• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Motive Products pressure bleeder

Share this page

J

John Sims

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
Has anyone every used a Motive Products pressure bleeder (operated by a pump similar to a bug sprayer). If so, did it work as promised and which model didyou use?
 
I have not but I did some research a while ago and the only problem I heard about was that you must be dilligent in keeping the break fluid up. I bought an EZvac but it pulls too much air in at the wheel cyls. (anyone want to buy one?) I reverted back to the clear tube and jelly jar.
 
I bought one to use on the BMWs and modified an extra cap to use on the Healey. It works fine.

Instead of filling the bleeder with fluid, I only use it to pressurize the fluid in the reservoir. This requires a bit more attention on the part of the operator, but a LOT less potential for disaster if a leak develops at the cap/reservoir. Another benefit is less potential to introduce air bubbles in the liquid, acting on a smaller surface area.
 
Randy Forbes said:
I bought one to use on the BMWs and modified an extra cap to use on the Healey. It works fine.

Instead of filling the bleeder with fluid, I only use it to pressurize the fluid in the reservoir. This requires a bit more attention on the part of the operator, but a LOT less potential for disaster if a leak develops at the cap/reservoir. Another benefit is less potential to introduce air bubbles in the liquid, acting on a smaller surface area.
Click to expand...

So Randy, If I understand this means that after you bleed each wheel you release the pressure on the tank, refill the reservoir and then pressurize for the next wheel?

I bought one of these and I must say that while it looks pretty easy, if you did have a calamity with a hose or at the filler cap you could end up with paint eating brake fluid all over the place. Your approach would eliminate the spouse pushing the brake/clutch pedal, avoid the potential for disaster, but one would have to make sure that air wasn't reintroduced into the system which the Motive system is designed to eliminate.

Am I correct?

Lin
 
Take a step back; for the sake of clarification, the Motive power bleeder currently available looks to not fit the Healey's reservoir so good. This was brought to my attention some months ago when a similarly old thread was ressurected. I KNOW that the one I have works on the Healey, because I used it YESTERDAY after replacing the brake hoses (all were swollen shut, in undoubtedly less than ten years of use). In other words, I can use the cap as supplied by Motive for BMWs directly on the Healey reservoir, whereas the newer ones are an iffy fit. I did modify a Healey cap, but haven't used it since discovering the Motive cap I have fits.

I choose to NOT fill the Motive tank with brake fluid for the reason you cite above__it can get messy if there's a breach__but mostly because I don't feel like cleaning it out every time I use it (mine sees pretty regular action on BMWs). You can actually bleed a lot more than one (1) wheel before you have to stop and refill the Healey's reservoir; even if you bled four (4) onces of fluid__excessive, in my opinion__from each wheel, you'd still only have to stop and refill the reservoir once (with maybe still 4 oz. left inside).

If I remember correctly, you're starting from scratch (so only clean fluid in the reservoir) but if you're just doing an annual purge, I recommend sucking out the dirty fluid, then refilling with clean fluid before starting the bleeding process. At this point, now you only need to "bleed" enough fluid to cleanse the line and remove any trapped air. Takes less time, and uses much less fluid.
 
I was unable to get any air OR fluid bled from my dry-installed Fiat dual master cylinder. This bleeding syringe worked a charm, obviating the need for bench-bleeding. My Healey-neighbor Dennis Williams suggested packing the area around the nipple with grease to prevent air leakage.
You just pull the air out of the system until you've got clear, bubble-free juice in the syringe. Keep an eye on the reservoir, of course.
BleedingSyringe_1.jpgCardoneBleederSyringe.jpg
 
Steve, a lesson learned a long time ago, bleeding dual-circuit Spridget brakes: same thing, no fluid or air, UNTIL I open both a front and rear bleeder at the same time. As long as one (or the two) circuits was sealed, I couldn't get the master-cylinder to stroke enough to bleed the circuit that was vented.

Rarely an issue on THIS forum, all Big Healeys being pre 1/1/1968, but as more cars are converted, maybe it'll help someone else to clear up a mystery ;)
 
Thanks Randy, this is good information about having one each of the front and rear circuits open.

The "gravity" bleeding method always worked for me in the past on the Healey - just open the bleeder screw and watch the fluid flow out. Sounds like it might work in the future with the dual M/C if I use a tube & jar on the fronts and rears at the same time.

After having a Gunson EZbleed blow off my reservoir spraying brake fluid all over the surrounding paint, I like the idea of sucking the fluid out through the caliper.

Posted the info on this syringe because IMHO for the home hobbyist it makes the more expensive machines unnecessary.
 
I use a Motive on my Porsche 968 daily driver, and it works quite well. As noted earlier, they are sold with specific brake fluid reservoir caps for the pressuring line. Frankly, I think the Mighty Vac, which comes with universal fittings, works perfectly well. I offered a professional mechanic working on my daughter's car the use of the Motive the other day, and he chose not to use it. Porsches, VW and Audi's have some commonality, but are metric.
 
Steve,
I had not heard of the Cardone Master Cylinder Bleeder. Watched the video and really like the simplicity, and you can't beat the price. I just ordered one and will give it a try.

Randy, I will check the Motive cap for the Healey and check the fit before I do anything!

Thank you both. Love this Forum!

Lin
 
Lin said:
Steve,
I had not heard of the Cardone Master Cylinder Bleeder. Watched the video and really like the simplicity, and you can't beat the price. I just ordered one and will give it a try.

Randy, I will check the Motive cap for the Healey and check the fit before I do anything!

Thank you both. Love this Forum!

Lin
Click to expand...
I had an email exchange with Randy a while back and I could not get the "cap" to seal/ fit correctly on my reservoiur and after trying other caps none of them worked either. It was a costly purchase with no results and I finally went back to the two people old style brake bleeding. I may get a new cap for the Healey and add a fitting to it for my next attempt at it. Motive did not have a cap that worked!
 
OK, I've been reading this and looking for a reason that they way I do it must be wrong, bad or ineffective. I'm sure you'll let me know if any of these are true. I went out and bought a pressure 1 qt. bug sprayer and simply put a tube on it that fit in the bleeder screw. I also made sure that the screws were sealed with some teflon tape so I could loosen them and not have air leaks. I know teflon tape is an anathema to some, but it does have its uses. I just push fluid (and all the air) up to the resevoir to bleed my brakes. All you have to be careful of is not overflowing the resevoir. Doesn't require a sealed cap for the resevoir and works well for me. Why push air down in opposition to wanting to rise when you can send it in the direction it "wants to go". I've had great success/luck with this and not had to buy anything but a $10 pump up bug sprayer. I even took the tape off when finished without introducing any air (bit of a mess, but easy). Been doing it with aircraft brakes for many years. A 50 cc syringe works great for pulling fluid out of the resevoir if it starts to get near the top.
 
roscoe said:
OK, I've been reading this and looking for a reason that they way I do it must be wrong, bad or ineffective. I'm sure you'll let me know if any of these are true. I went out and bought a pressure 1 qt. bug sprayer and simply put a tube on it that fit in the bleeder screw. I also made sure that the screws were sealed with some teflon tape so I could loosen them and not have air leaks. I know teflon tape is an anathema to some, but it does have its uses. I just push fluid (and all the air) up to the resevoir to bleed my brakes. All you have to be careful of is not overflowing the resevoir. Doesn't require a sealed cap for the resevoir and works well for me. Why push air down in opposition to wanting to rise when you can send it in the direction it "wants to go". I've had great success/luck with this and not had to buy anything but a $10 pump up bug sprayer. I even took the tape off when finished without introducing any air (bit of a mess, but easy). Been doing it with aircraft brakes for many years. A 50 cc syringe works great for pulling fluid out of the resevoir if it starts to get near the top.
Click to expand...

Jon -- When you push old brake fluid upstream into the reservoir, do you start with an empty reservoir, then siphon out the old fluid, then fill the reservoir with new fluid?
 
Steve,
If I were servicing an empty system I would not bother to put any fluid in the reservoir as you WILL fill it up during the bleeding process. If you are bleeding a system that already has fluid in it and the fluid is not too old, I'd just suck enough out of the reservoir to make some room. You may actually have to do that multiple times if you're bleeding all four corners. You could even disconnect the reservoir and put a clear hose on the line because once you've filled the system and removed the air you can reconnect the reservoir and fill it. That's not what I bother to do but I do have to keep getting off the floor to look in the reservoir to make sure I'm not about to overflow it. At my age, that's the hardest part of the job.
 
Patrick, When I first tried to use my motive bleeder, the cap's threads were too thick which made it impossible to get the threads to engage the reservoir.
I put the little sanding drum in my dremel tool and removed a little material from the threads until the cap would screw down onto the reservoir. Worked like a
champ after that. The same cap fits the wife's Mercedes as modified. The motive tool is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I use it with different caps
to fit my other vehicles.
Like Randy, I never put any brake fluid into the tool. I just check/top off the level in the reservoir once in a while while bleeding the entire car. The tool is simply used
to apply a slight pressure to the reservoir. I just pump it up to 5 lbs with two or three strokes of the handle and that is enough to bleed until you are ready to check
fluid level again. I thought I had my clutch purged of all air until after I bleed it using the Motive tool. I have had a solid, non spongy feeling, clutch pedal ever since.
Ed
 
Ed_K said:
Patrick, When I first tried to use my motive bleeder, the cap's threads were too thick which made it impossible to get the threads to engage the reservoir.
I put the little sanding drum in my dremel tool and removed a little material from the threads until the cap would screw down onto the reservoir. Worked like a
champ after that. The same cap fits the wife's Mercedes as modified. The motive tool is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I use it with different caps
to fit my other vehicles.
Like Randy, I never put any brake fluid into the tool. I just check/top off the level in the reservoir once in a while while bleeding the entire car. The tool is simply used
to apply a slight pressure to the reservoir. I just pump it up to 5 lbs with two or three strokes of the handle and that is enough to bleed until you are ready to check
fluid level again. I thought I had my clutch purged of all air until after I bleed it using the Motive tool. I have had a solid, non spongy feeling, clutch pedal ever since.
Ed
Click to expand...
ED, maybe I got the whole bleeding process wrong? Fill the bottle with "air" and then force the fluid out of the reservoir?
 
I used a Motive bleeder on my wife's BMW 325is when replacing the slave cylinder and it worked perfect , I was very pleased that I could do the job myself without having to get someone to come over to help me with a less than five minute bleed job .
 
Okay then,
i am still looking for a part number for the BMW reservoir adapter if anyone can tell me which cap actually fits. I have the one that is supposed to be for the Healey but it does not fit well.
Thanks,
Lin
 
Back
Top