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Old Feb 14, 2003 | 06:54 AM
  #10  
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JimBlake
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Just to add something about ABS & the bleeding order...

Depending on how the plumbing is arranged, bleeding will work better or worse depending on what order you do the wheels. If you have a shop manual & it tells you which order, that's the best. If you do the wrong order, its not bad, but you may have to go around again & again until there's no more air.

For non-ABS cars its pretty safe to assume that you do one rear then the diagonally opposite front. Then the other rear & front.

Of the ABS cars that I've had, the recommended order for bleeding is different for each car. The idea is which circuit is likely to leak air into which other circuit so you don't have to re-do it too many times.

Some ABS cars have a separate reservoir & bleeder screw for the ABS. These are bled in addition to the main brakes. My '95 Integra is like this. Old Legends have the bleeder way down low where you can't reach it. The Helm manual for my '95 Integra gives the following order:
1 - Right-rear
2 - Left-front
3 - Left-rear
4 - Right-front
Then you bleed the ABS. Its bleed valve is on the ABS valve body; open it carefully to bleed the pressure out. Then start the engine so the ABS pump runs. Don't let the ABS reservoir get empty, & repeat several times.

Some ABS cars have an ABS unit without any reservoir or bleeder. Brake fluid flows through these as you bleed the main brake system. The difference in this case is the particular arrangement of the valves determines the best bleeding order. The Helm manual for '98 & '99 Accord gives:
1 - Left-front
2 - Right-front
3 - Right-rear
4 - Left-rear
My '01 Saab also has an ABS system that bleeds along with the main brakes, but the order is different:
1 - Left-front
2 - Right-rear
3 - Right-front
4 - Left-rear
I know this isn't the Saab forum, but my point is that the bleeding order can be different depending on how the plumbing is arranged.
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