Bleeding ABS brakes

[trollbait]

Is there a special procedure for bleeding all wheel ABS brakes? The car in questions is a 2001 Sable.
I've done a Ranger with rear ABS by suction before. The Hanyes manual called for bleeding the line at the rear ABS valve of the truck. DIdn't have any luck in finding the valve, so I skipped that part, and just bled at the brakes. Had no problem with it afterwords.

[kamesama980]

Every ABS system is a little different. It also depends on how thorough you want to be and where the bubble is. if you just replaced a caliper you can probably do it the old fashioned way. if you replace something and bubbles get into the ABS module itself, some cars need a scantool to cycle the ABS system and you can't get the bubble out without it. some just need to be done in a special order. If the pedal feels good though, I wouldn't worry about it.

[trollbait]

I just wanted to replace the old fluid. It absorbs water over time, and is likely 8 years old at this point.

[ecofarmer]

If you’re just trying to replace the fluid then I would just bleed them out at the wheels. If you get a few feet of hose that slides on the bleed nut tight and put catch container a little lower then the master cylinder. I would start at the back passenger, back driver, front passenger, and then front driver.

Some ABS units will call to bleed out at the valve unit before the breaks but I do not do this. If you introduce air into the master cylinder it will get trapped in the valve assembly and will need to bleed it to get it all out.


Depending on the size of the hose you use you can still get a bit of air in the brakes but running the line up dose help to limit this.

[kamesama980]

like ecofarmer says,, since you're just replacing the fluid, not trying to bleed air out of it just do it like normal at the wheels. just don't run the master dry or you will get air in the ABS module and then you will have to do it the hard/thorough way.