Hey I know this was a while ago but I just bought this exact one and was having a problem with not much suction and I found out you have to remove a little circle stopper they put on there just for the packaging. I can see you didn’t remove it aswell. I thought I’d let your viewers know this is a great brake bleeder. I can now get it to max out the suction on it after removing the stopper. You can see it at 6:48 in the video. It’s stopping it from fully pulling the slider back and forward. So if anyone is reading this. I absolutely love this cheap harbor freight tool. Just remember to take off the stopper
@@jeanponce2017 no it’s not that’s to release the pressure. Do you see the red handle? Right above the red handle, right between them is a little black circle price of plastic
@@bumbee2227 I think a better picture of the pump is at 02:21 where he is holding the pump in his hand. There, you can clearly see a horizontally positioned black plastic tube or such in between, holding the "arms" of the handles apart. So ,once removed that plunger should retract all the way into the vacuum cylinder. The pumping action should now produce a longer "throw" on that plunger, creating the vacuum needed to operate the bleeder.
@@bumbee2227 I was just guessing thinking maybe it's some breather port. But as I watch it I noticed that he couldn't pump it so I saw the block that restricted him from pumping it so the cylinder could pump long stokes with the piston giving him plenty of power. Without it he was handicapping himself. How he didn't realize he can only squeezed it a half inch which isn't doing anything.
Just to let you know you forgot to take out that black spacer. That’s why you weren’t getting enough pressure. I bought the same one from Harbor freight and it works fine!
@@cizvi i think they are talking about on the pump handle you can see this kind of big circle black spacer in between the pump handle. so when you are squeezing to pump you are basically not squeezing it enough cause the spacer is stopping you from fully squeezing the device. idk if that has some use or not. some things i buy not related to cars have spacers on them and sometimes they are basically just decoration for packaging i believe
How many of you guys remember working on the brakes of your dad's car? He was under the car the I was 9-10 years old in the car with Dad yelling : Okay pump! Okay, hold! Okay pump, okay hold! Until all the air was out of the system? I always liked the time I spent with my Dad in the garage working on anything. I learned a lot from him that way. Because of my Dad I'm able to do a lot of different things from car's to water heaters, plumbing, woodworking etc. Mom and Dad were married 64 years! I miss my Dad a lot but always think of "how would Dad do it" when I work on thing's. Hope a lot of you guys had a Dad like mine!
My dad wasnt like that. He never taught me anything! Gave attention more to my sister. My parents divorced when I was real young. When he passed i didnt have any emotion. The guy wasnt there in my life, and i dont want to be like that. I dog my son out a lot. I hate myself for that and I want to teach him man stuff you know but hes a good kid. I need to try more.
@@bludragontruck9743 you're already what you're dad wasn't, remember you aren't him, you're a newer and better version. Just like you remembered what you disliked about him your son will remember how he liked the little things, even if it's one thing a week. My Dad taught me a lot and it gave me interest in doing things on my own and with my hands, nowadays it's easier to learn without him because of YT. I am 32 now and I can say my Dad was what got me started, now everything I've done was on my own thanks to him giving me that push. It doesn't take much effort to build simple good memories. When you're old u don't want your son to think ugh it's him, I can't right now... So just do what u can. Good luck.
@@benbrown9053 Hey brother. Thank you for the advice and encouraging me not to be the person my father was. I really should take a step back at my everyday activities and let my son in on them. He always asks if I need help in the garage, the yard, or if I'm under the hood he would ask to help. But my dumb ass could let him do something small just to gain experience but he wouldn't do something right and I'd literally just yell at him. I dont know who you are but I really appreciate your time to look at my comment and respond. You gave me some skills I can put to work with my kid. Who would've known commenting on a brake bleeder would've gave me more of a life lesson.👍🏼
Imagine giving a tool a bad review on a video, getting over 400k views, end then find out you weren't using the tool properly 😂 at least admit your error so people don't get mislead
500K Views now, also I think the Gentleman needed to started bleeding from the rear brakes than work his way up to the front tires. I think Johnny just didn't understand that part. But great tool for the price
Dude...I bought one of these to do my Nissan 200 sx brakes after I changed rotors, pads and calipers.....This little pump works just fine, and has sufficient vacuum to pull the fluid thru - you couldn't pump because you left the handle pad in place!! Take it out, and it works great.....Don't give ppl car advice if you can't even figure out the tools for the job.......
Ďònt know what went wrong for you but I have the same pump and it works great.start with rt rear,lft rear,rt front snd left frt last.dont let master cyl.get too lowe,
I have a Pagid version (German brand) of this tool and it has one big failing that this one does too. When applying the vacuum to the bleed nipple air gets sucked into the tube from the outside, down the threads of the nipple.You can see this clearly on the first bleed, if that much air was in the caliper, you wouldn't have ANY brakes. A temporary fix is to smear silicone grease around the bleeder threads to act as a seal.
your last video clip shows brake fluid in the line between the cup and the pump meaning you probable go fluid in the pump that kills pump valving every time. The 23 inch line between the pump and cup should go to the connector that does NOT have the short plastic tube on it. The cup is to keep the fluid from reaching the pump and fluid accumulation.
Im pretty sure you had this set up wrong, the nipple needs grease to stop air bleeding that gives you the endless bubbles. I have one and when it's set up correctly and used correctly it does a mighty fine job
Imagine making a tutorial and not knowing how to properly use the device which you're attempting to teach others to use.... lol. I'm not dogging this guy.... but man, a lil embarassing.
You need to remove the spacer that's on it for shipping so it has full lever movement .so this was a pilot error. tool works fine got up to 20 to bleed my brakes
I spent 45 minutes trying to get this to work, watched this video and was about to give up before watching another video.. then I saw he had removed the spacer as well... AARRGG>>> that stupid Spacer!!! worked much better after I removed that.
I have this same exact kit that's over 10 years old. I was finally able to put it to good use after the metal brake line in my 2004 Subaru Outback rusted out. I bleed the entire system after replacing all the metal components in the rear section. Aside from the little rubber bleeder fittings that didn't quite create an air tight seal, (use a short piece of aquarium tubing). This HF brake bleeder worked perfectly, just read the instructions if you are not familiar with the process!
I didn't want to jump on you because everyone else did already, but you should take your time on everything else you do, if you would have took more time to check the tool out ,you would not have missed the little black cap between the handles its there for shipping purposes, 😉👍
Thank you so much for this comment, you brought back so many great memories for me. Every girlfriend I've ever had that asked me to teach them how to work on their car I have told them that I will teach them everything they need to know once they are able to find and change their blinker fluid. LMAO man those were good times 🤣
I like HF, and if used correctly this tool works. But an inline check valve in the bleeder hose, which is done for motorcycles, also makes it a one man job using much simpler, more reliable and durable and less expensive components.
The tools work best when you use them correctly. Air flows up, so you always bleed brakes with your tube higher than the brake bleeder so the air goes up and away, not back into the brakes. Also your bleeder probably was clogged with rust. Pumping the brakes probably broke the rust free from the pressure build up.
Brian Keith, I like your story about your Dad, and I learned a lot from my Dad, except I don't handle my anger as he did...he was very patient with me... and enjoyed being with him and learned by helping him. It is harder to get help when you need it in our new modern time. Things and times have changed. Except the buyer beware of the cheaper products. It has always been the case. Pete, I am glad you had this video and it is going to help me try the same Harbor Freight product...Hope I get it to work for me. Thanks
Uh... you might want to read ALL the directions first. The tool is fine, it's operator error. Also, when you say "pressure" you mean to say Vacuum (negative pressure).
@@@joemc111 Agree he failed using the product. If he failed because of "dirt under the fingernails", wow you must be something! Even with gloves on while working on cars they often rips and you will get dirty finger nails. I had to double check I was not watching a cooking show or nail polishing show.
Vacuum is not a "negative pressure" Vacuum is an ABSENSE of pressure.There is atmospheric pressure (15.7 lb/sq.in. which is the pressure on the surface of earth and reads zero on a guage. There is guage pressure which begins at zero PSI (which is atmospheric pressure) and increases with pressure applied. There is absolute pressure which is the sum of atmospheric and guage pressure. Vacuum is not pressure.
@@callmenortnortin467 So in a vacuum chamber, if you pulled a vacuum equivalent to -14.7 PSI it would not equalize atmospheric pressure which is 14.7 at sea-level?
@@rstelzer2928 until you grasp that pressure is a force measured in pounds per square in or a number of bars(bars being a term derived from barometric pressure,or the pressure the atmosphere exerts on the surface of earth). on a surface,,and that a vacuum is an absence of any pressure ,you wont be able to realize and separate the two phenoms from each other. Pressure cant be a vacuum and a vacuum cant be a pressure,,and that means there is no such thing as a minus pressure .
What was happening was that the pump was pulling air from the outside of the brake caliper pistons, past the piston seal ,which only seals ON WAY, against pressure from INSIDE the caliper, not against pressure from OUTSIDE. All those bubbles you saw was air being sucked INTO the caliper, past the seal, by the suction of the pump.. But when your neighbor pumped the brakes, he was producing pressure inside the caliper piston, which caused it to seal and blew the fluid out through the bleeder fitting. I've never had success with sucking brake fluid out. I now use fitting which consists of a tube into spare brake reservoir cap, through which I pump pressure into the master cylinder. This replicates someone pumping the brakes. When getting someone to pump the brakes, you do risk scoring the piston seal or the master cylinder itself, if the person pushes the brake pedal to the floor, causing the piston to travel past where it usually stops, into the normally untouched part of the master cylinder. This end part of the cylinder often has accumulated grit and other contaminants which, if scraped along the cylinder, will prematurely cause the piston seal to leak.
I think the air was being drawn in past the loosened bleed nipple thread. 3 or 4 turns of ptfe tape on the thread would solve that. The front caliper bleed nipple was probably blocked.
If you're bleeding a motorcycle you have to use the other 3" line to the bleeder valve and it can also work for your car as well so the fluid moved directly into the container without losing some fluid in a longer line before it gets to the canister for holding the fluid when vacuum is applied to the system. I never needed the other 23" line. I think mainly for testing engines and vacuum valves for fuel systems is what the other 23" line is for maybe. Evidently he doesn't read his comment sections does He? Remove the spacer in the handle dummy. That's for shipping only, it will pump on up to 20 lbs. Anything over that is likely going to damage the Master Cylinder. As per instructions, plus you were supposed to use a nipple that fits in the 3" line and then plug in the correct adapter for your specific bleeder size. You get a better seal that way and can pump on up over 20 pounds that way. Plus this gauge is for setting vacuum on carbs for motorcycles so they will be balanced as well.
I order a the same pump on ebay I desperately waited 3 weeks to get it. I was able to pump it up to 15psi on the 2 rear tires but fluid got into the pump and fail to keep pressure. It was not the pumps fault it was mine for not watching videos or read the instructions. You never want fluid in the pump per videos I watched. I learned by my mistake...heading to harborfreight tomorrow to try it again.
A little late to party. But I just bought a set of these after watching your video and found that I could not get the pressure up to 10 Hg - until a rubberized cylindrical piece that was obviously added for packaging and shipping only (I could not put it back on) fell off the tool. After that I had full range to pump and would exceed 10 Hg in 3 or 4 pumps. You can see this "limiter"(?) @6:50 in your video - it is covering up the handle pivot point. FWIW.
I bought mine about a year go and today I’m finally using it. Mine pumps up too the fill 30 psi with no problem. Appreciate your video. Cause mine didn’t come with any instructions. So I did t mess up on the fitting where the 3” hose went. I wouldn’t have even payed attention to its proper loc until it was too late. Sorry you had a bad experience with yours. Any way thanks for the video 🙄
The bubbles were just from the sloppy fit letting in a little air. The brakes were bled. I learned that after a similar experience as yours. Thx for video!
I usually just leave all four bleeder valves open and watch over the master cylinder to make sure it doesn't run dry. Takes a while up to an hour sometimes but it works and it's easy peasy
You have to remove the tab from the pump trigger, or it won't pump higher than 10. I accidentally figured it out by taking a look at the instructions. My instructions said to remove the tab, or you can't squeeze it all the way back. Once you do, you can easily get it to the highest level.
Picked one up the other day- it worked fine for me- Had a mity vac for years and had problems with that. I had to fix it a few times- so far so good with the pittsburg.
Hey. You need to remove the rubber stopper that wedged between the pump handle prepackaged from factory. This is why you can't pump up the pressure. It happens to me and I realized it. This tool works great in my Honda Odyssey 2010 EXL
Volvo recommends bleeding Front driver side first, Front passenger 2nd, Rear drivers side 3rd and Rear passenger side last. Please note, Front bleeder valves may differ in size from rear depending on year or model so check bleeder valves and determine if they differ or not as you may need two different size bleeder hoses to connect to bleeder valves.
To everyone having this issue. See the line in the body between where the gage is mounted and the rest of the body? Unpeel that pittsburg sticker. The front of the pump unscrews right there. Hold the gage and handle, and just unscrew the the front end right off. There is a rubber check valve / diaphragm inserted into the gage side (it will look like a flat piece of rubber but it has a tit on the back side (inside the body pointing toward the gage) that acts as a check valve. Gently pull that check valve diaphragm out and clean it. Be careful not to tear it, and don't get any oil on it. All it takes is a spec of dirt getting in there to hold that check valve open and it will behave just like yours. It's not Harbor Freights fault, there is no filter in these things, you probably sucked something up in there. I paused the video to write this and right there while you are calling it a piece of junk you have fluid in the suction hose (past the reservoir). Cleanit up, unhook the hose and blow it out. It should work like new after that and go to like 25" of Hg easy. You may need to do that quite often because again there is no filter and maybe you accidentally get dirty fluid or dirt in the air all the way up there. Also I find that little rubber gasket on the reservoir can leak to and cause the same problem. It happens
To be honest I would have just put the hose straight on to the brake nipple. The guy does a follow up to this video where he learners how to use it properly. There's also a black spacer thing placed at the top of the handle for package purposes. He hasn't removed it so that's why it's not working to well. I didn't notice myself but there was a few other people had committed on this in earlier posts.
Oh no problem. I kept this one up because there were so many good comments. I only had maybe 300 views first few months and then it went crazy. I figured it helped a lot of people out who read through comments.
Mine was doing the exact same thing. I found that the caliper to hose adapter want not an open channel ( there was still flashing of plastic from the injection mold blocking it) A little time with a drill bit and now it works fine!
JSYK, I ran into the same issue with this pump. I ended up having to put the clear hose directly on the brake bleeder valve as none of the connections fit correctly. The pump did get some of the air out, but not all. I found that the plastic bottle and oring began to leak causing it to loose vacuum. I would not recommend buying or using this pump. Had to do it the old fashioned way.
Thanks….. I just bought one from you guys, very happy, all the pieces came with it and shipping was quick. Glad to support, and pay more, to support smaller businesses (I.e., any business except for Amazon and Walmart) ……
I agree with his review and assessment of this item. I just bought this same device from Harbor Frieght. I tried to use it on my 55 Ford that I put new wheel cylinders in. I could get this device to pressure up to 25. But, that was not enough to bleed out the brakes. I spent several hours trying. My son came by and in 10 minutes we bled the front brakes. This tool simply does not build enough vacuum pressure to bleed brakes.
I've been wondering about using the "vacuum" approach to bleeding brake systems. But, I think I see a flaw in that method - the bleeder screw. As you apply vacuum to the bleeder screw and then loosen the screw I think that allows air to suck in past the screw threads. The more you open the bleeder screw the more air is sucked in as shown in this video. I don't think the vacuum pump was at fault - just the process. When someone is pumping the brakes the pressure forces out air and fluid through the bleeder screw AND around the threads. WE DON'T CARE. It is pumping OUT any and all air along with the fluid. That's why the brake pumping technique works better than the vacuum technique. There is a way to pump the brakes by yourself and that is to use a bottle half filled with brake fluid and a hose from the bleeder screw into the bottle and deep into the fluid. That way, air gets pumped out and not sucked back into the brake system. And don't crack the bleeder screw out too far - just enough to get a light flow. Or, take out the bleeder screw and put some teflon tape around the threads being careful not to get the tape on the machined surface of the screw. That should stop any airflow over the screw threads. Or, some "grease" or anti-seize on the threads should also stop airflow past the threads.
@@pingpong9656 - If you are going to bleed the brakes by yourself by pumping the brake pedal then after using grease or teflon tape on the bleeder screw threads you should put the other end of the plastic hose into a bottle of brake fluid. That will prevent air from being sucked back into the brake lines. There are some good videos about how to bleed brakes with one person only. They will show you how to set it up. I think Chris Fix has a good video on that.
If you look at the video the user didn't remove the black circular piece that is on the tool for shipping tool was not defective if that piece is remove you will get lots of pressure.
I am not sure if anyone addressed this yet, but I noticed at about 9:45 in your video, you checked the brake fluid reservoir and the CAP was off while your were testing the Pittsburgh Brake Bleeder. I am not a mechanic by trade, but have done quite a few brake jobs. You are suppose to keep the reservoir full, and the CAP on. That way do yo not allow AIR to get in to brake the lines. That may have been part of your problem. However, nothing beats the old buddy system. I remember my dad asking me stand on the brake peddle and not to let go, in his old 1970 International Harvester Pick-up. I was about 10 and could barely see over the steering wheel. Those were the days! Hope this helps!
As mentioned by others, you forgot to remove the black spacer between the handles before using as noted in the instructions. My HF bleeder tool works flawlessly! I now see you posted an updated review. Thanks. 😮
Yes, that piece just above the fulcrum prevents the outer pump handle from bottoming-out on cylinder, from which the next stroke will have maximum vacuum travel.
When you "pump" the pump, it is called vacuum....not pressure. Be sure to only slightly crack the bleeder screw so as not to pull air past the threads of the bleeder screw. You can also apply a heavy grease around the bleeder screw to help prevent air from being pulled past the threads. That may be part (or all) the reason that you are observing a lot of air entrapped in the hose.
I never had to unscrew the bleeder as much as he did. It's usually like 1/4 turn to1/2 turn to open the bleeder. Plus the hose going straight down doesn't help. It's supposed to go up for the air to travel through the hose better. I barely ever need a hose system. Usually do the 2 person and just caught the fluid in a water bottle. Old school always works fine.
Remove and clean the bleeder screw. Before replacing it, wrap a little plumber’s tape around the threads. This will eliminate the problem of air mixing with the fluid by way of the loosened bleeder screw.
I was watching Chickanic UA-cam channel recently (Highly recommend btw) on rebuilding a lawnmower carburetor. After replacing the needle and seat, she turned the bowl over and used a similar pump to create a vacuum to verify the needle was sealing properly against the seat.
Hi Pete and to everyone who’s watching on here. I know it has been 2 and a half years but I do agree it’s not the most quality pump on the market but my advice to those who still want to purchase this one man bleeder pump kit, let’s assume everything is all set up and the other 23” tube is into the nipple bleeder make sure to get into the car and hit brakes a handful of times then resume the procedure in that way sometimes the bleeder nipple is clogged up and by pumping it using that tool wouldn’t be enough.
pete literally didn't read step 1 in the instructions and that's the only reason it didn't work for him. He forgot to take out a packaging spacer in the pump handle so never even actually pumped it one full pump before throwing it in the trash. This "review" is an embarrassment.
LMAO pause at 11:54 that little black round thing sitting in between your pump handles is supposed to be taken out its basically just to hold the handle in place for the packaging, thats where every bit of your problem came from!!! you werent able to press the pump all the way haha. also all those air bubbles you are seeing are not coming from your brake lines its coming from air being sucked in around the bleeder valve, i just connected the hose straight to the bleeder valve without that little black attachment and also took some grease and smeared it around everywhere and it seals airtight. this is by far the easiest method of bleeding brakes for me, i hope you didnt waste your money and throw yours away because you did it wrong lol
Oh wow thanks for filling me in. I may still have if trash didn't come. I will take a look but I still think there was an issue with it holding pressure. I tested it a few different ways off camera
@@petescarport Once you break the bleeder valve it will draw air in from around those threads as well, but see my comment on the adapter you're supposed to use in the clear (23" or 3") line before the bleeder valve of the correct size.
Do you know what's the purpose of connecting the hose to the bottom of the container cap? I forgot I have to do it the last few times I used it, but didn't see a difference.
@@ronenfe That short hose stays under brake fluid in the reservoir. So if the pressure changes brake fluid goes thru the line back to the brake and not air. As that is in the top of the reservoir above the brake fluid. Hope that clears things up.
2 minutes into the video i run to harbor freight to get me this tool, get home destroy the package and resume video just to find out its a piece garbage. Great video!!! Note to self: finish watching video b4 you buy
It's not a piece of garbage what he failed to do was remove that little rubber piece that is in-between where the handle is basically the the price that's keeping the handle spread u squeeze it together an remove the rubber piece an the pump goes all the way in an u will see the difference
Some times you have to pull the bleeder screw out and put a little grease on the threads, because you will actually pull air past them instead of pulling pure brake fluid. Hey, the guy is learning, give him a break.
Thanks. And yes I don't mind negative feedback. I actually even made a new video. Linked in description. Idea of video is to show real use for first time so anyone buying one and never used can see from someone like them. But it works pretty good. Better than doing it the old way.
I haven't read all the comments so I may be just repeating what someone has already said. I recently bought the compressor version of this pump. It uses a venture action along the same principle. Works fine but I can't get rid of the bubbles, then it dawned on me. The air is being sucked in around the thread of the loose bleeder valve. All you can do is keep bleeding it until a good amount of fluid is caught in the catch bowl and hope like hell there is no more air in the line. Not the best system to bleed brakes!
I use a stick, just long enough to wedge between the depressed brake pedal and the seat (Adjustable) ... a Broomstick or peice of 2x2 or shorty painters pole will work just as well, & that is how you one man brake bleed w/o any special tools...
Not a bad hand pump, still have to push pedal to get fluid through lines and fill new calipers. Get airlock sometimes! Once full then use hand pump, couple pedal pushes usually fills but still air.
YOUR PUMP TOOL IS NOT THE PROBLEM. YOUR ARE THE PROBLEM BECAUSE AS WHAT I SEE IN THE VIDEO YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO BLEED ! THAT'S IT ! BETTER FOR YOU TO HAVE SOME PRACTICE BEFORE DOING THAT.
Lol! You should of seen another video before tossing it away You where out of fluid , and bleader on shut off position . Lol! Cool video any ways! Doing it wrong the whole time🤭🤭😊😊🤣🤣🤣
You didn’t read the instructions properly, you need to discard that cylindrical stopper that is preventing the arm from retracting fully, that way you’ll get the vacuum pump to move through its full stoke.
I have this pump, you have to remove the black plastic holder wedge that is prohibiting a full squeeze. Then you can get a proper draw on pressure. I guess is is to keep the handle at a certain position when not in use? it has a slot so that it can go back when you are done. They need to mention this in the instruction manual as an important note.
You gotta start from each individual brake caliper bleed port starting from right rear to left rear to right front to left front. And if that doesn't work, you may even have to start all over but bench bleed the master cylinder first then start in that same order again. If that doesn't work, turn the car on and have another person help by pumping the brakes and then throw away your flimsy tool away because it didn't do its job. I personally rather have a 2nd person while running the car on to fully rid the whole sys out with air. That's the best way from my personal experience. The other thing you got to be careful too is if your caliper bleeder ports are so old that if the threads on them are rusted it won't provide a proper seal and will also let air in that way so you'd have to just replace all of them with new ones.
You are so right that is one that they need to take off the market causes of poorly cheap maid pump device I've had two of them in the past and they break easy and sloppy and when you trying to bleed your brakes the pump breaks down down for some reason
I was looking at mine between the two grips there is a round plastic packing piece that has to be removed before use or it will not go past nine the one on this video still has it in,it works great
there's a cup stopper once you take that out you can get 10-20 easily. It didn't lose pressure when the bleeder was closed so it's in the system. Mine never stopped bubbling but I would pull a bout 8 fl oz through.
lol you chuck a good tool there is 3 causes 1 the black ring in the pump handle needs to be removed then for your fail if you pump all the fluid out its a small volume system and all the lines are full of air when you do this you need to fill the master cyl with fluid and give it a few pumps then use your hf pump and it should work fine again. also the lid O-ring and fitting should be greased to help stop vacuum leaks and never get brake fluid in the pump. hope that helps iv been using one of these for over 20 years i clean with carb cleaner and regrease after every use and still going good
make sure that you take the guard that is in between the handle and the pump, that's the main reason why you can not pump enough, and that pump really works, I've done many brak works with the same pump and no issues at all, but before you do any review make sure of inspecting your equipment before uploading the video, very informative but just that only part, the pump still have a guard on the handle that is why you can't pump enough.
common standard to measure rough vacuum is inches of mercury ("Hg). One method is as "Hg gauge ("HgV), where the scale starts at 0" Hg (atmospheric pressure) and goes up to 29.92" Hg, which is perfect vacuum. It was not pressure you were getting but a vacuum that was being created, that was drawing the brake fluid be toward the bottle! It is also what you do to evacuate the lines in a air conditioning system! Just to be clear!
I just bought this and going to try it without the spacer. Wishe me luck. If it fails then I'll get my sister to pump the brake pedal. Like he said the old way.
Typically when you use a vacuum pump it can suck air around the bleeder screw threads. If you pull the bleeder screw and put a bit of teflon tape on the threads it will prevent the vacuum leak and you'll get better results.
You could have actually just cracked the bleeder with the plastic hose attached and pumped the brake pedal yourself A couple times until fluid flowed out ,or just cracked the bleeder and let it gravity bleed awhile! I have been doing brake jobs my whole life getting someone to pump the pedal for me and no one ever seems to be available any time I need help! Lol! Well , I finally saw a guy bleed with a tiny bottle attached to a magnet and a plastic hose to the bleeder! It works great. Put some clean fluid in bottle and hang it on the frame somewhere above the height of the bleeder screw . Attach line on to the bleeder screw and open bleeder.Go pump the pedal couple times. Keep checking your master cylinder fluid level while doing this !When you see the fluid in the line starting to get solid ,no bubbles, close the fitting tight and disconnect ! It really works well. The air bubbles rise in the line and don't get sucked back into the system when you let off the pedal! No need for second person ! I ve done several vehicles this way now! The little bleed kit cost maybe 10 bucks . Tiny plastic bottle with magnet on it and line and some fittings!
Make hole in bottom of throw away plastic cup bottom, thread in air hose, fit it to the cap opening to pressurize the reservoir. The simple non-ABS metal block brake line distributor, must have valve inside blocking flow. Must back to front and repeat or valve will block flow/bleeding
Hey I know this was a while ago but I just bought this exact one and was having a problem with not much suction and I found out you have to remove a little circle stopper they put on there just for the packaging. I can see you didn’t remove it aswell. I thought I’d let your viewers know this is a great brake bleeder. I can now get it to max out the suction on it after removing the stopper. You can see it at 6:48 in the video. It’s stopping it from fully pulling the slider back and forward. So if anyone is reading this. I absolutely love this cheap harbor freight tool. Just remember to take off the stopper
Stopper? Is it that little black cap below the pump under the dial?
@@jeanponce2017 no it’s not that’s to release the pressure. Do you see the red handle? Right above the red handle, right between them is a little black circle price of plastic
@@bumbee2227 I think a better picture of the pump is at 02:21 where he is holding the pump in his hand. There, you can clearly see a horizontally positioned black plastic tube or such in between, holding the "arms" of the handles apart. So ,once removed that plunger should retract all the way into the vacuum cylinder. The pumping action should now produce a longer "throw" on that plunger, creating the vacuum needed to operate the bleeder.
@@bumbee2227
I was just guessing thinking maybe it's some breather port. But as I watch it I noticed that he couldn't pump it so I saw the block that restricted him from pumping it so the cylinder could pump long stokes with the piston giving him plenty of power. Without it he was handicapping himself. How he didn't realize he can only squeezed it a half inch which isn't doing anything.
not all heros wear capes thanks man
Just to let you know you forgot to take out that black spacer. That’s why you weren’t getting enough pressure. I bought the same one from Harbor freight and it works fine!
I was having the same issue and that spacer fell off and I was able to pull a full vacuum 😂😂 I was thinking it was junk before it fell off
I wanted to say the same thing!
Which one is the black spacer? The one connected to caliber?
@@cizvi i think they are talking about on the pump handle you can see this kind of big circle black spacer in between the pump handle. so when you are squeezing to pump you are basically not squeezing it enough cause the spacer is stopping you from fully squeezing the device. idk if that has some use or not. some things i buy not related to cars have spacers on them and sometimes they are basically just decoration for packaging i believe
Pure comedy
How many of you guys remember working on the brakes of your dad's car? He was under the car the I was 9-10 years old in the car with Dad yelling : Okay pump! Okay, hold! Okay pump, okay hold! Until all the air was out of the system? I always liked the time I spent with my Dad in the garage working on anything. I learned a lot from him that way. Because of my Dad I'm able to do a lot of different things from car's to water heaters, plumbing, woodworking etc. Mom and Dad were married 64 years! I miss my Dad a lot but always think of "how would Dad do it" when I work on thing's. Hope a lot of you guys had a Dad like mine!
Exactly my memories. Thanks for sharing
My dad wasnt like that. He never taught me anything! Gave attention more to my sister. My parents divorced when I was real young. When he passed i didnt have any emotion. The guy wasnt there in my life, and i dont want to be like that. I dog my son out a lot. I hate myself for that and I want to teach him man stuff you know but hes a good kid. I need to try more.
@@bludragontruck9743 you're already what you're dad wasn't, remember you aren't him, you're a newer and better version. Just like you remembered what you disliked about him your son will remember how he liked the little things, even if it's one thing a week. My Dad taught me a lot and it gave me interest in doing things on my own and with my hands, nowadays it's easier to learn without him because of YT. I am 32 now and I can say my Dad was what got me started, now everything I've done was on my own thanks to him giving me that push. It doesn't take much effort to build simple good memories. When you're old u don't want your son to think ugh it's him, I can't right now... So just do what u can. Good luck.
@@benbrown9053 Hey brother. Thank you for the advice and encouraging me not to be the person my father was. I really should take a step back at my everyday activities and let my son in on them. He always asks if I need help in the garage, the yard, or if I'm under the hood he would ask to help. But my dumb ass could let him do something small just to gain experience but he wouldn't do something right and I'd literally just yell at him. I dont know who you are but I really appreciate your time to look at my comment and respond. You gave me some skills I can put to work with my kid. Who would've known commenting on a brake bleeder would've gave me more of a life lesson.👍🏼
@@bludragontruck9743 it takes a real Man to write what you just wrote. God bless your family.
I remember finding one of those under my uncle's bed, when I was a kid.
Hahahahahahaha yeah... I'm picking up what you're laying down 😂
🤮
🤣🤣
What were you doing in your uncle’s bed?
🤣😂😆
Imagine giving a tool a bad review on a video, getting over 400k views, end then find out you weren't using the tool properly 😂 at least admit your error so people don't get mislead
500K Views now, also I think the Gentleman needed to started bleeding from the rear brakes than work his way up to the front tires. I think Johnny just didn't understand that part. But great tool for the price
Lolols
I ignored the review and bought one and it pumps all the way up to 25.
@@probochronicles3991 gah dam smh
@@Menga2131.2. Million views now!
I learnt every thing I need to know from the Comments, thanks guys !
Dude...I bought one of these to do my Nissan 200 sx brakes after I changed rotors, pads and calipers.....This little pump works just fine, and has sufficient vacuum to pull the fluid thru - you couldn't pump because you left the handle pad in place!! Take it out, and it works great.....Don't give ppl car advice if you can't even figure out the tools for the job.......
Thank you for watching and I will look into that. Have a great day.
Ďònt know what went wrong for you but I have the same pump and it works great.start with rt rear,lft rear,rt front snd left frt last.dont let master cyl.get too lowe,
Haha woops! I just saw him running after the garbage man, but the garbage man took off! LOL
Haha
Warren Morphis 😂 He will look into that and hopefully never make another YT video 😆
I have a Pagid version (German brand) of this tool and it has one big failing that this one does too. When applying the vacuum to the bleed nipple air gets sucked into the tube from the outside, down the threads of the nipple.You can see this clearly on the first bleed, if that much air was in the caliper, you wouldn't have ANY brakes. A temporary fix is to smear silicone grease around the bleeder threads to act as a seal.
Good tip, thanks.
After reading the comments I checked my pump an lo and behold there was that plastic shipping spacer.
your last video clip shows brake fluid in the line between the cup and the pump meaning you probable go fluid in the pump that kills pump valving every time. The 23 inch line between the pump and cup should go to the connector that does NOT have the short plastic tube on it. The cup is to keep the fluid from reaching the pump and fluid accumulation.
Im pretty sure you had this set up wrong, the nipple needs grease to stop air bleeding that gives you the endless bubbles. I have one and when it's set up correctly and used correctly it does a mighty fine job
Hey man what type of grease do i put on there? Thanks
@@Luis-ml3uz any thick greese like lithium or moly will do the trick. as long as it isn't too liquidy.
@@shriramvenu thank you
Nah... he's short stroking the handle. He didn't read the directions and remove the stopper
Teflon tape works good.
You've got to remove the plastic spacer between the hand lever for it to fully pump.
👍🏼 yup
Imagine making a tutorial and not knowing how to properly use the device which you're attempting to teach others to use.... lol. I'm not dogging this guy.... but man, a lil embarassing.
He fixed it here: ua-cam.com/video/4DSAM0QLix8/v-deo.html but should probably edit his "don't buy" reasoning in the description of this video.
Plastic. Dum a...
@JAYSON BULTMAN lol for sure. He keeps making pressure in a vacuum. Lol
You need to remove the spacer that's on it for shipping so it has full lever movement .so this was a pilot error. tool works fine got up to 20 to bleed my brakes
Where's the spacer?
@@jonathansimpson3545 it's between the handle and the piston. It's a round piece of plastic. It can be easily seen @ 7:00 into the video.
I will buy one and check it out.
I spent 45 minutes trying to get this to work, watched this video and was about to give up before watching another video.. then I saw he had removed the spacer as well... AARRGG>>> that stupid Spacer!!! worked much better after I removed that.
I have this same exact kit that's over 10 years old. I was finally able to put it to good use after the metal brake line in my 2004 Subaru Outback rusted out. I bleed the entire system after replacing all the metal components in the rear section. Aside from the little rubber bleeder fittings that didn't quite create an air tight seal, (use a short piece of aquarium tubing). This HF brake bleeder worked perfectly, just read the instructions if you are not familiar with the process!
i agree...he may have had a bad unit...but the master was bone dry when he showed...which is a big no no... one man bottle system is best imo...
roadstar499, having a properly working tool is a blessing! Knowing how to properly use that tool is necessity!
There are no instructions with my kit
@@3rdgenjunkies57 , did you get it from HF? Perhaps they will replace it for you...they’re usually pretty good that way!
@@who8dapple I found the instructions but I didn't open it and I'm gonna return it. I'll do it the old school way
I didn't want to jump on you because everyone else did already, but you should take your time on everything else you do, if you would have took more time to check the tool out ,you would not have missed the little black cap between the handles its there for shipping purposes, 😉👍
For your next video you should show us how to change the blinker fluid.
Thank you so much for this comment, you brought back so many great memories for me. Every girlfriend I've ever had that asked me to teach them how to work on their car I have told them that I will teach them everything they need to know once they are able to find and change their blinker fluid. LMAO man those were good times 🤣
@@charlesmckenziejr1887 straight up comedian.
I like HF, and if used correctly this tool works. But an inline check valve in the bleeder hose, which is done for motorcycles, also makes it a one man job using much simpler, more reliable and durable and less expensive components.
The tools work best when you use them correctly. Air flows up, so you always bleed brakes with your tube higher than the brake bleeder so the air goes up and away, not back into the brakes. Also your bleeder probably was clogged with rust. Pumping the brakes probably broke the rust free from the pressure build up.
OK! Even probably had a clogged break line ?!
Could this be used to free up clogged lines?
Air will go to a vacuum first. But if you are just pumping the brake, yes keep your tube up.
He forgot to take out the the little spacer on the tool. With the spacer you cannot get any pressure
it wasn't clogged, he didn't read the first step in the instructions to remove a packing spacer so he couldn't actually pump it.
User error, you should remove this video. You left shipping stop in handle!
Thanks for watching
Exactly. Plastic round stopper needs to be removed.
He also spray painted the friction part of his rotors lol
Brian Keith, I like your story about your Dad, and I learned a lot from my Dad, except I don't handle my anger as he did...he was very patient with me... and enjoyed being with him and learned by helping him. It is harder to get help when you need it in our new modern time. Things and times have changed. Except the buyer beware of the cheaper products. It has always been the case. Pete, I am glad you had this video and it is going to help me try the same Harbor Freight product...Hope I get it to work for me. Thanks
Uh... you might want to read ALL the directions first. The tool is fine, it's operator error. Also, when you say "pressure" you mean to say Vacuum (negative pressure).
R Stelzer on these videos I always look for dirt under the fingernails,he failed.
@@@joemc111 Agree he failed using the product. If he failed because of "dirt under the fingernails", wow you must be something! Even with gloves on while working on cars they often rips and you will get dirty finger nails. I had to double check I was not watching a cooking show or nail polishing show.
Vacuum is not a "negative pressure" Vacuum is an ABSENSE of pressure.There is atmospheric pressure (15.7 lb/sq.in. which is the pressure on the surface of earth and reads zero on a guage. There is guage pressure which begins at zero PSI (which is atmospheric pressure) and increases with pressure applied. There is absolute pressure which is the sum of atmospheric and guage pressure. Vacuum is not pressure.
@@callmenortnortin467 So in a vacuum chamber, if you pulled a vacuum equivalent to -14.7 PSI it would not equalize atmospheric pressure which is 14.7 at sea-level?
@@rstelzer2928 until you grasp that pressure is a force measured in pounds per square in or a number of bars(bars being a term derived from barometric pressure,or the pressure the atmosphere exerts on the surface of earth). on a surface,,and that a vacuum is an absence of any pressure ,you wont be able to realize and separate the two phenoms from each other. Pressure cant be a vacuum and a vacuum cant be a pressure,,and that means there is no such thing as a minus pressure .
I used my wife's breast pump. She doesn't seem to mind, but then, I haven"t told her yet.
Ferd Janklow 😂
Hope the baby doesn't drink brake fluid!!!!
Lmao
Your kid is going to come out with powers
What was happening was that the pump was pulling air from the outside of the brake caliper pistons, past the piston seal ,which only seals ON WAY, against pressure from INSIDE the caliper, not against pressure from OUTSIDE. All those bubbles you saw was air being sucked INTO the caliper, past the seal, by the suction of the pump..
But when your neighbor pumped the brakes, he was producing pressure inside the caliper piston, which caused it to seal and blew the fluid out through the bleeder fitting. I've never had success with sucking brake fluid out. I now use fitting which consists of a tube into spare brake reservoir cap, through which I pump pressure into the master cylinder. This replicates someone pumping the brakes.
When getting someone to pump the brakes, you do risk scoring the piston seal or the master cylinder itself, if the person pushes the brake pedal to the floor, causing the piston to travel past where it usually stops, into the normally untouched part of the master cylinder. This end part of the cylinder often has accumulated grit and other contaminants which, if scraped along the cylinder, will prematurely cause the piston seal to leak.
I think the air was being drawn in past the loosened bleed nipple thread. 3 or 4 turns of ptfe tape on the thread would solve that. The front caliper bleed nipple was probably blocked.
@@Tezzzaaa Yep, it was a very bad demo
I purchased this pump. It worked fine for me getting over 20 on the gauge.
It helps when you know how to use the tool. It’s really not that complicated.
If you're bleeding a motorcycle you have to use the other 3" line to the bleeder valve and it can also work for your car as well so the fluid moved directly into the container without losing some fluid in a longer line before it gets to the canister for holding the fluid when vacuum is applied to the system. I never needed the other 23" line. I think mainly for testing engines and vacuum valves for fuel systems is what the other 23" line is for maybe. Evidently he doesn't read his comment sections does He? Remove the spacer in the handle dummy. That's for shipping only, it will pump on up to 20 lbs. Anything over that is likely going to damage the Master Cylinder. As per instructions, plus you were supposed to use a nipple that fits in the 3" line and then plug in the correct adapter for your specific bleeder size. You get a better seal that way and can pump on up over 20 pounds that way. Plus this gauge is for setting vacuum on carbs for motorcycles so they will be balanced as well.
I had to read your comment twice before I caught on to what adapter you were talking about. Thanks for the tip.
I'm going to try one... simply because I have to, so thanks for showing me how it works.
I notice you did not remove the packaging from the pump (black rubber circle), that's why you were not able to build up more pressure.
This tool worked perfect for me. I did find that I had to lubricate the black rubber ring before securing the cap to get a good seal.
@André Carvalho brake fluid.
Bubbles are being pulled in through the bleeder threads. Remove the bleeder and wrap the threads with Teflon tape. Reinstall and then bleed.
I would not trust this dude to fix my brakes. Don't know how to use simple tools.
What did he do wrong exactly?
@@AaronMattheus he forgot to get rid of the back round piece that doesn’t let it fully pump
I order a the same pump on ebay I desperately waited 3 weeks to get it. I was able to pump it up to 15psi on the 2 rear tires but fluid got into the pump and fail to keep pressure. It was not the pumps fault it was mine for not watching videos or read the instructions. You never want fluid in the pump per videos I watched. I learned by my mistake...heading to harborfreight tomorrow to try it again.
This is a key point. The bottle tips over and some fluid gets in the line between the bottle and the pump, and it no longer functions as it should.
A little late to party. But I just bought a set of these after watching your video and found that I could not get the pressure up to 10 Hg - until a rubberized cylindrical piece that was obviously added for packaging and shipping only (I could not put it back on) fell off the tool. After that I had full range to pump and would exceed 10 Hg in 3 or 4 pumps. You can see this "limiter"(?) @6:50 in your video - it is covering up the handle pivot point. FWIW.
Exactly what part is it?
I bought mine about a year go and today I’m finally using it. Mine pumps up too the fill 30 psi with no problem. Appreciate your video. Cause mine didn’t come with any instructions. So I did t mess up on the fitting where the 3” hose went. I wouldn’t have even payed attention to its proper loc until it was too late. Sorry you had a bad experience with yours. Any way thanks for the video 🙄
Glad you did this video. READ THE REPAIR MANUAL ABOUT HOW TO BLEED BRAKES. YOU DIDN'T DO IT RIGHT.
The bubbles were just from the sloppy fit letting in a little air. The brakes were bled. I learned that after a similar experience as yours. Thx for video!
Don't use the black adapter it never seals for me, I connect the hose directly to the nipple.
Doesn't that hurt?
Ferd Janklow HA! I’m weak loool
how do you seal the leaky threads on the bleeder??
@@glasser2819 I had the same problem with air leaking through the threads. No problem with suction I get near 25".
@@glasser2819 you can use grease or thread tape around the bleeder screw threads
I usually just leave all four bleeder valves open and watch over the master cylinder to make sure it doesn't run dry. Takes a while up to an hour sometimes but it works and it's easy peasy
I thought it sucked too but theres a runner peice you take off the handle and that will make the pressure rise past the 5-8
You have to remove the tab from the pump trigger, or it won't pump higher than 10. I accidentally figured it out by taking a look at the instructions.
My instructions said to remove the tab, or you can't squeeze it all the way back. Once you do, you can easily get it to the highest level.
U have to remove the spacer on the pump to allow the plunger to fully plunge to get better pressure
Picked one up the other day- it worked fine for me- Had a mity vac for years and had problems with that. I had to fix it a few times- so far so good with the pittsburg.
Hey. You need to remove the rubber stopper that wedged between the pump handle prepackaged from factory. This is why you can't pump up the pressure. It happens to me and I realized it. This tool works great in my Honda Odyssey 2010 EXL
if you make a mistake it saves me from making the same one- and thats great-- TY
Must say .. I'm saying this @work to all the new machine techs they hire for me to train ... Lol
Volvo recommends bleeding Front driver side first, Front passenger 2nd, Rear drivers side 3rd and Rear passenger side last. Please note, Front bleeder valves may differ in size from rear depending on year or model so check bleeder valves and determine if they differ or not as you may need two different size bleeder hoses to connect to bleeder valves.
To everyone having this issue. See the line in the body between where the gage is mounted and the rest of the body? Unpeel that pittsburg sticker. The front of the pump unscrews right there. Hold the gage and handle, and just unscrew the the front end right off. There is a rubber check valve / diaphragm inserted into the gage side (it will look like a flat piece of rubber but it has a tit on the back side (inside the body pointing toward the gage) that acts as a check valve. Gently pull that check valve diaphragm out and clean it. Be careful not to tear it, and don't get any oil on it. All it takes is a spec of dirt getting in there to hold that check valve open and it will behave just like yours. It's not Harbor Freights fault, there is no filter in these things, you probably sucked something up in there. I paused the video to write this and right there while you are calling it a piece of junk you have fluid in the suction hose (past the reservoir). Cleanit up, unhook the hose and blow it out. It should work like new after that and go to like 25" of Hg easy. You may need to do that quite often because again there is no filter and maybe you accidentally get dirty fluid or dirt in the air all the way up there. Also I find that little rubber gasket on the reservoir can leak to and cause the same problem. It happens
To be honest I would have just put the hose straight on to the brake nipple. The guy does a follow up to this video where he learners how to use it properly. There's also a black spacer thing placed at the top of the handle for package purposes. He hasn't removed it so that's why it's not working to well. I didn't notice myself but there was a few other people had committed on this in earlier posts.
at 7:10 Remove the shipping spacer that prevents the Vacuum Pump handle from moving through its full range.
He wont even admit it in the comments.
Read the description. I made two other videos explaining and did a full comparison review
@@petescarport ok my bad
Oh no problem. I kept this one up because there were so many good comments. I only had maybe 300 views first few months and then it went crazy. I figured it helped a lot of people out who read through comments.
@@petescarport lol i see. People are going crazy. It's like everybody found this video again at once.
I bought one. worked fine. don't forget to put a little grease on the outside of the bleeder screw and it will work fine.
Mine was doing the exact same thing. I found that the caliper to hose adapter want not an open channel ( there was still flashing of plastic from the injection mold blocking it) A little time with a drill bit and now it works fine!
Awesome thanks for input and watching. Love the positive inputs. Have a blessed day
JSYK, I ran into the same issue with this pump. I ended up having to put the clear hose directly on the brake bleeder valve as none of the connections fit correctly. The pump did get some of the air out, but not all. I found that the plastic bottle and oring began to leak causing it to loose vacuum. I would not recommend buying or using this pump. Had to do it the old fashioned way.
Thanks for the info and appreciate you watching. Have a great day.
Thanks….. I just bought one from you guys, very happy, all the pieces came with it and shipping was quick. Glad to support, and pay more, to support smaller businesses (I.e., any business except for Amazon and Walmart) ……
Those "bubbles" are from the loose bleed screw, lol
Yup, need to put grease on the threads.
@@georgecurtis6463 what kind of grease should i put? silicone paste or copper anti seize?
@@kevinzki21 any kind that is thickish. Or thread tape. Anything to prevent air from passing through the threads.
I've read that elsewhere; is there any risk of the grease being sucked into the thread gap, as the air is doing?
@@georgecurtis6463 Thanks; is there any risk of the paste/grease getting sucked into the system, as the air is?
I agree with his review and assessment of this item. I just bought this same device from Harbor Frieght. I tried to use it on my 55 Ford that I put new wheel cylinders in. I could get this device to pressure up to 25. But, that was not enough to bleed out the brakes. I spent several hours trying. My son came by and in 10 minutes we bled the front brakes. This tool simply does not build enough vacuum pressure to bleed brakes.
I've been wondering about using the "vacuum" approach to bleeding brake systems. But, I think I see a flaw in that method - the bleeder screw. As you apply vacuum to the bleeder screw and then loosen the screw I think that allows air to suck in past the screw threads. The more you open the bleeder screw the more air is sucked in as shown in this video. I don't think the vacuum pump was at fault - just the process. When someone is pumping the brakes the pressure forces out air and fluid through the bleeder screw AND around the threads. WE DON'T CARE. It is pumping OUT any and all air along with the fluid. That's why the brake pumping technique works better than the vacuum technique. There is a way to pump the brakes by yourself and that is to use a bottle half filled with brake fluid and a hose from the bleeder screw into the bottle and deep into the fluid. That way, air gets pumped out and not sucked back into the brake system. And don't crack the bleeder screw out too far - just enough to get a light flow. Or, take out the bleeder screw and put some teflon tape around the threads being careful not to get the tape on the machined surface of the screw. That should stop any airflow over the screw threads. Or, some "grease" or anti-seize on the threads should also stop airflow past the threads.
How would you ensure air does not get sucked back in past the screw threads when pumping into a bottle?
@@pingpong9656 - If you are going to bleed the brakes by yourself by pumping the brake pedal then after using grease or teflon tape on the bleeder screw threads you should put the other end of the plastic hose into a bottle of brake fluid. That will prevent air from being sucked back into the brake lines. There are some good videos about how to bleed brakes with one person only. They will show you how to set it up. I think Chris Fix has a good video on that.
If you look at the video the user didn't remove the black circular piece that is on the tool for shipping tool was not defective if that piece is remove you will get lots of pressure.
You are exactly correct. And the guy threw away a perfectly good tool. What a waste!
Good tips, thanks.
I am not sure if anyone addressed this yet, but I noticed at about 9:45 in your video, you checked the brake fluid reservoir and the CAP was off while your were testing the Pittsburgh Brake Bleeder. I am not a mechanic by trade, but have done quite a few brake jobs. You are suppose to keep the reservoir full, and the CAP on. That way do yo not allow AIR to get in to brake the lines. That may have been part of your problem. However, nothing beats the old buddy system. I remember my dad asking me stand on the brake peddle and not to let go, in his old 1970 International Harvester Pick-up. I was about 10 and could barely see over the steering wheel. Those were the days!
Hope this helps!
Pressure? Yeah. No point in finishing this video. VACUUM!!!!!!! Messured in inches of Mercury!
As mentioned by others, you forgot to remove the black spacer between the handles before using as noted in the instructions. My HF bleeder tool works flawlessly! I now see you posted an updated review. Thanks. 😮
Yes, that piece just above the fulcrum prevents the outer pump handle from bottoming-out on cylinder, from which the next stroke will have maximum vacuum travel.
I just purchased one today, yours was the 1st video that came up. Thank you for the review.
When you "pump" the pump, it is called vacuum....not pressure. Be sure to only slightly crack the bleeder screw so as not to pull air past the threads of the bleeder screw. You can also apply a heavy grease around the bleeder screw to help prevent air from being pulled past the threads. That may be part (or all) the reason that you are observing a lot of air entrapped in the hose.
That is why I only take advice from Master Mechanics
I suppose he could have said it was NEGATIVE pressure. But like you I would have preferred that he said VACUUM or SUCTION.
I never had to unscrew the bleeder as much as he did. It's usually like 1/4 turn to1/2 turn to open the bleeder. Plus the hose going straight down doesn't help. It's supposed to go up for the air to travel through the hose better. I barely ever need a hose system. Usually do the 2 person and just caught the fluid in a water bottle. Old school always works fine.
you are probably leaking air from the screw thread or the fitting. That always seems to be a challenge
Remove and clean the bleeder screw. Before replacing it, wrap a little plumber’s tape around the threads. This will eliminate the problem of air mixing with the fluid by way of the loosened bleeder screw.
I was watching Chickanic UA-cam channel recently (Highly recommend btw) on rebuilding a lawnmower carburetor. After replacing the needle and seat, she turned the bowl over and used a similar pump to create a vacuum to verify the needle was sealing properly against the seat.
My wife was pumping the gas pedal last time I did the two person method. Never will do that method again .
Hi Pete and to everyone who’s watching on here. I know it has been 2 and a half years but I do agree it’s not the most quality pump on the market but my advice to those who still want to purchase this one man bleeder pump kit, let’s assume everything is all set up and the other 23” tube is into the nipple bleeder make sure to get into the car and hit brakes a handful of times then resume the procedure in that way sometimes the bleeder nipple is clogged up and by pumping it using that tool wouldn’t be enough.
pete literally didn't read step 1 in the instructions and that's the only reason it didn't work for him. He forgot to take out a packaging spacer in the pump handle so never even actually pumped it one full pump before throwing it in the trash. This "review" is an embarrassment.
I'm going to buy ONE.
Tomorrow. I say your mistake and I learned I want one. Thanks for the post
LMAO pause at 11:54 that little black round thing sitting in between your pump handles is supposed to be taken out its basically just to hold the handle in place for the packaging, thats where every bit of your problem came from!!! you werent able to press the pump all the way haha. also all those air bubbles you are seeing are not coming from your brake lines its coming from air being sucked in around the bleeder valve, i just connected the hose straight to the bleeder valve without that little black attachment and also took some grease and smeared it around everywhere and it seals airtight. this is by far the easiest method of bleeding brakes for me, i hope you didnt waste your money and throw yours away because you did it wrong lol
Oh wow thanks for filling me in. I may still have if trash didn't come. I will take a look but I still think there was an issue with it holding pressure. I tested it a few different ways off camera
@@petescarport Once you break the bleeder valve it will draw air in from around those threads as well, but see my comment on the adapter you're supposed to use in the clear (23" or 3") line before the bleeder valve of the correct size.
Just return the darned thing
Do you know what's the purpose of connecting the hose to the bottom of the container cap? I forgot I have to do it the last few times I used it, but didn't see a difference.
@@ronenfe That short hose stays under brake fluid in the reservoir. So if the pressure changes brake fluid goes thru the line back to the brake and not air. As that is in the top of the reservoir above the brake fluid. Hope that clears things up.
2 minutes into the video i run to harbor freight to get me this tool, get home destroy the package and resume video just to find out its a piece garbage. Great video!!! Note to self: finish watching video b4 you buy
It's not a piece of garbage what he failed to do was remove that little rubber piece that is in-between where the handle is basically the the price that's keeping the handle spread u squeeze it together an remove the rubber piece an the pump goes all the way in an u will see the difference
Some times you have to pull the bleeder screw out and put a little grease on the threads, because you will actually pull air past them instead of pulling pure brake fluid. Hey, the guy is learning, give him a break.
Thanks. And yes I don't mind negative feedback. I actually even made a new video. Linked in description. Idea of video is to show real use for first time so anyone buying one and never used can see from someone like them. But it works pretty good. Better than doing it the old way.
I bought one it worked great
You have to open the bleeder more and make sure the suction is not leaking .
I have bought Harbor Freight tools that did not work from the get go. Thanx for the review. Good video from Sacramento
I haven't read all the comments so I may be just repeating what someone has already said. I recently bought the compressor version of this pump. It uses a venture action along the same principle. Works fine but I can't get rid of the bubbles, then it dawned on me. The air is being sucked in around the thread of the loose bleeder valve. All you can do is keep bleeding it until a good amount of fluid is caught in the catch bowl and hope like hell there is no more air in the line. Not the best system to bleed brakes!
There's a spacer in the pistol that is supposed to be removed. Once removed, the pump builds plenty of pressure to bleed the lines.
I use a stick, just long enough to wedge between the depressed brake pedal and the seat (Adjustable) ... a Broomstick or peice of 2x2 or shorty painters pole will work just as well, & that is how you one man brake bleed w/o any special tools...
Ok stick will depress brake but doesn't fluid need to be pumped for it to flow out caliper bleed valve end?
Thanks for the Spoiler Alert❗❗❗
This was my experience also.... it seemed like it worked at times but others didn’t seem to get to the point of free flowing brake fluid.
Good lord guy. You really don’t notice that big chunk of plastic/rubber in the throw of that pump handle limiting the suction stroke it should have?
You need to stop putting videos if you don’t know how to use Multiple automotive tools Or read the instructions
Thank you for watching
Not a bad hand pump, still have to push pedal to get fluid through lines and fill new calipers. Get airlock sometimes! Once full then use hand pump, couple pedal pushes usually fills but still air.
YOUR PUMP TOOL IS NOT THE PROBLEM. YOUR ARE THE PROBLEM BECAUSE AS WHAT I SEE IN THE VIDEO YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO BLEED ! THAT'S IT !
BETTER FOR YOU TO HAVE SOME PRACTICE BEFORE DOING THAT.
Thanks for watching. I MEAN THANKS FOR WATCHING. oh man almost forgot all CAPS 🤘
looking back in the video it does show the pump without the rubber stopper in the drawing, heading up to snag myself one of these things now!
Lol! You should of seen another video before tossing it away
You where out of fluid , and bleader on shut off position . Lol! Cool video any ways!
Doing it wrong the whole time🤭🤭😊😊🤣🤣🤣
And you need to go back to spelling class!!!:-):-):-):-):-)
This tool works Great! I"ve used it several times. It creates vacuum, not pressure!
Operator error!
Yes it was. Updated video here ua-cam.com/video/YGIKFil7gh0/v-deo.html
Thanks for watching
You didn’t read the instructions properly, you need to discard that cylindrical stopper that is preventing the arm from retracting fully, that way you’ll get the vacuum pump to move through its full stoke.
Thanks, always wondered about this particular vacuum pump but didn't get it for fear of it not working,and now I know for sure.
I have this pump, you have to remove the black plastic holder wedge that is prohibiting a full squeeze. Then you can get a proper draw on pressure. I guess is is to keep the handle at a certain position when not in use? it has a slot so that it can go back when you are done. They need to mention this in the instruction manual as an important note.
You gotta start from each individual brake caliper bleed port starting from right rear to left rear to right front to left front. And if that doesn't work, you may even have to start all over but bench bleed the master cylinder first then start in that same order again. If that doesn't work, turn the car on and have another person help by pumping the brakes and then throw away your flimsy tool away because it didn't do its job. I personally rather have a 2nd person while running the car on to fully rid the whole sys out with air. That's the best way from my personal experience. The other thing you got to be careful too is if your caliper bleeder ports are so old that if the threads on them are rusted it won't provide a proper seal and will also let air in that way so you'd have to just replace all of them with new ones.
You are so right that is one that they need to take off the market causes of poorly cheap maid pump device I've had two of them in the past and they break easy and sloppy and when you trying to bleed your brakes the pump breaks down down for some reason
It's the cheap seals. I made a video comparing to the mity vac and it's a way better device for a slight but more
I was looking at mine between the two grips there is a round plastic packing piece that has to be removed before use or it will not go past nine the one on this video still has it in,it works great
there's a cup stopper once you take that out you can get 10-20 easily. It didn't lose pressure when the bleeder was closed so it's in the system. Mine never stopped bubbling but I would pull a bout 8 fl oz through.
lol you chuck a good tool there is 3 causes 1 the black ring in the pump handle needs to be removed then for your fail if you pump all the fluid out its a small volume system and all the lines are full of air when you do this you need to fill the master cyl with fluid and give it a few pumps then use your hf pump and it should work fine again. also the lid O-ring and fitting should be greased to help stop vacuum leaks and never get brake fluid in the pump. hope that helps iv been using one of these for over 20 years i clean with carb cleaner and regrease after every use and still going good
make sure that you take the guard that is in between the handle and the pump, that's the main reason why you can not pump enough, and that pump really works, I've done many brak works with the same pump and no issues at all, but before you do any review make sure of inspecting your equipment before uploading the video, very informative but just that only part, the pump still have a guard on the handle that is why you can't pump enough.
Worked very well for me. My brakes are better than they have ever been.
I did an update video and yes it works great. Not best quality but I have blead 4 cars successfully now. Thanks for watching
common standard to measure rough vacuum is inches of mercury ("Hg). One method is as "Hg gauge ("HgV), where the scale starts at 0" Hg (atmospheric pressure) and goes up to 29.92" Hg, which is perfect vacuum. It was not pressure you were getting but a vacuum that was being created, that was drawing the brake fluid be toward the bottle! It is also what you do to evacuate the lines in a air conditioning system! Just to be clear!
I just bought this and going to try it without the spacer. Wishe me luck. If it fails then I'll get my sister to pump the brake pedal. Like he said the old way.
Thought I heard Scotty in the beginning? GREAT VIDEO, GLAD I FOUND YOUR CHANNEL...I need one this month . After seeing you video I’m sold .
There is a black spacer that you have to pull of and that helps you build up the pressure
properly connecting helps. also leaving on reservoir cap helps as well.
Try taking the packing spacer out Melvin.... these work perfect
Typically when you use a vacuum pump it can suck air around the bleeder screw threads. If you pull the bleeder screw and put a bit of teflon tape on the threads it will prevent the vacuum leak and you'll get better results.
You could have actually just cracked the bleeder with the plastic hose attached and pumped the brake pedal yourself A couple times until fluid flowed out ,or just cracked the bleeder and let it gravity bleed awhile! I have been doing brake jobs my whole life getting someone to pump the pedal for me and no one ever seems to be available any time I need help! Lol! Well , I finally saw a guy bleed with a tiny bottle attached to a magnet and a plastic hose to the bleeder! It works great. Put some clean fluid in bottle and hang it on the frame somewhere above the height of the bleeder screw . Attach line on to the bleeder screw and open bleeder.Go pump the pedal couple times. Keep checking your master cylinder fluid level while doing this !When you see the fluid in the line starting to get solid ,no bubbles, close the fitting tight and disconnect ! It really works well. The air bubbles rise in the line and don't get sucked back into the system when you let off the pedal! No need for second person ! I ve done several vehicles this way now! The little bleed kit cost maybe 10 bucks . Tiny plastic bottle with magnet on it and line and some fittings!
Make hole in bottom of throw away plastic cup bottom, thread in air hose, fit it to the cap opening to pressurize the reservoir.
The simple non-ABS metal block brake line distributor, must have valve inside blocking flow.
Must back to front and repeat or valve will block flow/bleeding