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Bleeding/ purging- Does a simple screw-in reservoir for a brake master cylinder exist?


'41 Fat Bottom Girl

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OK, a question for you special brake tool gurus-

Know of a tube or some type of vessel that's made to thread into the fill hole on top of a master cylinder? Something to hold about 1/2 cup or so brake fluid?

I am thinking it would be screwed into the fill hole and filled with fluid. Tall enough too, so the spurt of fluid when you depress the brake stays inside this container.

While purging the brake lines or bleeding, I wouldn't have to follow my usual procedure- which is- unscrew the mstr. cyl. fill plug, add fluid, screw the fill plug back in, bleed or purge a bit, repeat, repeat repeat...

My wife operates the brake pedal when I am working the bleeders; such a tool would save refilling the master cylinder and capping it over, and over, and over again...

If that should exist, I want to get one. 

Waddya think?

Thanx! Bruce

 

Further on the brake maintenance subject - from Tales of the Idle Mind:

After tipping over my brake bleeding bottle again over my garage floor- grrrrrr- I had enough. This is the prototype of my new Fixture. (c'mon, they laughed at Leonardo Da Vinci, too...) I am going to improve on the design with a piece of 4 inch angle iron, a fixed container with anchor point for the tubing end, and have a smaller removable bottle to drop into the fixed container to easily empty the bleed/purge brake fluid. I'm on a roll, now. Candidate for the duct tape Hall of Fame even? 

(After the incredible success in the building of a wood crib to prevent my transmission from sliding off the tranny jack this time around, I am obviously expanding my talents in Tool Utilization and Design.  My lower lip has totally healed from the Transmission Incident, thank you for asking, and I did keep all my teeth).

IMG_4844.JPG.72ff84019cd2b1d9f4b2e225297937ec.JPG

 

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As DJK suggested, I had an extra cap, drilled and tapped it for a 1/8-27 pipe thread to barbed hose adapter. Attached a hose and connected other end to a used bottle cap of a water bottle.  Cut out the bottom of the bottle and screwed it to the cap .  Tie-wrapped the bottle to the top of the steering wheel.  Filled it all with brake fluid.  Had a clear hose connected to the open bleed fitting of the wheel I was working on. Other end of hose into a jar on the floor with a bit of brake fluid in the bottom. Pumped pedal until had fluid in the clear hose coming out off the bleed fitting.  Worked for me. Regards.

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Save yourself a LOT of aggravation and use a power bleeder:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O6FZJFG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

815SU+X0JiL._AC_UL115_.jpg

 

Put fluid in the tank, connect the hose to the barb you installed in the master cylinder cap, pressurize the tank, then go around to each bleeder and bleed until no bubbles. One person can bleed all four wheels in less than ten minutes.

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There is a very tiny vent hole in your master cylinder fill plug . Usually in the side of the plug . if you are thinking of filling the master cylinder above this tiny hole , the brake fluid will leak out there unless the hole is plugged . I put a remote fill container up on the firewall of my vehicle and it is see-through to tell at a glance where the fluid level is , and it is much easier to add fluid too . The container came from a Volkswagon beetle .  The container is high enough that I can just open a bleeder and gravity will bleed my brakes . Very handy . 

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Sam....sure sounds easy enough.  How much brake fluid do you put in the tank so you don't have to worry about the level going down far enough for air to get into the feed line?  Looks like it could be a 2 gallon tank to fill.  I understand wouldn't have to fill it but I buy brake fluid by the quart.  Regards.

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You could use the the rear fitting from an old MC for the top of the MC.  They are the same size.  The rear fitting has two taps.  One for the front brakes and one for the rear brakes. It does not have a vent.  Plug one of the taps.  You can then run a line from the other tap up to a reservoir.  The local auto parts stores have brake lines that will fit these taps and they come in varying lengths.  This can be permanently installed.  I have not done this yet but plan to.  Just have to find a reservoir that will work.   

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8 hours ago, squirebill said:

Sam....sure sounds easy enough.  How much brake fluid do you put in the tank so you don't have to worry about the level going down far enough for air to get into the feed line?  Looks like it could be a 2 gallon tank to fill.  I understand wouldn't have to fill it but I buy brake fluid by the quart.  Regards.


A quart should be enough. As mentioned above I have an old rear cap from a master cylinder that added a barb to for the pressure bleeder.

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On 2/22/2021 at 11:19 PM, Sam Buchanan said:

Save yourself a LOT of aggravation and use a power bleeder:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O6FZJFG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

815SU+X0JiL._AC_UL115_.jpg

 

Put fluid in the tank, connect the hose to the barb you installed in the master cylinder cap, pressurize the tank, then go around to each bleeder and bleed until no bubbles. One person can bleed all four wheels in less than ten minutes.

Best method 

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There are many ways to skin a cat.

I bought a Vacuum Bleeder from Harbor Freight $35.

It has the refill bottle which "rests" in the opening of the master cylinder and refills it as the fluid is drawn out.

Its operation reminds me of the old battery fillers.

The procedure works like this set up the refill bottle then go to the furthest brake cylinder.

Attach the vacuum line to the bleed nipple and suck the air out with the tool, then repeat till you get to the last one.

I wouldn't think it would work as good as a Pressure Bleeder except that I have used a Robinair Vacuum cooling system filler on a very complicated Vanagon cooling system. Those things are almost impossible to get the air out of. You can find leaks and fix them without wasting coolant and then it fills the system completely full with no air pockets!

In my humble opinion $35 bucks is Joe Cheap for such an efficient way to do the job.

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I tried the HF vacuum bleeder but never got the results I wanted. I think air was being pulled into the bleeder past the brake bleeder threads on the drums. I might be a good idea to use some teflon tape or other thread sealer on the brake bleeders if intending to pull a vacuum on the system.

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Here's my contraption.   A factory steel cap, drilled and threaded.  I figured I might as well use an old valve left over from some long-ago vehicle. 

 

This, combined with a vacuum bleeder and a lift makes short work of brake bleeding.

 

 

edit: the rubber line in the background is part of the lift, not the bleeding system,

 

thumbnail_IMG_1774.jpg

Edited by Hamilton
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