild the 109 with a lot more zinc. 

G.

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21 hours ago, Gazzar said:

40 GBP or so, eBay. Quite pleased so far. The job is a bit of a pig, too much corrosion everywhere, for my OCD, but it will get through the MOT. Once the lightweight is finished I will rebuild the 109 with a lot more zinc. 

G.

Good  for bleeding fuel filters on Freelander 2's too !

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I bought one of the Sealey vacuum things for my VW van for testing/exercising the turbo vanes. I've since used it for bleeding the brakes on my MKIII Sankey and will definitely be trying it out as an alternative to my Eezibleed next time one of the Land Rovers need their brakes bleeding.

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On 31/08/2017 at 6:01 PM, Gazzar said:

Happy enough with the valve, never caused me problems, and rebuilds look simple enough, so no real reason to delete. I might add a level cap at some stage, though. 

 

G.

I fitted a low fluid float cap to my '89 110, I'll upload my wiring diagram, see post below :i-m_so_happy:

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I've been using a weed sprayer for this job for years now. I added a low-pressure gauge, (just screwed into a hole in a thicker part of the plastic of the bottle), and put a hose fitting into a spare master cylinder cap, with a shut-off somewhere in the hose. For drum brakes, I found it's best to get the whole car onto stands, take off the wheels and drums, and put whatever works, (wire, clamps, etc.) onto the cylinders to keep the pistons compressed. Once the system is pressurised with the garden sprayer, it's easy and quick to go around to each wheel and bleed. But I will admit to not having done it for some time now! 

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I thought that would be the case, I just need to find the time.....

I've bled the system now, and aside from a new steel pipe that simply wouldn't seal, all is good. The Sealey system works. It needs an air connector to work, which isn't included, but with the different types available, that's fair enough.

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I have the Sealey one, and its certainly much better that the eazi-bleed. Vac vs pressure certainly get the air bubbles out better.
However mine recently fell down and broke the collection container off the gun so i need to replace.

I was looking at the hand pump type.
e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bergen-hand-held-vacuum-pump-tester-brake-bleeder-B5202-/132179433969?hash=item1ec68219f1:g:yiQAAOSw3~tZbiST

Does anyone have any experience of those?

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They look simple enough to make out of paraffin/cleaner spray unit I have or an old paint spray gun. Although I don't understand why a vacuum system works any better than a pressure system as long as the fluid travels fast enough to carry any air with it and you don't allow any back in.

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