Vacuum Bleeder Woes

[Escy]

I bought one of these cheap ebay vacuum bleeders

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-Hand-Held-Brake-B...

The idea is you attach it to the bleed nipple and it draws the air out, sounds nice and simple. I've tried it on 3 different cars (clutches only) and it's not worked well on any. Maybe i'm doing somthing wrong. It's set-up as per the instructions.

I draw a vacuum and it'll hold it fine so I guess there are no leaks. When I open the bleed nipple it makes all the right noises, it draws fluid with loads of bubbles which makes me think it's working. I find the vacuum runs out quite quickly. My issue is, you can keep drawing air bubbles for as long as you want, it never seems to actually bleed anything, I can draw fluid with air bubbles for as long as I like. Is there a trick to using them? Am I doing something wrong or is it just rubbish?

[Escy]

I did think when I did my Golf it was drawing air in through the bleed nipple threads, I removed it and wrapped it in PTFE tape. It still wasn't very effective.

This time I'm bleeding my MR2 after putting the engine back in (Toyota run the clutch line through an engine mount bracket that's difficult to remove so you just can't unbolt the slave cylinder). I guess the length of the system in a rear engined car doesn't help matters.

I have a Gunsons pressure bleeder kit. They are a nightmare to get a good seal after it's been used a few times. The reservoir cap is a press fit so I can't use it on the MR2.

What I always end up doing is connecting the pressure bleeder backwards to pump in fluid via the bleed nipple. It's a pain though, makes a huge mess. I'm frustrated that the vacuum bleeder doesn't seem to get any results

[Escy]

rsv gone! said:

've found that you should remove the nipple completely, grease around its thread and then refit. The grease keeps the vacuum.

I'll try that next time I have a go with the vacuum bleeder.