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Shimano Disc Brake Bleed Kit

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#23 ·
For bottom up, cup bleeds...
I have been using the translucent Shimano plastic cup successfully for 16 years. It works great. I have never found cross threading to be an issue.

About any decent bleed kit will work about as well as many have suggested here. There are some pros and cons to the accessories, but the art of the bleed will be determined by the quality of the wrench performing it, not so much the tool used. A nice kit is nice to have.
 
#24 ·
I think what I need are some decent glass syringes. Ones where the rubber on the plunger doesn't stick. Nothing worse bleeding any brake and having to hold decent pressure because of friction. I suppose I could lube it first with brake fluid 🤣
 
#27 ·
#28 ·
The simple answer is: the Shimano bleed kit you posted isn't made for consumers. The retail price (that the shop doesn't pay...) is absurdly high, because that isn't "the price".

The only parts in it that really make it worth it are the two specific bleed cups (glass-filled material, not the PET of the old ones)/bases, and the small hose barb that holds the hose in place on the bleed nipples with friction. In fact, those three parts, bought alone, would cost about the same as the kit. Shimano doesn't make the hose fitting available as a small part, but it is hardly necessary; the old slip-fit ring worked fine, and is even easy enough for you to make with a hunk of plastic and a drill bit.

Kindly, the syringes included with any bleed kit in the industry, are crap. SRAM used to at least bother to sell more expensive irrigation-type syringes, which worked very well to hold the seals concentric with the body of the syringe. You can buy them at pretty much any medical/farm supply store with a Luer Lock fitting. Grab a bag of viton/nitrile o-rings, depending on what oil is going in it, for when the included ones inevitably turn into goo.

You need to make your own catch bottle now, anyway, since Shimano stopped providing it. Either use your own 5mm silicone fuel line, or use the hose fitting they included slipped through a hole in a bottle top.
 
#29 · (Edited)
A better bleed kit will have metal threads. Must have translucent cups (so you can see the liquid level from the side).

Avoid fancy cups that have automatic closure when you pull them out, the extra complexity keeps bubbles stuck in the mechanism.

The only serious malfunction that I have seen with bleed kits is the rubber in the syringe expanding from the oil and getting stuck. So you got to shop for that too.

Cheap $10 kits are fine, they can be great if they satisfy the above. You got to be insane to pay $100 or more, even as a shop.
 
#30 ·
ka81ua said:
...but more important - found da best type of syringes for bleeding - ( pay attention to the barrel/nut on the rod! )
Click to expand...
I have tried them all at one time or another. I have found the 20-50 ml to be my favorite sizes, but I do use the 10 & 100 ml too. All of my better industrial syringes have silicone "O" rings, so no fluid compatibility issues. I have only seen conventional nitrile plunger seals on disposable syringes.
Image

Image
 
#35 ·
Collapse said:
Good afternoon, thank you all for the great suggestions. I did find a thread made last year that many of you posted in - my apologies for not searching enough before posting this thread. Either way, thanx!!



In my second post, I have a link to a Bleedkit.com kit. I was unsure about them and their website doesn’t look updated since 2022. Thanx for the suggestion



I’ve seen these on Amazon and I was unsure about them, so thank you for recommending these kits!! One I was eyeballing was this one because of the clear cup.





I do agree with this whole heartedly as well. The plastics does make sense when you think of it in these terms. In this application, it will be likely that I’ll use it more than a few times. I do think it’s ridiculous that it cost over 100 CAD here when most of the Amazon based ones, or a few others will do the same thing for half the price. If I’m willing to spend 100.00 already, I may as well get the ParkTool bleed kit.
Click to expand...
The Kit can be purchased from Cambria for $21.99 or many other sites. I used the Shimano Cup gravity system for years and yes it works but can be messy. For the price and ease of use I highly recommend the.
Bleedkit Premium Hydraulic Bleed Kit - Shimano
 
#38 ·
I have both the basic and pro Shimano kits. For gravity bleeds, the basic kit works good. For reverse bleeds, the hose that comes with the basic kit doesn't provide a great seal to the bleed nipple. Besides the plastic rings they use to help seal on the hose broke fairly quickly. The pro kit come with a few bleed blocks, thicker plastic cups, cup lids which reduce chances of accidental spills, a better hose connection to bleeder and a syringe.

Whether the pro kit is worth it or not... for years I used the basic kit and successfully performed normal flushes and bleeds. However I did struggle when bleeding a "dry" or air-bound system due to a replaced hose, caliper, popped a piston out, master cylinder... situations where enough air is in the system and a gravity bleed doesn't cut it. This is where a reverse bleed and pressure/suction are needed.

Those Radar Lab syringes are real nice.
 
#40 ·
Something to note that in my decades of brake service I have found that most of the brake nastiness resides in the caliper. The in & out movement of pistons pulls dirt and seal wear into the caliper. This why I do a top down flush to purge the nastier fluid out first without it traveling up to the master cylinder. I want to keep that out from anything above the caliper. This technique will often minimize or eliminate multiple flushes to find fresh fluid.

bmwpowere36m3 said:
Those Radar Lab syringes are real nice.
Click to expand...
Yes, they are nice.
Image
 
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