Brake fluid flush questions

[Cubieman]

It's time for me to perform my first brake fluid flush on my car. I've got 4 12oz bottles of OEM fluid and INPA/DIS Anyone have any tips/tricks? Is 4 12oz bottles enough?
My biggest question is how do I use the software to properly purge/bleed my ABS pump? I've bled brakes before with the tube/bottle method but never have done a brake fluid flush with an ABS module in the mix.
Thanks for any help!

[timmo]

I did this last week. If you have a pressure bleeder, pressurize the reservoir, then activate the ABS pump. You'll hear it prime for 1-2 seconds, then pulse - the moment it starts pulsing, open the bleeder, and you'll see the fluid coming out in spurts, in sync with the pulsing. If you're doing the 2-person method, have your helper push the pedal down and open the bleeder when the pulses start.

48 oz (1.5 quarts) should be enough fluid, I bought 2 bottles 1 qt each of ATE Type 200, and only had to use 1 of them.

[Cubieman]

So when bleeding the ABS pump am I bleeding from just the furthest bleeder from pump (rear passenger) or do I need to run the pump and open each bleeder individually?

[eacmen]

It's time for me to perform my first brake fluid flush on my car. I've got 4 12oz bottles of OEM fluid and INPA/DIS Anyone have any tips/tricks? Is 4 12oz bottles enough?
My biggest question is how do I use the software to properly purge/bleed my ABS pump? I've bled brakes before with the tube/bottle method but never have done a brake fluid flush with an ABS module in the mix.
Thanks for any help!

The goal of the flush want to get the old fluid out of the ABS and new fluid into the ABS. So you need to basically do enough bleeding of the system so that there is no old fluid before the ABS unit in the circuit. The ABS unit is very close to the master cylinder so it should not take much. Siphon as much fluid out of the brake fluid reservoir as you can and fill it with new fluid. Then proceed to an initial bleed of each of the four corners, I would extract 100-200ml of fluid (about 20 percent of the total system capacity IIRC) from the system before triggering the ABS bleed routines in the scan tool.

When bleeding the ABS itself what I do is open the bleeder valve, run over go press the button on the scan tool for the corner I am not, then run over and close the bleeder before the ABS pump turns off. This probably isnt necessary it is just how I do it.

After the ABS bleed I then proceed to do a final bleed of all four corners normally.

The ABS bleed routine assumes you are using a power bleeder with max of 2 bar of pressure (30 psi). I use 15 psi.

[Cubieman]

Is there any advantage to using a power bleeder other than being able to perform this job on your own? Also could you suggest a reasonably priced decent unit? I am looking at the "black label" unit for $75 at ECS with the aluminum threaded cap.

[eacmen]

Is there any advantage to using a power bleeder other than being able to perform this job on your own? Also could you suggest a reasonably priced decent unit? I am looking at the "black label" unit for $75 at ECS with the aluminum threaded cap.

Being able to do it on your own is a huge plus to me. It is less prone to error than using your "helper" who might be just watching youtube or texting while pushing the brake pedal. Plus it is the "official" way of doing it per the manual. But if you have a helper then go for it, should be the same result. Make sure to watch the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir.

[eacmen]

The schwaben one is nicer than the Motive one. If I didnt have the Motive already I would buy the Schwaben one. The black label cap is worth it, otherwise your stuck trying to thread the cap on with the hose not able to rotate.

[timmo]

If you do this once a year then a power bleeder is definitely worth it, I can have all four corners flushed without ABS pump in probably half an hour.

Another thing I've heard is that by using a helper, if you press the pedal to the floor you will be extending the piston in the master cylinder to a section of the bore that is unswept under normal operation, which could damage the seals as there may be debris or rust that has accumulated over time. Don't know how true this is, but the reasoning is sound. The first time I went to do it this year, I lost the adapter for my power bleeder, so I had my dad help me. The pedal didn't feel as good as it did before, so I bit the bullet and bought a replacement adapter, and there were no bubbles and no change in pedal feel (which is just a result of initial bite of HPS versus an actual street pad).

Personally I'm fine without the black label version. It's about a $25 CAD difference, I'm fine with twisting the tubing the other way to compensate for threading the brass fittings together.

[Cubieman]

I just bought the black label power bleeder but now I need to figure out how to run the ABS pump. How does one do this with software/laptop? The Bently manual is using DIS, I've got that plus INPA and all the other standard type programs.
I just need help in using the program to actually purge the ABS module. Anyone happen to have a step by step on this?

[timmo]

I just bought the black label power bleeder but now I need to figure out how to run the ABS pump. How does one do this with software/laptop? The Bently manual is using DIS, I've got that plus INPA and all the other standard type programs.
I just need help in using the program to actually purge the ABS module. Anyone happen to have a step by step on this?

This should help:

[Cubieman]

Thanks, I just watched that about 5 minutes after asking

[D-O]

The schwaben one is nicer than the Motive one. If I didnt have the Motive already I would buy the Schwaben one. The black label cap is worth it, otherwise your stuck trying to thread the cap on with the hose not able to rotate.

Me too. Get the Schwaben version.

[Cubieman]

I feel like an idiot here, but could someone just lay out the sequence of events here. This is my understanding for a FLUSH, not just a bleed.

1. Remove as much fluid as possible from reservoir
2. Fill reservoir with new fluid
3. Fill power bleeder with new brake fluid and hook up "retrieval bottle" then cycle ABS (scan tool/INPA) and bleed all four corners

Is that the correct sequence?

[r4dr]

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...enance/GNyEPyU

[r4dr]

Two things jump out at me from the TIS though:

1. Since the order is reservoir - master - ABS pump - hard line - caliper bleed valve, it seems maybe it's more efficient to bleed far enough through so that it's all fresh fluid between the master and ABS pump, then trigger each corner before bleeding that corner's line. The TIS has it doubling the whole procedure kind of?

2. I feel like the instructions imply that it only takes 5 pumps of the brake pedal to go from the ABS pump to the end of that brake line. Interesting.