Brake Fluid Bleeding using Mityvac: nothing?

[deagle]

I took the top off the resevoir. Attached mityvac, opened bleeder, pumped up pressure....nothing. I get very little fluid coming out, even with great suction. I mean, very little. I have gen II, so have abs.

Question: When using the mityvac, is there any squeezing of the brake lever, or is that left alone? I did this on my older non-abs FJR and I thought it went much easier and quicker. Not sure why I'm not getting any fluid now.

thanks,

Don.

 

[TomInPA]

Squeezing the lever will pump fluid through the system. There is a lot of resistance through the ABS block. The advantage is that you don't have to close the bleeder when releasing the lever as long as you have a vacuum on it.
Be careful when squeezing the lever with the top off the brake cylinder as it has a habit of burping fluid onto your paint if you don't go slow. Protect the paint.

 

[ice_station_zebra]

My mityvac sucked it all out pretty easily, although to speed things up I also pumped the lever... hovered my finger over the reservoir hole so it didn't burp out on the paint. I have since installed speedbleeders which makes the process all the more easier.

 

[RaYzerman19]

Put a Canadian quarter in the reservoir over the hole to prevent splash-back. Then use a magnet to fish it out when you're done. US quarter's aren't magnetic, 'cuz they're not real.

OK, use a slug from an electrical box........

I'm not a fan of the vac method, prefer Speedbleeders. Shouldn't be any much resistance through the ABS block, BTW. If there is, something's wrong. Check your bleeder screws to make sure they're not rusted up/blocked.

 

[John d]

Sounds to me like you haven't opened up the bleeder enough. I use a Mityvac and there is very little resistance.

 

[mxboy96]

First question: has this machine been well taken care of and the fluid replaced before? Or is this the first time it's been done several years later than new? If it's the first time it's been replaced and it's 5-6 years or later since it's been new, It could be crappy fluid/gunk restricting flow. Myself, I like to just pump the master cylinder(pull the lever for front, push pedal for rear), and obviously push or pull, then open the bleeder until the lever bottoms out and stops, then while holding it close the bleeder and release the lever. This uses the systems natural hydraulic power to push the fluid/air out of the system. If it still comes out hard and very little fluid flow, it could either be crap restricting flow, or you may need to use a Yamaha scantool to open the ABS block to allow flow through. I've only seen this on cars so far, but I wouldn't doubt if bikes have this either. I haven't had to service any FJR's in my area yet so I couldn't tell you if you have to or not. Good luck!!

 

[rfespinosa]

deagle, I am interested, any update?

Two years ago I used a Mytivac to suck and bleed the fluid from all the systems in my '08 FJR. Two weeks ago I went to do the same thing and, like you, no flow. I had to pump the hand lever to get the fluid out, the fluid was a little discolored but no apparent dirt or gunk in it.

One caveat. I was flushing the fluid last week because I have a problem with the hand lever not returning to the full off position. Could it be related? BTW, flushing some fluid out did not correct the hand lever problem.

 

[jmgrif]

Just did my brake, clutch fluid on my 2008 with speed bleeders! Worked great! I did get a little splash from aggressive action on the lever from my over zealous attitude? Looking forward to next years riding! Snow expected soon?

 

[Bounce]

Vacuum or lever pressure should flow equally well. It's an every-other-year service REQUIREMENT because brake fluid attracts water which will corrode the brake internals.

 

[Slardy]

My mityvac sucked it all out pretty easily, although to speed things up I also pumped the lever... hovered my finger over the reservoir hole so it didn't burp out on the paint. I have since installed speedbleeders which makes the process all the more easier.

Buy Speedbleeders.

Slardy

 

[William England]

Reverse bleed? Push fluid up using a bigass syringe?

 

[deagle]

No update yet. The process took forever the first time, but was painfully slow and finally replaced the fluid using the mityvac, so it has fresh fluid.

Unfortunately, when I bled the linked brake bleed screw, I thought it would take from the front res, and the back one went dry. I think I may have air in the system now. The way it was bleeding (so slowly and not solid fluid flow) I'm not sure I got the air out. Of course now that I am SO locked into it, the brakes "may" feel a little spongy. Went down a dirt road and abs kicked in fine (first time trying that...front tire was a little more scary to try....fingers crossed).

So I would like to bleed it all again, but not if it's the same process. I will try pumping the lever, and look into speedbleeders. Like I said earlier, my previous non abs FJR went easy. I'll try again for Winter.

Thanks MUCH for the helpful responses!

Don.