RUSSELL 639520 Speed Bleeder

I'm an old hand at pulling wrenches, although I only do my own brake work, not commercially. Since the days when all four corners had drum brakes, I remember one of the most aggravating and dreaded tasks was bleeding the system. Not that it was that, hard, but good help was hard to come by, and it took two to do it right.This is so wonderful, I had to show them off to friends who are professional mechanics, who were unaware of them.I had to replace a wheel cylinder on my old Tahoe, (11 inch rear drum brakes--all my vehicles are old enough to vote), and after I got the new wheel cylinder in and the brake reassembled and adjusted, I removed the stock bleeder screw and replaced it with a speed bleeder. I gently ran the bleeder in until it touched bottom with a deep well socket and a 1/4" drive ratchet, backed off 1/2 turn, and re-filled the reservoir on the master cylinder. Five pumps of the pedal later, I pulled the catch hose and jar off the bleeder screw, tightened it up, and topped off the reservoir, and was done!Just that quick. No waiting on someone to come help with it, no hollering back and forth ("push down, hold, (Huh, what's you say?) pump it again and hold", etc. )Frankly, I have a small herd of vehicles, all a couple decades old or older, and I am plumb excited about these.You are supposed to bleed the brake system every couple of years to eliminate old brake fluid and any moisture that may have worked its way into the system, and this will make that a breeze!!IMPORTANT:Let me note also, that I blasted out the open end of the bleeder screw with WD-40 after I had tightened it, before I put on the cap, because brake fluid attracts water, and water inevitably invites corrosion. That way the check valve will survive for the next time.I have installed the 639580 Speed Bleeders on the calipers in front, and will be replacing the bleeder screws in the fleet with these.

Removed the existing bleeders and installed these. Bled the brakes very quickly. The part that took the longest was getting the cap off the master cylinder.

These speed bleeders have been a great help to me, when no one's around to assist. HOWEVER, two caveats that I have learned the hard way, after going through three sets on two different cars over a five-year period: First, be extremely careful not to overtighten - they don't need a lot of force and snap quite easily. Second, and most importantly: EACH time you use the bleeder, you must afterward squirt a small shot of WD-40 in the end and cap it with a snug rubber cap. If you lose the cap or it wasn't provided, get another one right away. If you don't lube and cap it, the internal mechanism easily rusts up from the brake fluid and exposure to moisture getting in the hole and then the next time you do your brakes the bleeder is internally frozen and useless and you have to go buy another set. Again, I learned the hard way. Therefore - they are so helpful that I give them four stars - however, if you don't lube and cap, I give them a one star, because the frustration of pumping the pedal over and over and having a dribble or nothing come out because the speed bleeder has frozen up and you're not under the car to see it, is maddening. Each time I use these speed bleeders, I actually use my little digital camera, set on video, to film while I'm pressing on the brake pedal, so that I can be sure that the bleeder is allowing fluid through. Haven't had a problem since I began faithfully treating with WD-40 and rubber caps. The manufacturer needs to include some instructions to this effect. From my experience, a Russell speed bleeder which is left uncapped and is not treated after the brake fluid went through it, doesn't last more than a couple years.

These are the best bleeder screws for old and late model cars. Over the years, I have used these mainly to resolve seeping (very very slow leaking) from around the base of the threads on new aftermarket and OEM wheel cylinders and Caliers.

nice wide shoulder for wrench ; I hope they don't rust and wish they were stainless but they look much beefier than the ones I got at local part store and the wider flats for wrench may well make them worth twice the price of the local sets and of course the built in speed check valve I will critique after I put them on and I trust the charts at Russel were correct and they do look the same to the eye

They work. I don't know what else to say. You don't need to open them until they feel loose. In fact, that defeats the seal on the threads that makes them work. I used these to bleed my own brakes and clutch. In fact, once the system is all clean, you can loop the drain line back into the reservoir (assuming you KNOw it's clean), and just pump away endlessly without refilling until you have every last tiny bubble out. Saved me a ton of time just on that alone.

The bleeder would not seal not long enough to seat and hold pressure. A review owner stated that it worked on his GoldWing and total satisfied! This is not safe to that person that rated his. Brakes could fail due to the bleeder releasing brake fluid cause not seating. It’s approximate 3/16” to short and bleeder wrench will sink flush on the caliper. Not enough Said about it’s Safety. One great review lead me in purchasing this for my GoldWing.

Just got them and installed on the cylinders, now need to do the breaks on the back and we will see

Do 99% of my work alone so these are a must. Bought for an '83 Goldwing and they work wonders on a notoriously difficult system to bleed. Note that these are NOT for bleeding a dry system as that just makes the job harder than needed.

Split in half while tightening down after first bleeding, with very little effort. (1 star for self bleed function actually working though)Don't even think about this if you live in the rust belt like me, I was lucky enough that it was a fresh install to be able to extract the thread portion, any amount of corrosion and I'd have needed a new wheel cylinder.Junk.

excellent productsuper easy to bleed and flush your brake lines

fast and convienient

Picked the ones rated for my vehicle on the site but when arrived they were wrong size