Bleeding brakes in 2000 CRV with ABS

2000 Honda CRV EX with MT, ABS.

The owners manual says nothing. The service manual says brakes are bled as in regular car EXCEPT that the two front brakes are bled first not the diagonally opposed brakes which is the way I usually do them. The SM says (page 19-37) "Brake fluid replacement and air bleeding procedures are the same as for vehicles without ABS." Does this correspond with real world experience that the readers of this newsgroup have? Anything to add or cautions.

Reply to
delbert brecht
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delbert brecht wrote in news:C447966D.99A9% snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

No real-world experience with that system here, but I've done some study of the diagrams in the RSX Service Manual. The RSX has the same ABS system as your CR-V, including the wheel bleed sequence.

The newer Honda ABS system is different from Honda's original system in that it does not have its own fluid supply. The system is instead described as being of the "recirculating" type. This means the same fluid moves between both ABS and non-ABS sides of the system, with a pump performing the recirculation... only when the ABS is activated. When the ABS is not activated, the fluid on the ABS side is static and unchanging.

The RSX manual says that air bleeding the ABS side requires use of the Honda PGM Tester to activate the ABS so as to force fluid circulation through the ABS side back to the master cylinder. It says this at the bottom of the page which describes the ABS Control Unit (19-41).

Most people don't have a Honda PGM Tester, of course.

I have found a handy non-PGM Tester way to force activation of the ABS: Drive about 25mph on an /empty/ road with gravel shoulders. Run the right side of the car onto the shoulder, then apply the brakes until you hear the ABS activate. Let the ABS growl for a few seconds. When it safe the do so, cross the road and use the shoulder on the other side for the left wheels. You'd need to bleed once, do the ABS activation, then bleed again.

Reply to
Tegger

You can buy a crippled PGM tester to do this. It has to be available to the public in order to do maintenance on your car.

Reply to
nick

snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com/11/08 11: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com

Can you give some more detail on this. Like where we can get these crippled PGM testers and how much??

I did some more research in the service manual and in the section specifically devoted to bleeding brakes (section 19-7) they make no mention of using anything beyond normal bleeding techniques except doing the two front brakes first before the rear.

By studying the hydraulic flow charts one sees that on each wheel circuit one of the two solenoids is normally open and the other is normally closed. Perhaps this allows fluid to flow through the modulator enough to replace most if not all of the fluid. I am going to guess that the only time the PGM tester is needed is if you replace the modulator/motor assembly. Even if you left some of the old fluid inside the modulator, over time it would get mixed with the new fluid and moisture and contaminants would be greatly diluted.

Reply to
delbert brecht

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