Brake Bleeding with ABS

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Is it possible to bleed the brake system of an ABS vehicles w/o a power bleeder and/or scan tool to cyle the ABS? A have a home-brew vacuum bleeder, but not a power bleeder.



I’ve bench-bled the master cylinder, but I think there is still air in the ABS unit.



The vehicle in question is a 97 Chrysler Town and Country with 4-wheel ABS.



Thanks!

Josh

2

[b]If there’s air in the ABS unit, you’ll need a scan tool to bleed the brakes.

  1. Bleed the base brakes in a sequence recommended by the manufacturer.

  2. Connect the scan tool, and command the ABS controller to go into the bleed mode.

  3. Bleed the base brakes again.

That’s it!

Tester[/b]

3

Thanks for the reply!

I’ve been meaning to buy a scan tool anyway, so I guess this is a good exscuse :slight_smile:

4

I’ve bled brakes in my '97 expedition before usinga length of tubing into a baby food jar, and a partner pumping the brakes w/ no problems. I now have a vacuum gun that works great. Piece o pie.

5

I don’t think just any engine scan tool will scan a Chrysler ABS system. Mr. Tester?

6

[b]You’re going to need a scan tool for ABS systems. A regular OBDII scan tool won’t access the ABS controller. ABS scan tools are not cheap!

Tester[/b]