Gunsons Ez-Bleed kit question

[benftl]

Hi guys,

Over the weekend I was tasked to change the brake fluid and rear pads on my mums Astra G. The pads were easy enough to do (after I had to use a blow torch to remove the stubborn caliper bolt), however the fluid change took a lot longer than I expected.

I used a Gunsons bleeder kit, connected to a spare tyre as per instructions at 20psi. When undoing the rear bleeder nipple I was expecting a rather rapid flow of fluid but all I got was a small trickle. It was literally a 'drip... drip... drip' scenario. I thought perhaps the nipple wasn't open enough but after half a turn it refused to budge. Bleeding the adjacent side caliper, the flow was no better. When resorting to the 'two man' method of pushing the brake pedal down, the flow was nice and quick so I can assume the bleeder nipple isn't hindering the flow in any way.

Her Astra has ABS, and I considered trying a higher pressure than 20psi but having never bled brakes before I didn't want to risk damaging anything by doing so. The Gunson kit seems like a great idea, but if this pathetic flow rate is considered normal then I'll stick to the two man method in future.

Thoughts / comments?

 

[Maz]

I did an 03 Astra not long ago and had to have someone pump the pedal while tightening and undoing the bleed nipple until getting a proper flow and topping up brake fluid.

Once going it was fine but took a while to get going.

 

[Thomas. PLease.]

I have used the kit, and never had any trouble with it. Did you check that the bottle and cap on the resevoir wasn't leaking. Could have been the reason it was trickling out due to lack of pressure?

 

[Lopéz]

The only thing I've used a Gunson Eezibleed for is painting the underside of my bonnet with DOT 4

 

[benftl]

I did an 03 Astra not long ago and had to have someone pump the pedal while tightening and undoing the bleed nipple until getting a proper flow and topping up brake fluid.

Once going it was fine but took a while to get going.

Yeah, this is exactly what we ended up doing after giving up with the Gunsons kit. It was a hell of a lot quicker, though I was nervous doing it after reading reports of 'master cylinder seals' flipping and rendering the braking system useless. This is why I'd prefer to use the bleeder kit as it's supposed to be a lot safer, but apparently it's incredibly slow too!

I have used the kit, and never had any trouble with it. Did you check that the bottle and cap on the resevoir wasn't leaking. Could have been the reason it was trickling out due to lack of pressure?

When I first attached the air I had brake fluid leaking from the reservoir but after some tightening up of the cap the system was leak-free. I'm presuming that when you used yours, the fluid flowed out as a stream, rather than the drips I suffered from?

The only thing I've used a Gunson Eezibleed for is painting the underside of my bonnet with DOT 4

I've heard the horror stories but then I've also read the many praises, who are you supposed to believe? Owing to this I covered the reservoir and immediate area with an old towel just in case the worst happened. Fortunately no bad leaks, but I'm still not liking this kit much!

 

[Thomas. PLease.]

Yeh, thats exactly right. It came out as a solid stream once opened up.

 

[Maz]

The only problem I had bleeding it manually was that it emptied the reservoir very quickly, so I sealed a funnel onto the top of the reservoir, as before I did that everytime the reservoir was topped up it would leak a little onto the alternator! Causing squealing it took a can of brake cleaner to get it squeak free and then drying.

 

[Tesla]

I really rate the Gunson kit. I had air stuck in the brake lines on the Mrs. Fiesta after I fitted new calipers. After giving up on the usual pump method after 20mins the Gunson sorted me out.

I read horror stories of them exploding off of the resivoir so I wrapped the entire contraption in towels and cloths.

 

[benftl]

Strange. Clearly there was an issue with the kit on her car, perhaps I should have tried a higher pressure say 25psi or thereabouts. Are there any risks with doing so? My Fiesta will need its fluid changing soon so I'll try and reserve judgement until then.

 

[Thomas. PLease.]

As far as I'm aware the pressure warning there is to prevent damage to any of the seals in the brake system. I personally would adhere to the warning. Brakes aren't something to be readily messed about with imho, unless you know exactly what you are doing.

My advice would be to get on a car specific forum, I'm sure there will be one if you search, and have an ask on there, see if they can tell you why it might be happening.

also, 3000th post, go me.

 

[SB118]

The only thing I've used a Gunson Eezibleed for is painting the underside of my bonnet with DOT 4

Been there. When these things first arrived i didn't bother to rtfi and just slapped the airline onto the fitting. Slightly aerated the fluid...

 

[Gaverick]

I've got a Eezibleed kit and used it on both my Pug 306 and Fabia vRS. Usually use 15psi to avoid any brake fluid explosions and the flow is always strong from the rear callipers.

 

[benftl]

Interesting I wonder why my flow was so bad then? Like I say, I'll reserve judgement until I try the kit on my Fiesta, but I'm still baffled as to why it didn't work as intended on the Astra.

 

[iaind]

I'm curious about these, never come across them before. What's wrong with the traditional pumping method?

 

[ganesh]

I'm curious about these, never come across them before. What's wrong with the traditional pumping method?

I believe the main advantage of the kit is that it takes one person only, as opposed to two using the pedal pumping method.

 

[Matt82]

shouldnt be coming out as a dribble. ive put new fluid in two cars in the last two weeks, and ive been using this thing for years, only comes out as a dribble if the nipple is blocked with dirt or youve not actually opened the nipple far enough

 

[dalin80]

The two man method is easier, quicker and safer, these silly bleed kits just give you a greater chance of pooping the master-cylinder seal and having a another person in the car allows you to do a good pressure on leak test.

 

[Jonny69]

As far as I'm aware the pressure warning there is to prevent damage to any of the seals in the brake system. I personally would adhere to the warning. Brakes aren't something to be readily messed about with imho, unless you know exactly what you are doing.

You exert several hundred psi of pressure on the braking system when you stand on the brakes. 20 psi is nothing.

The Gunson kit seems like a great idea, but if this pathetic flow rate is considered normal then I'll stick to the two man method in future.

I've never used one but if you've got power brakes or a servo assist can this possibly restrict the flow?

I have to admit I'm a bit of a silicone hose on my nipples kinda guy when it comes to brake bleeding. Why complicate something so simple?

 

[benftl]

only comes out as a dribble if the nipple is blocked with dirt or youve not actually opened the nipple far enough

The nipples would only do a half turn before they got 'stuck', and this half turn was enough to allow a proper flow of liquid when applying pressure to the brake pedal so it's strange that you'd consider them not slack enough to allow the Gunson kit to work properly. Maybe I should have attempted to loosen the nipples more, but I was worried that I'd damage something if I 'broke' past the point where they refused to unscrew.

The two man method is easier, quicker and safer, these silly bleed kits just give you a greater chance of pooping the master-cylinder seal and having a another person in the car allows you to do a good pressure on leak test.

A lot of people say the same about the 'two man' method, that there's a high risk of popping seals and that the Gunson kit is far safer. I'd imagine they both have risks, people have different opinions so there's no right or wrong really. However I would agree with the pressure leak test comment, this could be a pain if you're by yourself.

I've never used one but if you've got power brakes or a servo assist can this possibly restrict the flow?

I have to admit I'm a bit of a silicone hose on my nipples kinda guy when it comes to brake bleeding. Why complicate something so simple?

Regarding servo assist, I've no idea, but then most modern cars have them and as Maz said earlier the kit worked perfectly well on his Astra - with servo assist.

As ganesh has said, the main advantage of the Gunson kit is so you can change the brake fluid without the assistance of another person. It's nice not to have to rely on the presence of someone else when tinkering with the car, so I thought I'd give the kit a bash.

I'm still very curious to why it didn't work properly when I'm struggling to find reports of anyone else suffering the same low flow rate that I did. I might give it another go on the weekend by attempting to open the bleed nipple a bit more.

 

[Jonny69]

I might give it another go on the weekend by attempting to open the bleed nipple a bit more.

It usually dribbles out on its own accord. One thing I was going to ask was how far did you open the bleed nipple? I usually go about 0.75 of a turn I think.