Brake Bleeding - 1992 accord w/ABS

[madmack69]

Does anyone know the procedure for bleeding the brakes on a 1992 accord with ABS? Also, what special tools are required. Thanks for your help!

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by madmack69

Does anyone know the procedure for bleeding the brakes on a 1992 accord with ABS? Also, what special tools are required. Thanks for your help!

Long as you didn't pump the hell out of it with no fluid in it, and get air in the valve body, it's no different than a regular system.

There's usually a couple of bleeder screws near the solenoids on the valve body if you did get air in there.

If it's like a GM, with the key on the accumulator will kick in and try to rebuild pressure as soon as you open a valve body bleeder, so no pedal is required.

[GEESERTEG]

Everything should be the same as usual unless you did something else to the brake system. Just be care full not to back flush while compressing the pistons for new pads.

[vicchang]

I am intrested to know the procedure also. I am not sure what you guys mean "no difference". In my opinion, there should have differences in the procedure. The most apparent thing is the ABS has it's own reservoir and brake lines connected to the caliper, how do you bleed that? With normal bleeding procedure, you only get the brake oil bleeded from the main cylinder.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by vicchang

I am intrested to know the procedure also. I am not sure what you guys mean "no difference". In my opinion, there should have differences in the procedure. The most apparent thing is the ABS has it's own reservoir and brake lines connected to the caliper, how do you bleed that? With normal bleeding procedure, you only get the brake oil bleeded from the main cylinder.

That's not a resevoir. It's an accumulator. It stores brake fluid under high pressure for the ABS valving system when activated. That's how it delivers small, precise, strong pumps to the wheels independant of your pedal pressure.

It seems that what you guys want to know is how do you FLUSH it, and get it fulla new fluid, yes? Because yes, If you do a regular bleed or flush, you are just dealing with the fluid in the service brake part of the system.

I don't wanna put ideas in your head, because I only have knowlege of GM specific procedure, so look it up in a manual for Honda if you don't want to experiment.

On GM's, with the key on, the accumulator will try to charge the ABS system if the valve body bleeders are opened. It will continue to try to hold the pressure, and the pump will keep charging the accumulator and valve assembly as long as the bleeder is open, so master cylinder fluid level has to be maintained (it drops as the accumulator is charging). So within a minute of so, all the old fluid has left that part of the system, replaced by new fluid from the resevoir.

Close the bleeders while it's still charging (pump running), no air will be in the system because there has been a steady flow of pressure out. I'd flush the service side of the system first, do there's no cross-contamination with old fluid from there going into the ABS system.

I'd use DOT 4, it comes as Valvoline SynPower, it's compatible with all other fluids and is NOT silicone based like DOT 5. DOT 5 requires the whole system be flushed completely with alcohol before installing, because it does not play nice with other fluid types or moisture...

I'll see if I can find some Honda specific info about ABS flushing, if you want.

[jeffcoslacker]

Here is the procedure for Integra, it sounds pretty much like what I was saying...I'll keep looking..

1.) Remove the bleeder cap from the maintenance bleeder on the modulator unit.

2.) Attach the wrench to the maintenance bleeder.

3.) Connect a rubber tube of the appropriate diameter to the maintenance bleeder, and set the other end of the rubber tube in a suitable container.

4.) While holding the rubber tube with your hand, slowly loosen the maintenance bleeder 1/8 to 1/4 to collect the brake fluid in the container.

CAUTION: Do not loosen the maintenance bleeder too much. The high-pressure brake fluid can burst out.

5.) Tighten the maintenance bleeder.

6.) Start the engine and let it idle for a minute. Stop the engine.

7.) Check the brake fluid level in the reservoir. It should be below the MAX (upper) level line.

8.) Repeat the steps 4 through 7 to drain the rest of the brake fluid from the modulator unit.

9.) Remove the cap, and refill the reservoir to the MAX (upper) level with fresh brake fluid.

10.) Repeat steps 4 through 8 twice, and refill the reservoir to the MAX (upper) level with fresh brake fluid.

11.) Tighten the maintenance bleeder to the specified torque (8 lbf-ft).

12.) After replacement, start the engine and make sure that the ABS indicator light goes off.

Note: this ABS bleeding procedure only applies to '94-'97 Integras. The ABS system on '98-'01 Integras is different (ie. it does not have a seperate brake fluid reservior for the ABS system) and does not require a seperate bleeding procedure for the ABS system.