Question for anyone who uses the Motive Products Pressure Bleeder
 

I just bought one of these things to make brake and clutch bleeding a one-person operation, and it works quite well.

http://www.motiveproducts.com/

Just one problem. The FC uses threaded 45 mm caps for both the clutch and brake master cylinder reservoirs, so I ordered the #0109 "Black Label European Bleeder Kit" which comes with their billet aluminum adapter #1109. The adapter made a perfect seal on the clutch, but actually slips off the brake reservoir just as you're tightening it. I was able to use it anyway by strapping it snugly around the master cylinder with some extra-long plastic zip ties, but it still leaked a tiny bit. The problem seems to be that the threads in the fancy billet aluminum cap are very flat and don't engage with the threads on the reservoir (though it seems weird that it works so well on the clutch).

FWIW, they also sell a 45 mm threaded plastic adapter (#1100). I'm wondering if that might not have deeper threads.

I did some searching, and some FD guys have had no issues using the exact-fit caps on their cars. I couldn't find anyone with an FC who is using an exact-fit cap, but one guy said he likes the "Universal" adapter (#1101), but elsewhere on the net I've read bad things about the "Universal" adapters leaking.

Does anyone have any first-hand experience with any of these adapters they can share? Thanks!

Good news: Motive Products stands behind their stuff and their technical support department has been helping me try to solve the issue with the Pressure Bleeder. They sent me a #1100 adapter which is essentially very similar to the #1109 only made of plastic rather than aluminum, and the threads appear to be just a little deeper. Unfortunately it has the same problem as the #1109.

According to the Motive Power tech support, they have this problem with Miatas a lot as well; specifically, that the #1100 and #1109 adapter will work on some cars' clutch masters and not others despite them using the identical Mazda reservoirs. Motive Power is going to send me a third type of exact-fit cap; when I test it, I'll give another update just in case anyone else is trying to use this otherwise quite cool product.

Just in case anyone was watching this thread to see how the issue was resolved, it turns out the 1101 "Universal" adapter works very well. It's much more fiddly to use because of the chains and J-hooks used to attach the cap to the reservoir, but it worked fine with no leaks. The only minor issue is that this universal cap is wider than the exact-fit caps, so I had to unplug the ignition coil wires for clearance, but this takes 5 seconds so it is hardly an inconvenience.

It was the opinion of the Motive Products tech guys that the leakage I experienced was due to the flat spot on either side of the brake reservoir where the threads disappear (see photo). I'm not really persuaded by this theory since the Mazda clutch cap and brake cap interchange and both fit snugly.

In any event, problem solved.

If you work on your car by yourself, i.e., without an available assistant to pump the pedals, a pressure bleeder is really handy.

I always just use a hose from the bleeder screw submerged in a bottle full of brake fluid. Just have to make sure I don't let the resovoir go dry when bleeding.

Pretty cool how tech support helped you out like that.

I bought mine with the universal adapter just so I could use it on any car. It's really not so bad once you get used to it.

As for leaks, all you have to do is secure the cap, then pressurize the system without any fluid. if no air leaks out at 20 psi, then you can undo the cap from the reservoir while leaving it attached to the master cylinder.

The nice thing about dealing with their tech support is that while I purchased the 1109 adapter, when they found out it didn't fit my brake reservoir, they mailed me the 1101 universal for free. As I mentioned, the 1109 fits my clutch perfectly, so now I have the best of both worlds.

Min came with a crimp fitting on the adapter. How do you swap yours?

I bought the "black label" kit which comes with a brass threaded connector midway along the hose. Both the adapters I have also have the threaded connectors on them. I found that it drips brake fluid if you don't wrap the threads with teflon tape first.

Here's what the brass fitting looks like. The 1109 aluminum 45 mm adapter also has a brass swivel fitting at the adapter itself which makes attaching it to the reservoir a little more convenient, while the universal 1101 and plastic 45 mm 1100 do not.

The "black label" kits are about $15 more than the basic kits. If you want the flexibility of switching adapters, it's not a bad deal.

Gonna resurrect this thread.

http://motiveproducts.3dcartstores.c...111_p_126.html

Any others have experience using this? I was thinking of ordering the miata kit shown above for bleeding FC non-ABS masters...my GF is getting tired of pumping...(we've been together 12 years, go figure)

Wanted to see if maybe the OP was a rare case of worn out threads on the brake master and maybe new masters work better with this kit?

RockLobster, did you try that miata kit?

I've been looking into one of these myself... my speed bleeders don't work nearly as well as I'd like.

heres a thought... go to a junk yard, take the caps and put fittings in them. BAM no more "universal" caps that dont work

This.

Also, what I did was make said fitting a male air line quick-disconnect. Then put a female on the line from the pressure reservoir. I no longer put fluid in the Motive pressure reservoir, just top up the master cylinder reservoir when it gets low. The female air fitting keeps the Motive pressurized.

I also would like to know if the 1111 works for the 2nd gen.

I ended up getting the european black label for my audi. It works perfect for that. I went to my 7 where I tried to see if it would fit, but it's a hair too big. It has nothing to do with the flat spots - it's just too big. I didn't try it on my clutch though.

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incubuseva, clearly you searched before posting. Two thumbs up.

When I purchased my Motive power bleeder, I went for the universal version. It's essentially a big rubber funnel held in place with pressure via a wrap around chain. In essence, one size fits all, and I've not had a problem ever using it except the one time I got too aggressive tightening it down. Only took once to learn that lesson.

This is a great inexpensive product. Nothing like a good power bleeding for a hydraulic system.

Sorry for reviving such a long dead thread. Hopefully this helps someone in the future.

1111 aluminum cap for gen 1 and 2 Miatas WILL NOT work for the brake master cylinder. Just bought it and found out it was an inch too big. This was for 87 non turbo without ABS. Buy the universal mount instead.

I'll add more relevant info to this ancient thread. The Motive pressure bleeder I got many years ago included the fiddly universal cap with the J-bolts & chain. It worked, but it was such a PITA to use that I made my own cap after a quick trip to the pick & pull junkyard. You'll find that many Mazda's of the same vintage as the FC and at least into the late '90s had the same master cylinder caps. I just grabbed a few caps off of various old Mazda's (i.e., 626's, Proteges, 3's, etc), brought them home and tested for fit on my FC. A couple of them fit, so I picked up a brass hose nipple from the hardware store, drilled a suitable hole for it in the center of the cap and secured/sealed it to the cap with JB Weld. You now have a custom cap to use your Motive pressure bleeder with your FC.

PS - Same cap fits my FD, my kid's '03 Protege5 and my '14 Mazda3.