97 accord ex

So after my big project and my back brake line busted I had my mechanic change the two lines going to the back since they both were pretty bad. He ran it all the way to the ABS unit. He bled the brakes three times and then I checked the car and the pedal went almost completely to the ground. He said it could be the master cylinder. I checked everything and decided to change it since the broken line couldve busted the cylinder. Now I bled the cylinder when I installed it and then gravity bled the brakes. But the brakes still arent working.
What was weird was that the back brakes dripped fluid but they didnt gravity bleed like the front ones.

Im wondering if theres something I missed. Despite prepping the MC there may have still been some air from the primary and secondary lines to the ABS unit. These wouldve bled out with the brake bleeding though right?

Booster works according to the test. I can build up a little more pressure when pumping with the car off. No pressure build up with the car on. It feels like theres air in the system but maybe the MC I bought is bad. It was remanufactured. The brake has always been a little squishy anyways but I think thats due to air in the system. This time its just bad.

Is there a special procedure with ABS or does the system need to be force bled? And yes they were bled in the correct order.

 

for as much as you work on this car you REALLY should invest in a manual...and yes, you need to bleed it a specific way with the ABS system. gotta run, don't have time to explain it right now.

 

I have haynes manual and an fsm. The fsm did not specify a special method. I bled it how it said

 

The long rear lines require some active bleeding (vacuum or pumping) or lots of patience since dribble rate is very low. You likely still have air in the lines.

I found the vacuum brake bleeder (Harbor Freight) to be a nice investment. It allows solo bleeding. You get a little air into the bleed fluid, but none back into system as long as you close the bleeder as soon as you stop pumping.

In my experience (not trivial) w/ ABS, they don't require any special bleeding. They will bleed themselves if working correctly.

good luck

 

Ok. Patience. Thanks, I think you may have saved me some money. I was just gonna have my mechanic do a power/force bleed. I think ill try this. I thought I was doing something wrong but I guess im just used to circumstances where any air would be right at the caliper.

What I was thinking was that there may have been an issue near the abs since the primary and secondary lines go to the abs and those may have gotten air in them from the cylinder replacement. But that would all work its way into the individual brake lines anyways right?

 

I decided to take it to the mechanic. They didnt charge but he had to power bleed it. I checked everything with him. It kinda worked. The brake was better but its still low. Im wondering what else it could be. Unless the master cylinder I replaced it with was still bad.

 

the ABS unit has a bleeder valve on it as well, the ABS unit has to be bleed as well...at least that's what Honda says...

 

It was bled just for kicks, however, the abs is bypassed unless it is activated by hard braking. Meaning that a normal bleeding after a fuel line/brake job or whatever should not introduce air into the ABS.