Eezibleed never the first time.. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

edge · #1 04-23-2003, 12:25 AM

Well I replaced the brake pads in my 300SD tonight and thanks to all the help on this board it went smoothly and took 3 1/2 hours. Especially helpful was the hint to loosen the bleeder screw when pushing the caliper back as the pads barely squeeze in. Now I also bled the brake fluid but I can never seem to get it right the first time with the Eezobleed system. Either the bottle leaks air, the tires don't seal tight to the bleed sytem, or the tire pressure is too low to force the system to bleed. Damn, now I have to re-bleed the brakes tommorrow.

gsxr · #2 04-23-2003, 02:46 PM

That's weird. If you set the regulator to 15psi or so, fluid should come out at each bleeder screw. I've heard that 25-30psi may be required for ABS systems but I haven't had to do that with mine. It's also possible that your bleeder screw(s) are plugged with dirt, preventing fluid from coming out. They're supposed to have little rubber caps on them to avoid this problem. Don't forget to use DOT 4+ fluid, btw.

edge · #3 04-23-2003, 02:56 PM

Yeah, they all had rubber caps on before I bled them. It seems to work better went I goose the tire pressure to 36lbs, then the pressure gives me a steady stream. 20lbs. give a spotty intermittant stream. There doesn't seem to be any problems with higher pressure. Thanks.

lrg · #4 04-23-2003, 09:36 PM

I generally use 25-30 lbs. without a problem. Just watch your fluid level because the resevoir can empty pretty fast at that pressure.

gsxr · #5 04-23-2003, 09:55 PM

The Speedi-Bleed fills the reservoir as fluid is used, which is great. Check it out at www.falcotools.com , this is the one I use. You want to use as low a pressure as possible to avoid problems. The most common problem is the 2 rubber caps on the master cylinder reservoir get hardened and cracked with age, and leak - sometimes badly - when under 15-30psi pressure! It's a good idea to just install new ones before bleeding, if yours are over ~10 years old (they're probably original unless you have replaced them already!)

edge · #6 04-23-2003, 11:53 PM

The problem with Eezibleed is the plastic tire valve. I can't get it on the tire tight enough, even using pliers. I lose 10 lbs of pressure when I bleed the left rear tire. It would be a better system if it had a metal valve. Good thing I have an electric pump which I use to refill the tire between bleeding. I think I may have not tighten the bleeder screws tight enough as the front rubber caps on them were wet when I re-bleb the brakes tonight. I'm glad it's over, I hate spilling that brake fluid on the garage floor. I need glass jars, plastic ones tip over. My favorite mayonaise jars comes in plastic nowadays, darn it.

gsxr · #7 04-24-2003, 12:06 AM

Do you have a link for the "Eezibleed "? I'm not familiar with that brand of bleeder. The SpeediBleed that I use (URL above) doesn't have the problem you mention.

Thomaspin · #8 04-24-2003, 10:55 AM

....on my site.

I have used it for some 10 years now, at 20psi, ABS or regular. I'm uncomfortable with higher pressures since I read of the guy bleeding his Porsche 356 at 30psi only to have the fluid reservoir blow apart. Probably brittle from age.

If the valve which attaches to the tire is leaking you may have a faulty one. Mine, pushed on fully, holds air.

The only problem I have encountered is with leaks at the bottle or at the connector caps on the brake fluid reservoir. Both use rubber seals which go off or mate poorly with age. Easily replaced.

A pressure bleeder like this will immediately notify you of leaky rubber buttons on the brake fluid reservoir by forcing a spray of fluid out through them. I just bought two more from the thieves who pass as factory dealers here and paid $12 for them. Outrageous, but I couldn't wait for mail order.

Eezibleed overfills the reservoir, so you need to suck excess fluid out, down to the indicated level when you are done. And don't forget to reinflate that spare....

Those little bleeders with a hand operated pump look like an improvement on the Eezibleed design with its clunky use of a tire or other compressed air source.

gsxr · #9 04-24-2003, 11:27 AM

The "hand operated pump" bleeder you mention sounds like the MityVac, which uses vacuum to pull fluid out at each wheel. That is what I did for years before seeing the light and getting a pressure bleeder. The pressure bleeding, forcing fluid through from the m/c, is the ONLY way to go! Can't believe I didn't learn that sooner.

BTW, most of the "mail order" places can drop-ship from warehouses in CA... you needed the rubber buttons faster than 2 days? I almost refuse to buy any parts from the dealer any more, especially after I got a hold of the MBNA price list (dated Nov 2002), which will show how badly your dealer is raping you:

http://www.meimann.com/docs/mercedes/MB_PriceList_Nov-02.doc

(no decimal point is used, and the 3 prices are dealer net, wholesale, and "suggested" list.) I found the typical markup to be 20-200%, worse on small items...

Thomaspin · #10 04-24-2003, 11:53 AM

Actually, I was not thinking of the Mityvac - a very poorly executed tool which I found sprayed brake fluid everywhere. OK for regular vac work, bad for bleeding.

I was thinking of the little white plastic bottle tool with a built in pressure gauge and hand pump - looks sweet - can't remember its name.

grant1983300sd · #11 08-12-2003, 12:21 AM

wrt "sweet" bleeder. Believe you're thinking of a Power Bleeder by Motive Products.

WWW.MotiveProducts.com

Just bought recently for bleeding my P-car brakes. Lurking here for info on bleeding the 300sd with the same tool.

FWIW: a hint on bleeding a very dirty system it may make sense to bleed a front wheel close to the MC to clear old fluid and start getting new fluid into the braking system. No sense in pushing dirty old fluid all the way to the back end of the car when you can dump it sooner up front. Once clear fluid exits the first (up front) wheel bleeder, close bleeder, move the back and follow std 4 wheel bleeding pattern.

tjohn · #12 08-12-2003, 05:54 PM

Motive power bleeder is the final answer IMHO. It's even cheaper at this BMW site. I ordered mine from them, it's the same attachment to the master cylinder. Quick pressure bleeds, MC topped off to the right level. Can't ask for more than that. I find maintaining 12 psi or so is plenty for my non ABS brakes.

grant1983300sd · #13 08-13-2003, 01:24 AM

1. On bleeding non ABS 300sd brakes, any MC switches to reset or any need to balance the brake circuit pressure front to rear? For instance, a floating switch with reset on the MC. The MC switch in my other application trips the dash idiot light for brake problems.

2. Alternate sources: hadn't searched our host's site here and didn't want to be offensive to the host. My power bleeder was from pelicanparts AKA driveworks. Similar offset from manuf's list.