VW Golf Mk2 Owners Club

I'm sure any professional kit will show this stuff up to be the cheap crap it is, but when we're talking home, DIY, working on the car on the driveway at weekend kind of kit this cheap crap is sometimes all we need.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with any of these type of kits and would recommend which to go for. They're all roughly the same price on eBay and all under £20.

In the past, I've always done the manual pump the pedal job. The last few times I've had to do brake work I've even had to do the manual pump-the-pedal method on my own, requiring a length of wood just long enough to wedge between the drivers seat and the brake pedal. Not fun, but successful if patient.

I have a compressor so that's it's not an issue going for an air-fed solution. 

A bonus would be a kit that will work on motorbikes as well as cars. 

Thanks in advance.

(https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/a.jpeg) (https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/b.jpeg) (https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/c.jpeg) (https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/d.jpeg)

I've used Ezi Bleed in the past. But I didn't lower the pressure on the spare tyre I was using so had a bit of spillage. Lesson learned. It worked quite well.

I've used Eezibleed for about 40 years.  They eventually leak and the pipes go crispy so I've got through a good few of them over the years.
However I too have a compressor so was considering an upgrade the next time the Eezibleed fails.  Following.

Edit. I quite like the look of D, was considering suction rather than pressure feed.  Less chance of spills in the engine bay.

I have Type A. Its worked for me but can be a bit tricky getting everything linked together and then staying together as it can pop off.

I have this one from Sealey. It is a bit more money than the £20 but I liked the fact it was a one stop bit of kit with no faffing needed with spare tyres or compressors to make it work.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393983446433?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1jaK8vLxoTtSQ89Oh4rx8vg78&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=393983446433&targetid=1816181029619&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9050375&poi=&campaignid=18524307571&mkgroupid=140763006383&rlsatarget=pla-1816181029619&abcId=9302158&merchantid=550372583&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JacBhC0ARIsAIxybyNtCqieZBm8IXUNwBrNz0BETd0SR-X2BN909pbOpp99mZceB3R83H4aAmaBEALw_wcB

While searching for a D, couldn't find it anywhere, I came across this, https://www.carbibles.com/best-brake-bleeder-kit/

Here's the link for D
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303940122637

After doing some further research, as well as gathering opinions from others it looks like a more expensive Sealey one
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312970415904

(or a cheaper imitation.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284565732886)

Might be worth the extra investment.

This pressurises the system from the reservoir and pushes the fluid out through the caliper in the same way traditional bleeding works.

Opinions seem to be the vacuum ones, which all of the ones I originally listed are in some way or another, pulls the fluid out through the calliper via the bleed nipple, but it's notoriously hit and miss as to if you can get a good seal on the bleed screw for the vacuum to work and when you see bubbles it's hard to know if that's from the bleed process or new air introduced via a poor seal.

That is a good point regarding air being drawn in by a vacuum bleeder.  Perhaps the choice of tool should be:

Vac for servicing, there is no air in there?

Pressure for repairs when air is in there?

At £15 and no risk of fluid blown out in the engine bay I have a D on order.  Will report when the next car is serviced.

I’m redoing all the brakes so need to replenish all fluid for the whole system once I get it together so there will be plenty of air, hence why this got me thinking. So it might worth the investment of something a bit more substantial now.

I completely rebuilt my brakes at a remote garage without power. Simply asked my Mrs to pump the brakes while I relived the bleed nipples. Didn’t take long and she quite enjoyed being in an oldish car. Win win?

I completely rebuilt my brakes at a remote garage without power. Simply asked my Mrs to pump the brakes while I relived the bleed nipples. Didn’t take long and she quite enjoyed being in an oldish car. Win win?

I’ve always done this, if not my wife then a drag the kids into it. I’ve never found it difficult or had any issues. I just like to be independent lol. And I like the idea of owning more gadgets now, I think I’m getting lazy in old age. I want tools to do the hard work now.

Quote from: PWardy on December 01, 2022, 08:50:56 PM

I completely rebuilt my brakes at a remote garage without power. Simply asked my Mrs to pump the brakes while I relived the bleed nipples. Didn’t take long and she quite enjoyed being in an oldish car. Win win?

I’ve always done this, if not my wife then a drag the kids into it. I’ve never found it difficult or had any issues. I just like to be independent lol. And I like the idea of owning more gadgets now, I think I’m getting lazy in old age. I want tools to do the hard work now.

It must be an age thing because I too now have a thing about tools. I’ve yet to find one though that doesn’t need tidying away, and brings you a cup of tea when you have finished with it.

Still got the car in bits so it might be new year before I get chance to try it out, but here it is.

It feels like this is massively overkill for the task in hand, but I'm hoping it'll be one of those moments when I ask how did I ever manage without one before.

(https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/img_0170.jpg)

I have used a much cheaper one for many years

Old bottle

Length of silicone pipe 4mm ID

M5 bolt

Stick the bolt in one end

Make a small slit 20mm or so above the bolt, just one thin line

Done

When bleeding the pressure opens the slit as it can't go anywhere else then the slit closes after pressure is released.

Obviously some of those listed above are good bits of kit but this is another option that most people with have the parts for in there garage

Still got the car in bits so it might be new year before I get chance to try it out, but here it is.

It feels like this is massively overkill for the task in hand, but I'm hoping it'll be one of those moments when I ask how did I ever manage without one before.

(https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/img_0170.jpg)

You won't regret that,  I've had that older variant of that kit for years now, it's taken all the pain out of bleeding brakes!

I have used A, B and C before A was a complete waste of time B and C were just as bad. From years of experience my top 3 (not in order)...

Pressure bleed
Good old fashioned pedal pumping
And believe it or not....

Gravity bleeding.

My best results have come from gravity bleeding, brim the reservoir pump the pedal a few times before bleeding a corner put your pipe on the nipple pipe in bottle of fluid crack the nipple walk away for 10 mins.

This method i still to this day prefer as much as it is frowned on.

Still got the car in bits so it might be new year before I get chance to try it out, but here it is.

It feels like this is massively overkill for the task in hand, but I'm hoping it'll be one of those moments when I ask how did I ever manage without one before.

(https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/img_0170.jpg)

Well since @benjibooji has taken the trouble to add a new reply I thought I'd give an update.

For some background, I've completely overhauled my brake system and in doing so I've used this thing 3 times now.

The first attempt went shockingly bad, it's also worth noting this is a Chinese copy of the Sealey product. The Sealey ones seem to be around £60-70, I paid just over £30 for this. So maybe if I'd spent the extra I wouldn't have experienced these issues.

Anyway, I struggled to get the cap to seal, so once pressure built up the cap would give out and hiss fluid. I couldn't tighten the cap further without if slipping the thread.

I returned a few days later having pondered the issues, so on a second attempt I slipped the rubber seal out of the cap on the car and added it to the cap for the bleeder. With the seal in the cap doubled up I was able to seal and tighten the cap with no issues.

So after a complete bleed and test I still wasn't 100% sure the brakes were the best they could be, hard to tell as it's a new built system with new discs and pads and I appreciate it needs to bed in, but prior to the MOT I had a 3rd attempt a week later to do a final bleed and get out any last air, which after waiting, I'd hoped may had found it's way through the system.

Even doubling up the seal now I had issues with the seal, but I was able to tighten and just about got away with it. I was mindful not to apply too much pressure, which probably slowed the bleed. I did get some more air out and things seem better now but I have to say, this wasn't the life changing experience I'd hoped for.

Thankfully as it's a copy of the sealy one and uses standard fittings I'm fairly sure I'd be able to use Sealey spare for it, so if I needed to I could get a Sealey cap which might be better. For next time I think I'm just going to try and get a few spare rubber seals.

Yeah, I've got the Sealey kit, I've never had a problem with the seal on the top.

Though I've never pushed it past 8psi, you don't need any more.