Test time. I hooked up the hoses, filled the reservoir, hot wired the pump to a battery, and gave it a go. You need to move the rams up and down a short distance at first to get air out. Keep doing that while you add ATF to the reservoir. You will hear air gurgling inside the reservoir. As air bleeds out you can increase the rams length but do not let it hit the stops. I discovered a good way to get all the air out while it is on the workbench. When you either extend or retract the ram, take the end of the cylinder that is going to be expelling fluid and hold it upright. Give it a moment so the air rises to the top. Now move the ram and any air at that end will be expelled along with the ATF. You will see it fly through the hoses. Do this for each end several times and you will see less and less air in the lines until it is all gone. Now, the critical part. If air is in the lines, and the cylinders get to their stops, the air gets highly compressed. When you stop the pump the air wants to expand explosivey. If the reservoir port is open, air and fluid will blast out. That is what the Fischer body manual bleeding tool is for. You take a spare plug, cut off the end, and stick a steel line through. Stick that into the reservoir and put a hose on the other end and stick it into a container if ATF. This way when the rams hit the stops, the pump compresses the air, and when you stop the air/ATF gets shot into the container. When the pump needs fluid it will take ATF back and leave the air behind. That is probably the best way to bleed the cylinders when they are installed in the car. You can't tilt the ends as I did to expel the air. But on the bench, tilting the ends up, I got all the air out with the plug open. When all the air is out, fluid can't compress, so running the pump after the rams hit the stops, the pump seizes. STOP!! That puts a tremendous load on the electrical system and will probably trip the breaker. After all this, I have NO LEAKS!!! Thank you Jimc2002 and hokie1984! Two $.13 O-rings vs $300 for rebuilt cylinders is my kind of deal! EDIT: Unfortunately now the pump is leaking so that will be fixed next. Pics are: rams good- pump leaks.
