Don't know if this really belongs here but I seem to get the best answers out of this forum. I think I'm gonna get a set of Speed Bleeders for my 89 CRX and was wondering if anyone had practical experience with them. Does it really make bledding the brakes that much easier?
Thanks
Evan

 

Yes.

one person vs. two

open ~1/4 turn and pump away.
close valve and check for leaks.

Will

 

I have Speedbleeders.
I don't like them yet. They sure make things easier, but I can't bleed without seeing tiny bubbles in the lines. I never had bubbles before the Speedbleeders. I still bleed the brakes with a friend. We once went through 2 liters of Super Blue and still little bubbles. I suspect the air is getting in somewhere around the bleed screw and is not actually in the lines. My calipers also always seem to appear wet (there is no fluid on them, but they seem to have the telltale discoloration of leaking fluid) so I'm not sure if they seal well. Nonetheless I've not had any braking problems and have never needed to top off the reservoir.

 

What Will said.

Dave - Did you teflon tape the threads when you installed them? If not, that may solve your problem.

 

I've been very pleased with the results from the speedbleeders... makes it into a one man operation

 

I helped Aleph bleed his R, and the process was very easy (yet somewhat boring--depress...release....depress...release....depress. .. ). I've never done it without speed bleeders though so I can't compare

 

Make damn sure you have a 3/8ths wrench to bleed them. I have about, umm, well, zero SAE tools, (all metric) and would be pissed. Was helping MaxQ at VIR bleed his, and wasn't much help, cuz he couldn't find his 3/8ths, and I didn't have one at all. Doh!

 

Good point. I nearly rounded my brand new Speedbleeders trying to loosen it with 10 mm wrench...

BTW, Chris, it took a week and two cans of FORD HD fluid (and a new 3/8 wrench...) but I finally have a pedal I can trust again...

 

Has anyone tried the Earl's brand bleeders? I beleive part# EAR-280028 is the same as the Speedbleeders... 10x1.25...

Same price, just different design. Personally, I bought the "speedbleeders" to eliminate guesswork.

 

that reminds me, any recommendations on brake fluid? This is a daily driver used for auto-x and the VERY occaisional track day.

 

Valvoline Synthetic is readily available at auto parts stores, is cheap, and isn't a bad fluid for your application. The Ford HD is good but it has gone up in price and needs to be blead more frequently b/c it has a relatively low wet boiling point. Next up the list is the ATE Superblue which is supposed to be good stuff and not too pricey but usually needs to be shipped to you. Motul RBF600 is rockin' fluid but is overkill for your application hth.

 

I like my speedbleeders, got 5, 4 for brakes and 1 for clutch master cyl. They come with this weird thread goo on them, i've never noticed excessive bubbling or anything like that. I know some people who swear by the vacuum pump ones, but these have worked fine for me. And i get to use my SAE crap from time to time

 

Damn Guys, I had one for mine, and I was right next to you!!! Next time, just look through my ****...

 

Do a search, that topic has been exhaustively covered.

 

Have speedbleeders on both cars. No problems at all in 3 years. Bleeding brakes is now trivial.

 

Well **** I must be doing something wrong. Am I supposed to tighten the Speedbleeder when I'm done bleeding?

 

they work similiarly to regular bleed screws... when you aren't bleeding the brakes they should be tightened down properly. When you need to bleed them, you loosen them about 1/3 to 1/2 turn, hook up your bleed hose, get in car pump until fluid runs clean. tighten bleed screw back down and you're done.

 

Do you guys use an special container to catch the fluid?

 

I think Aleph had Gatorade fabricate him a special bottle to catch the stuff we bled off. It was pretty cool.

 

yeah, Mountain Dew and Gatorade normally fight over who's going to be my container of choice


[Modified by Xian, 1:58 PM 3/5/2002]

 

Not yet, they are pre-treated with some kind of thread sealant.

Where did you get the thread specs for the clutch bleed screw? Which one did you order? Unlike brake bleed screws, I'd guess most Hondas have the same clutch bleed screw.

 

Off of the suggestion of some people at http://www.rx7forum.com, I opted not to buy the speedbleeders, but instead get a Power Bleeder from Motive Products ( http://www.motiveproducts.com ). I recently changed out my front rotors, my rear calipers, and all my pads on my RX-7, and this thing made it for a VERY easy job. the hardest part was fitting the chain around the master cylinder (there is not much room in an FD engine bay, as you may or may not know).

The Power Bleeder works differently than the Speed Bleeders, this is a pressure system. You take the cap off your fluid resivior, put the rubber sealed cap from the PB onto the opening, run a chain around the MC, tighten the chain to make a good seal, fill your PB with whatever brake fluid, pump up the container to pressurize it, then start bleeding (starting with farthest from the MC). It worked really well, and was quite easy. It basically just emulates someone continuously putting pressure on the pedal.

One plus of the PB is that you don't need to buy one for each of your cars (I don't know about you, but if I bought a set of speedbleeders for every car I have, it would get mighty expensive).

One minus of the PB is that its a little harder to bleed at the track. Unless you have a tow vehicle that can fit this contraption, the speed bleeders are more convenient. But I have a tow vehicle that can fit the contraption, so I'm fine with that.

 

Make sure that they are not overtightened. The function of Earls bleeders is different than Speed Bleeders.

I saw a set of Earls removed from a M3 (E36) and the installer (dealer) tightened them too much.... which ruined them.

Will

 

The clutch is 8x1.25 per another post on this board. I forgot to order this one so I can't verify it myself.

 

Ah, thank you. Making an easy job easier.