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On 6 Sep 2006 at 10:38, Constantino Tobio wrote: > Big Al wrote: > > I've wondered about the MC bench bleeding "necessity", 'cause I've never > > needed to do it previously. So, I assumed it was either necessary for > > OTHER cars or I was just really lucky. ;) > When I sold auto parts, all the master cylinders I sold had a slip of > paper with the bench bleeding procedure listed, and came with a set of > plastic fittings and hoses. Those little pieces of paper and bag of hose and fittings have probably done more harm than good over the past 20 years. They have certainly created more than their share of misery. I think I've heard that there are some mini-vans which have the MC pointed down, so that they won't self bleed (a TERRIBLE design) so my guess is that this is where the mis-info got started. Someone in the brake business thought they could make their product look more desirable by including that little set of "tools" in with every new or rebuilt MC whether it needed it or not. (It must have been easier to include them with every one than to make sure that every one which actually needed it got it.) > It took 15 years, but this list has proven to me that this is largely bunk > (at least for non-ABS equipped vehicles), after I did the complete hydraulic > overhaul of my brakes and a DoT-5 transfusion. Gravity will bleed the air out > of your system. If you want to speed things up a little, a power brake > bleeder is nice to have. I've got a Motive Power Bleeder I use for all the > family cars. Makes bleeding a snap. No excuse to not change out your DoT-3 or > DoT-4 fluid every 2-3 years when you have one of these. Power bleeders are great. I wish I could afford one. Just don't confuse them with the silly little vacuum pumps. Don't bother with them, either. They have a good chance of pulling air into the cylinders. Like you say, gravity bleeding actually works pretty well. > I wouldn't even strike the pump with a hammer. I'd use a small piece of > wood (the hammer handle would probably suffice). Something with not a > lot of mass. Right, be gentle, but try hitting in different directions and escalate slowly. Plan to spend several minutes under there tapping away. Don't get frustrated with it doesn't start with the first dozen taps. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~