SpeediBleed
This light, portable pressure brake bleeder is the best one I have ever used in the 25+ years I have been working on cars. I have used other professional-style pressure bleeders costing $800-1000 and prefer the SpeediBleed. Using SpeediBleed by myself, it's taken me only 15 minutes to do a 4-wheel brake bleed and, when finished, I had a firm brake pedal and clean brake fluid from top to bottom. The cool aspect of this kit is that you pressurize the master cylinder by connecting the SpeediBleed fluid bottle to a tire with a aluminum machined adapter. Yes, you read correctly; you use a tire to bleed brakes! When I told a few friends of this feature, they jokingly claimed I would have 4 flat tires to show for my work. They could not have been more wrong. The 4-wheel brake bleed of my Cavalier resulted in only 3 psi being removed from the single tire I used.
There are cheaper DIY kits. The Motive looks to be a decent, popular product. Personally, aside from the quality and ease with which you can control the working pressure, I like that the SpeediBleed has a much larger and constant air pressure source. My truck tires are probably 15-20 times larger volume than the Motive's pressure bottle. Thus, I can set the regulator to 20-25 psi and have enough pressure to flush the system, versus having to pump a bottle a few times. And for the extra money, you get a high quality pressure regulator, quick release coupler, the aluminum adapter, and tool case. My buddy knew the old service manager at the local Porsche dealership near me. They have four to five SpeediBleed kits in their shop and are flushing Porsche and Land Rovers every day. I have used mine hundreds of times in the last 12 years. Really makes it possible for any DIY'er to bleed brakes without the headache.
-- Ron Armstrong
SpeediBleed
$120
Available from Hi-Lo Distributors
Favorite (15)
Matt
I have to say that I would not recommend this product or similar to anyone. Period. Brake fluid is hygroscopic and the last thing you want to do is apply pressurized air (with humidity) to it. Most companies that manufacture brake fluid even recommend discarding any opened bottle that has been left out for over a certain time frame. High end pressure bleeders will have a diaphragm to separate the air from the brake fluid but a consumer level one like this will add lots of water to the system.
Euroguy
Unlike I assme the person above, I have actually used this Speedi-Bleed tool, extensively, and presently own a complete kit, purchased from a "high end" Snap-On dealer. If I had to categorize Speedi-Bleed, it would actually be more of a shop or trade quality tool, rather than a "consuer level one" The plastic fluid bottle / Tire hookup might scream DIY'er to some people, but that is not the case. The tool is very well made, and the adapters are some of the best quality I have ever seen. 3 of the repair shops I worked in, owned a Speedi-Bleed, and pretty much all the guys loved to use it . I would put the figure at 5000-6000 vehicles, as the number of vehicles, I have seen this tool used on.. This also includes a Mercedes Benz dealership, where we used the Speedi-Bleed (often with a bi-directional scan tool) for all our fluid flushes. This included $150,000 vehicles still on the warranty.
Yes of course, DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluid is hygroscopic, but wherever I have worked, we adopted a proactive approach, and endorsed regular fluid flushing. Regarding Speedi-Bleed hooking up to the tire (again my opinion is of someone who has actually used it) out of thousnads of vehicles, I have never heard of a single vehicle comeback, or customer complaint. Our shop had a "high end" brake fluid tester, that measures the exact boiling point of brake fluid. For every flushing job, I make a habit of testing the brake fluid in the vehicle, both before and after the job is done, so that the customer could see the results if desired. I never had a single vehicle,post Spedi-Bleed brake flush, test out to anything other than optimum, comparible with fresh new brake fluid.
Years ago, our shop got a new tech, who without even using Speedi-Bleed, was convined using the tire pressure was not a good idea. Being the nerd that I am, and a bit of a tech head, I talked him into doing a small test with me We deliberately added small amounts of water to an old tire, filled the Speedi-Bleed botle with fresh brake fluid, and then connected the bottle to the same tire after prerssurizing it to 30 psi. We repeated this test 5-6 times, each time adding more water to the tire. It took almost 300 ml of water in the tire, before the brake fluid boiling point. was lowered beyond a few decimal points.
Lastly, tires are obviously rubber, and studies show that the comprerssed air inside the tire, is dispersed through the side walls of the tire, at a reate of aprox 2 psi per month. This is the main reason why even brand new tires in great condition loose air pressure, and need periodic checking. It is beyond my scope, but I would suggest that any moisture inside a tire, is heated and vaporized, and all but a tiny amount, dispersed with the air through the sidewall of the tire. I do agree though about contamination of brake fluid, caused by exposure to the air in the atmosphere. and this should be minimized when ever possible.