Motive products power bleeder problems

[thetex]

Trying to pressure bleed brakes on my 80 spider and the euro cap adapter model 1100 is really too big and does not tighten down snug, especially when you try to use the rubber gasket. Do I have an odd reservoir with a smaller cap? Tried the model 1109 adapter and it is worse. Anyone have the same problems and have a suggestion?

[mbouse]

hello, thetex. welcome to the site.

please stop by the introductions section and tell us all about yourself and your Spider.

[narfire]

Once you've done the intro stuff,I'll let you know I had the same problem. Brake fluid everywhere,make sure you have a pile of rags/shop towells around the res. as the stuff will take paint off like no-ones business.
I had an old res cap and modified with brass barbed fittings,seals and goop. did'nt work that great.
I ended up getting an ok seal somehow(still not a complete seal) and then made sure the res. was full and used the motive bleeder to pressurize the system. Kept a close eye on the res as you DO NOT WANT TO PUMP AIR INTO THE SYSTEM.
This seems a pain in the ass after spending good money on the bleeder but it worked for me. As an after thought I suppose I could have done the same thing with one of my back-yard hand pump things I use for roundup at the shop or Kumulus I use on the grapes.
There was a member that had a perfect fit and had his brakes done in no time,but I had fit and leak issues. Good luck
Chris

[kmead]

Welcome to the forum.

If you have an old cap you can also poke a tire valve stem through a hole (29/64 (.453") (11.5mm) diameter) in the cap this will self seal. Then attach the the hose from the power bleeder to the threaded end of the valve stem (you will need to have removed the Schrader valve in the stem using needle nose pliers).

Remember not to use too much pressure as you can blow the reservoir apart or even push the reservoir hose unions out of the MC.

Another way to approach it is to drain the reservoir, remove the hoses from it and attach the pressure bleeder hose directly to the hoses into the MC.

[thetex]

Great suggestions- Thanks folks. Motive has been very cooperative on this issue so I am offering to send them my reservoir in order for them to add the correct cap for our Fiats to their product line. Will keep you posted. Tom

[narfire]

Now thats a good idea!!! Get Motive to build a product that will fit the res. Brilliant.

[thetex]

No such luck with Motive- not enough demand for Fiat adapters. I'm going to scrounge around for something metric that may fit.

[ga.spyder]

I recently bought a Motive unit with the Euro cap,and it fit my 82 master cylinder reservoir perfect.No leaks...15 minute job.That is truly weird.I contacted them before I purchased and was assured it would fit my car and it did!
Craig

[thetex]

Has to be a different size- the euro adapter is too large for my 80 model. Just measuring and looking down on the outermost threads of my reservoir it is 43mm. The cap they sent will not tighten down snug at all.

[ga.spyder]

I just went to the garage and checked my res. with calipers...43mm!They must have sent the wrong cap.Mine is a model # 0100.I wouldnt say it was 100% airtight.I noticed it lost about 1 lb psi after 5 minutes,but held fine to bleed the system.
Craig

[thetex]

Interesting- It's possible I have a leak elsewhere since I pumped and pumped and it never pressurized. The whole reason I am bleeding is because I changed the compensator which was definitely bad. I am now wondering if I may have a leak in the master cylinder also. Would that also cause excessive brake pedal travel?