Over the years I've used, and owned, I believe every brake bleed tool invented. However, they all are a PITA, don't work as advertised, or cost way to much.
I've since discovered a method and a simple tool that has worked every time, on a huge variety of vehicles and lets me bleed brakes or clutches by myself. It is a simple old fashioned pump oil can. You can still buy them at NAPA, and other auto parts stores. I prefer the ones made completely of metal that hold a good volume of fluid. The method works like this: Drain and flush the system as you did. Leave the master cylinder empty, with the cap lightly setting in place [very important]. Close all bleed screws except the one farthest from Master Cylinder. Fill the can of the pump oil can with brake fluid [the right kind for the system you are working with] Attach a piece of clean hose to the "squirt" part of the oil pump can, attach the other end to the bleed nipple [you may need to rig up some adaptors to get the hose size correct to allow a slip fit on to the nipple], I like to use enough hose that I can comfortably work setting outside the car instead of under it, so a couple feet works for me. With all connections clean and firm, start pumping clean brake fluid from the wheel cylinder back up the system to the master cylinder. Check the Master Cylinder often to observe it being filled with clean fluid. When approx. 1/4 full, close the wheel nipple and move to the next closest by length. Attach the hose to nipple, open nipple, pump clean fluid again, filling that wheel and line to pump more fluid into cylinder, repeat as necessary to fill all wheel cylinders and lines, while watching that you do not overfill the Master Cylinder OR run empty on the Pump Oil Can [if you pump air you get to start over]. If the Pump Can gets low on fluid, just close the nipple, refill the Pump Can, open the nipple are resume pumping. Using this method, the Master Cylinder is always higher than the wheel [or clutch] cylinders. Air is lighter than brake fluid and by the laws of physics it wants to go up, not down, so is easily pushed out of the braking or clutch system, first time, every time. I like to leave a little space in the Master Cylinder and top it off from the top side, unless I happen to have an assistant who watches for me [not often]. Since using this system and spending less than $10 for a high quality hand oil pump, I have been able to bleed any system by myself faster than I could with someone "pumping the peddle" and I've always had a full peddle when done with no air in the systems. I've used this system on everything from motorcycles, to airplanes, to 5 ton trucks with disk brakes, drum brake systems, and otherwise impossible to bleed clutch systems, all with perfect success. [I find it handy to use a plug in the end of the hose after I've finished and removed it from the last nipple, just to keep the tool clean and ready for "next time"... also keeps from dripping what's in the hose so work area and tool crib remains clean] Hope this helps, Grant.... AZ... On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 8:44 PM, Dieselhead <126die...@gmail.com> wrote: > How to change the hoses and fluid on a 123 with clutch (or without) > > When I was working on Heinrich, The 80 240D with the heart transplant that > I am nursing back to health, I noticed the rear brake hose rubber jacket was > coming off. > > I had front brake hoses that were a couple inches longer than the 123 hoses > (126?) but looked like they would work. I had ordered rear hoses from Q a > couple weeks ago, Had DOT 5 silicon brake fluid on hand, so I was ready to > do the change over. Today was the day! > > Put it on jackstands, with the jack and a stack of tires as safety, took > off the tires, opened the 4 wheel bleeders with a short piece of old > windshield washer hose on each nipple, leading into an empty quart M1 > bottle. > > As the draining neared completion, I took loose the hoses (Sprayed the hard > line fittings with Mopar penetrating derusto earlier). I checked the hoses > to me sure everything was kosher. Then I blew out the calipers with air. > took out the bleeders and applied neverseeze carefully to just the bottom > 4-5 threads to keep it out of the brake system. This helps to seal the > bleeder threads when you hook on the mity vac. And, it keeps you from > breaking off the bleeder next time. > > I pulled the Master reservoir off and rinsed it out 3 times with new, clean > fluid, then stuck it back on. Opened the bleeder screw on the clutch slave, > but it would not drain out. Cut off an inch of the hose from the brake > reservoir to the clutch, and put it back on. It promptly split. > > Uh Oh! I forgot to order that hose, and don't want the thing up on jack > stands in front of my house for a week... > > Quick trip to NAPA , and ended up with a foot of ATF cooler hose. Hope it > will work ok. Tried to buy a pressure bleeder system there, but nothing in > stock, not even a mity vac. > > My HF vac pump will not do pressure, just vacuum. SO off to Oreally, and > they had a mity vac that will do pressure! Got it home, and it is vacuum > only! Rats! Now I have to return it! I specifically asked if it would do > pressure and the guy assured me it did pressure. My old Mity vac did > pressure, but now they don't! > > So I take my HF bleeder canister and fill it with new fluid, hook a hose > from it to the slave bleeder and a hose out. I thought i could put some > pressure in and force the fluid up that way. First shot of air sent fluid > everywhere. I wasn't sure what happened, so i gave it another little shot > of air with the same results.! Seems the air is lifting the lid of the > bottle, and blowing fluid all over. so I pull off the hose and notice that > some fluid is dripping out. So, I closed the bleeder. That didn't work. > > So I pulled off the old clutch supply hose and managed to reinstall the new > one. I stuffed the new hose forward from the footwell through the firewall > grommet. then discovered that climbing in the pass side, laying on my back > with my head and left shoulder hanging off the front edge let me get a > better grip on the new hose and the little angle adapter that hooks it to > the master. > > With that hose on, I could start to bleed the wheels. Filled up the > reservoir and opened the RR bleeder, attached mityvac and pumped away with > no apparent results. > > Hmm, I opened all 4 bleeders, thinking the front ones would gravity bleed, > but nothing seemed to be happening. Put the Mityvac on the LR bleeder, with > no apparent results, but the reservoir was going down, so I kept topping it > up. Went wheel to wheel, with no apparent results, but the reservoir showed > fluid going somewhere. > > Finally the LF bleeder started dripping, so I closed it > Then I pumped on the RF bleeder, and eventually got it dripping. Closed it. > Front end done! > > Put the mity vac on the rear and pumped away. No results apparent. > > Finally the LR wheel bleeder started to drip with out the mity vac. Closed > it. > > pumped on the RR some more, but no drips. Kept topping up fluid. > > Eventually, after I gave up on the mity vac, it started to drip! Cool! > close that bleeder. > > Brakes done! > > How do I bleed the clutch from underneath without a pressure bleeder? I > seem to remember the book uses a hose form the master, but that would take a > piece of brake line to hook to the master, and I don't have that. > > I opened the drivers door an pushed on the brake pedal with my hand, and it > was nice and firm. > > Pushed the clutch, and as expected, it was soft. got up and looked at the > reservoir, and noticed a little bubble coming up from the clutch supply > hose! Hmmmmm Will it gravity bleed? I ran it a few more times, with > bubbles, but no change in pedal. > > then I crawled under to tighten up the clutch bleeder and cap it. I > figured it there were air bubbles coming up form the clutch master, that it > might bleed itself out. Pumped it a few times, and thought i felt some > resistance near the bottom of the stroke. > > Pumped it slowly, and it seemed the resistance was coming up. That sounds > like a prayer answered! > Kept pumping it slowly, and eventually got it pumped to where it seemed to > be bled. > > So I put the tires on , started it up and pushed in the clutch. It went in > gear with no problem! Success! I shifted to 4th, and let out the clutch > (parking brake was already on) and killed the engine. > > Put it on the ground, torqued the lug bolts, cleaned up and put it in the > garage. > > Mission accomplished. Whew! had me scared a few times, because of the > clutch bleeding horror stories I have heard here. > > BTW: 3 of the 4 hoses I looked at were marked 1979 mfg. I am glad I took > the time to change the hoses and switch to silicon DOT5 while I was at it, > instead of just changing fluid. > > I managed to do the conversion this time with a quart of DOT5, and have a > little left. Last time, it took me about a quart and a half. this time I > blew out the calipers with air. Last time I had to repeatedly bleed the > calipers to get the old fluid out, because I was not changing hoses. > > If I can get to cleaning the interior, and with a new set of shoes, old > Heinrich should be ready for road trials. (next spring) > > Next up: Installing the new steering lock, switch, door locks and trunk > lock. It has a pesky radiator drip. If I can get that stopped, then I can > strengthen the antifreeze for the winter. I am hoping that the drip will > stop. > > ______________________________**_________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives > http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
