Here's a less expensive one, and its prime, so free 2 day shipping, probably only a couple bucks to upgrade to 1 day. If you don't have amazon prime, you may need to reassess your life


https://www.amazon.com/Capri-Tools-V...vacuum+bleeder

 

Lol you are literally going to make me buy one of those things sheesh! $80 bucks aint bad but its still $80 more than I wanna spend. But you are certainly tempting me though; I like how it connects to shop air.

So interesting fact, I dont have prime...but I do have a sweet house and a lift in my garage so go me, I rule lol!

All jokes aside I don't wanna give up yet. The quote I posted didn't seem too involved so I may give that a try. Was hoping someone had a positive experience doing it that way. I feel stupid bc I've never had issues bleeding it in the past but of course it has to fight me now after 8 years of ownership.

So your bleeder idea is going to be plan B. Well technically plan C since Im already looking for plan B, no not that plan B, lol

 

I have access to one of those garage lift things too.


I guess let us know how the wire shenanigans method goes...lol

 

Lol something tells me its going to be exactly that, shenanigans.

And yes I do recall you having a sweet gantry crane thing over the lift which is way cool and something I need to look into. And you see this is why I need to refrain from just buying things especially tools since I cant help myself.

 

Yea. Tool shopping can escalate as quickly as buying car parts...lol

 

you can leave the bleeder open... and keep repeating the full throttle procedure.. while it is open it will not suck in air because fluid from the reservoir will slowly drip out. Just make sure the reservoir is topped up at all times.

the thing about bleeding the system with a vacuum bleeder and why I dont like it... it only bleeds the line from the pump to the ACD.. and it does it in a way that pulls the fluid directly from the fluid reservoir and trough the return line from the solenoid and trough the line and ACD... so it doesnt bleed the pump. Now, it makes no difference if the pump is ok, and was not rebuilt.. But... if you rebuilt the pump, then you MUST bleed it properly otherwise it will never work ok..

For bleeding Evoscan is fine, although I never used it.. I used that electrical box I made and sold for a while along with the kits.. If you are careful you can improvise with 12 V to the motor and solenoid, or you can buy one of the kits that were left over in the US

 

Hey thanks for chiming in really appreciate your feedback. So based on what you just said that confirms that while a vacuum bleeder would prob be fine after pulling the xcase a rebuilt pump will need to be done the way everyone else talks about.

In my case I attempted to rebuild my pump but the thing was in terrible shape and I ended up breaking it getting it apart, duh! I ended up scoring a used pump on here with a broken solenoid for a great price and it was in great shape. I pulled it apart and man what a difference that was the thing came right apart in literally minutes and was clean inside so I put it back together with the original parts and stole the solenoid from my old pump. But given that I definitely need to perform the pedal/ 12v method.

The tool you built is very slick but I've got spare wire gator clips and switches lying around so I think I should be able to make a similar thing very simply.

It seems getting a buddy over after work is difficult and not sure I wanna ask the gf as after a couple minutes I'm sure she'll get bored and then I'll have a bigger issue, lol.

So assuming Im on my own can you confirm that the following is a good method:

Disconnect power to motor and solenoid.

Connect motor to 12v source and connect solenoid to 12v source.

Flip switch to power up the motor for a couple seconds until I hear the pitch change then shut it down.

Open bleeder and then flip switch for solenoid for a few seconds.

Top off reservoir then power up motor again to build pressure shut it off power on solenoid and keep repeating until no more air bubbles.

Assuming I always keep the reservoir topped off there is no issue with leaving the bleed screw open this entire process?

I know this topic has literally been covered every other week so I hate even asking again but I've never attempted to do it the 12v method so I'd rather ask the question again then screw it up.

Thanks again for your feedback!

 

yep, you got it right... keep the bleeder open all the time, and have someone in the trunk topping up the fluid (or if it is a US car, have someone in the engine bay topping up the fluid.. haaha)
put a piece of clear tubing on the bleeder so that you can see al the foamy oil coming out..
you will hear clearly when the pump gets on full pressure.. starts making funny noises..
one thing.. keep the solenoid under power for only a couple of sec... I would suggest using a high power 2 ohm resistor in that circuit... I used to connect it to straight 12V but on the commercial kits there was a 2.2 ohm resistor to provide some protection to the solenoid in case someone switches it on for a long time..

 

Great news I think I did it! I rigged up a tool using a battery jumper cables wire a switch and various wire connectors. I could only find one temp on switch unfortunately so it was a little tedious switching back and forth between powering the motor and then solenoid but it worked quite well.

I used female spade connectors on the end of my main harness so that allowed an easy connection to the pump motor. Then I had 2 short pieces with male spade connectors on 1 side and a butt connector on the other to connect to the solenoid and make for quick changing. Having 2 dedicated circuits and switches would have sped things up but it worked out ok. And the butt connectors made an OK connection to the solenoid, like I said it worked but there is certainly room for improvement. I'd like to make a little box like the tool you made for future use and you can bleed far easier jumping it and I didnt need a 2nd hand.

It was obvious from the sounds of the motor when it built pressure when to let off and I made sure to not hold the button down for the solenoid too long either but a resister is a great idea, didnt even think about that.

All in all I think it was mission success. Like I said I've bled my ACD numerous times in the past and never had issues. What confused me however is flooring the gas only turns on the pump; it doesn't open the solenoid. So Im surprised any fluid really comes out. I think this time around because I had the pump apart and because I relocated my ACD to the trunk requiring a new hydraulic line a ton of air was introduced into the system vs in the past where maybe only a little bit at the end of the line where it connects to the xcase so it wasnt as finicky. But with the harness the ability to power the pump to build pressure and then release it with the solenoid just makes way more sense and seems to be the proper way.

Thanks again for the information. Im glad to say this project is finally behind me and it seems I have a proper functioning ACD which will no longer corrode thanks to it being protected in my trunk, wahoo!

 

Pics.....


I just bleed my ACD after I moved it to the trunk, and it was a ****ty process. I am not even sure if I got all the air out. I would love to do it all again just to be 100% sure. No lights for me, but if there is an easy way to bleed it then I am 100% in.

 

How did you bleed your pump? Gas pedal method Im guessing? Ill try and snap some photos of what I rigged up later so you can better understand what I described above. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is and think its something that once you actually do it, you're like "ohhhh that was a piece of cake why did I complicate this?"

Basically all you need to do it apply 12v to the pump motor for a few seconds to pressurize the system. Then you apply 12v to the solenoid to open it and the fluid will shoot out. And keep going back and forth between the 2 processes pressurize then release fluid. Of course the bleeder needs to be open during this process. I used to worry about when the bleeder nipple should be open and I dont even think that matters for this process. I used a gatorade bottle and left some fluid in the bottom, like when you bleed brakes so air wont go back up the vacuum tubing.

Ill snaps some pics later of what I rigged up with scraps I had kicking around and hopefully it'll give you some ideas. I know you're competent when it comes to wiring so Im sure you'll pick it up quickly.

Oh and BTW I wouldn't go off of there being no ACD trouble codes as far as getting all the air out. Because I definitely still had air left over in my system prior yet I didn't get the infamous 3 lights. But sounds like you you dont trust it anyway...just thought I'd mention that.

 

Not sure this picture helps but here's what I came up with. All you need to do is make a simple circuit. I also used a pair of jumper cables and a battery from my lawn tractor. If you have your battery in your trunk which I recall you do then youre golden just use that.

Youre going to have to zoom in on the photo but try and follow along. 2 diff colors black and yellow. Yellow was + for me and black was ground. Use whatever colors youd like obviously. I had my switch on the ground which I believe is the correct way but I dont see why that would even matter both sides would open the circuit. I used space connectors on both sides one side connecting to the jumper cables, figured the spade made for a decent connection to the alligator clips on the jumper cables. Not necessary but whatever. Then the other side also had female spades on then which fit quite well to the pump motor.

Then if you notice I have 2 small pieces of wire with a male spade connector on one side for easy connecting to the end of the female spade from the main harness and the other side had butt connectors for the pins on the solenoid. The butt connectors werent ideal but it worked fine.

Then my process was involved going back and forth between building pressure with the pump and then releasing the fluid with the solenoid and did that back and forth a few times until I didnt see any more air bubbles.

If I were to build this for real vs quickly being thrown together to get the job done I'd get a 2nd temp on switch like I had and have 2 separate circuits. I suppose you could T off the positive side and make connection to both motor and solenoid. But I would have 2 separate grounds with separate switches that way its a matter of holding down switch for a couple seconds vs hold down then swap the wires and so on. And as Kiki said maybe solder inline a resistor, certainly couldnt hurt. But if not just know to not hold it down for long.

Hope this helps. Not sure I described it very well...ask away if you have questions. Its far more simple that it sounds and Im sure there are many ways to go about doing it. But thats what worked for me piecing it together quickly with stuff I have lying around.

Oh and just because Im very proud of the final outcome here a pic in its new location

 

great work..