Usually you have the brakes pumped up,THEN loosen the bleeder while your helper holds the pedal down. The pedal is NOT released until you tighten the bleeder. Fill resivour, curse under breath and restart process.

There is also a process that has to be followed between bleeding the fronts and rears on an ABS system. I haven't memorised it but someone knows. They'll chime in.

Another process is to simply let the system gravity bleed until nothing but fluid comes put the rear bleeders. This assures the abs pump is full. It is best done on level ground. Then you can "pump bleed" the system.

 

Thank you very much for the help. Should the engine be running while I'm doing this? And I'm sticking my finger over the bleeder, so it's airtight, right? So no air can get sucked back in?

Also, I looked at the front brakes, and not sure where the front bleeder is. IS it on the caliper?

 

Engine doesn't have to be running for bleeding. Start the engine to check pedal travel, and if the lites are on though.

And yep, having your finger over the end to seal it so it doesn't suck air back in. That's also why I recommend some teflon tape on the bleeder threads. When they are new, they don't seal all that well.

I have never had to do anything special about bleeding an ABS system......

 

NO.

I am not sure about holding a finger over any pressurized liquid. I would not want to be injected with brake fluid. WHen the sytem builds pressure from being pumped, open the bleeder, let the fluid out and close it.

The front bleeders are on top of each caliper.

 

Unless you are hercules, you are not going to be able to hold your finger tight enough on the valve to worry about having brake fluid penetrate your skin. I have used that method for decades, and it works really well for me.

 

Here's a neat explaination on how to do it, along with a paragraph explaining ABS brakes and where to start the process.

Apparently it is a competitive site (how lovely) so the information cannot be viewed. Here's the important part?


Bleeding patterns vary for different cars—consult the owner's manual and/or service manual for bleeding order as well as DOT-grade fluid recommendation and any ABS-specific procedures. Rear-wheel drive vehicles are bled beginning at the wheel that's farthest from the master cylinder, then gradually working in: typically right rear, then left rear, then right front and finally left front. Front-wheel drives are sometimes bled in a diagonal pattern.

 

For some reason, part of your link was censored, so it doesn't work..... No clue what that's all about.

 

Bob needs a Haynes manual.

 

Yes he does...would the merry christmas download work? The bleeding procedure should be the same.

 

Yep. Service manual download thread.