bleeding brakes

[peter simms]

how do i bleed my mk4 gttdi with abs

[FLENG2008]

im not an expert but same as any other vehicle?

[Crasher]

It is the same as any other vehicle with two provisos. If you use a pressure bleed system and the car has the Mk60 Teves ABS system, as opposed to the Mk20, then the delivery pressure to the master cylinder reservoir must not exceed 1 bar. Secondly, if air is allowed to enter the master cylinder during the bleed process, a basic bleed will be required which is a 17 step process where a pressure bleed unit is almost mandatory, one person is really required on each front wheel (although one person can do the job by jumping from side to side) and one person inside the car operating the lap top and following the on screen instructions, shouting out to the people on the front brakes to open/close the bleed nipples. This is all after firstly bleeding the master cylinder at the nipples buried away behind the engine which are nearly impossible to get a bled tube onto. As the ABS pump is run twice (in two different manners) during each step of the process, the battery often goes flat so it makes sense to attach a battery charger during the work as if the process is aborted at even the last steep, you have to start all over again and a fault code will then be stored in the ECU which turns on the ABS light and the code cannot be manually deleted, it will only delete on completion of all steps. The Mk60 system is even more of a pain to do than the earlier Mk20 system, sometimes even this process will not bring the pedal back to life and you have to force bleed the system in output tests. When the process is started, the screen will tell you to press the pedal down and hold it there and about three seconds later the pump will run and force the pedal back at you with incredible force and then the screen tells you to release the pedal and open both bleed nipples. Then when you click “GO” the pump is run for 10 seconds to flush fluid through and then you have to slowly press the pedal ten times, and then close the nipples. The whole process consumes a huge amount of fluid, often three litres of it. One car we had in a few months back (it had the Mk60 system) had been to both our local main agent VW dealers and two other specialists during which it had been fitted with four new master cylinders and all failed to get a working pedal. We hammered away at it for a whole day and fitted another genuine master cylinder, all to no avail. Eventually I got really annoyed with it and ran the pump in Output Tests and pumped fluid through all four corners with the pump running and suddenly we had a pedal. We consumed almost the entire contents of a 25 litre drum of genuine VAG brake fluid on that one. Yes, you are right, it is bonkers!

[helen]

do the bleeding of all the 4 wheels then there are 2 niples on the brakes master cylinder which u also have 2 bleed...make sure there isnt any damaged pipe

[chrisvrscrx]

It is the same as any other vehicle with two provisos. If you use a pressure bleed system and the car has the Mk60 Teves ABS system, as opposed to the Mk20, then the delivery pressure to the master cylinder reservoir must not exceed 1 bar. Secondly, if air is allowed to enter the master cylinder during the bleed process, a basic bleed will be required which is a 17 step process where a pressure bleed unit is almost mandatory, one person is really required on each front wheel (although one person can do the job by jumping from side to side) and one person inside the car operating the lap top and following the on screen instructions, shouting out to the people on the front brakes to open/close the bleed nipples. This is all after firstly bleeding the master cylinder at the nipples buried away behind the engine which are nearly impossible to get a bled tube onto. As the ABS pump is run twice (in two different manners) during each step of the process, the battery often goes flat so it makes sense to attach a battery charger during the work as if the process is aborted at even the last steep, you have to start all over again and a fault code will then be stored in the ECU which turns on the ABS light and the code cannot be manually deleted, it will only delete on completion of all steps. The Mk60 system is even more of a pain to do than the earlier Mk20 system, sometimes even this process will not bring the pedal back to life and you have to force bleed the system in output tests. When the process is started, the screen will tell you to press the pedal down and hold it there and about three seconds later the pump will run and force the pedal back at you with incredible force and then the screen tells you to release the pedal and open both bleed nipples. Then when you click “GO” the pump is run for 10 seconds to flush fluid through and then you have to slowly press the pedal ten times, and then close the nipples. The whole process consumes a huge amount of fluid, often three litres of it. One car we had in a few months back (it had the Mk60 system) had been to both our local main agent VW dealers and two other specialists during which it had been fitted with four new master cylinders and all failed to get a working pedal. We hammered away at it for a whole day and fitted another genuine master cylinder, all to no avail. Eventually I got really annoyed with it and ran the pump in Output Tests and pumped fluid through all four corners with the pump running and suddenly we had a pedal. We consumed almost the entire contents of a 25 litre drum of genuine VAG brake fluid on that one. Yes, you are right, it is bonkers!

Is this the same for a Passat?? I'm planning on bleeding mine soon. What would you charge to bleed the brakes on a Passat 2004??

[Crasher]

No, thankfully the Passat 3B is very straightforward.

[vwbora-driver]

is a 1999 1.8 gti golf the same process as you have said? as we have tryed bleeding them twice and there is no difference in them the pedal still goes to the floor. also when we linked it to a computer it said that we needed a speed sensor for the driver side but we changed that and knocked the light off but it came straight back on once you drive. would this have anything to do with the brakes being like this?

[chrisvrscrx]

No, thankfully the Passat 3B is very straightforward.

Few thank god for that

[Stevef.]

Excellent write up on the brakes Crasher, I did mine manually and it took 2 attempts and 2 litres of fluid to get a 1/2 decent pedal feel, i still think it could be better. It seemed to improve slightly over time I dont know if some of the air has bled itself out.

[Crasher]

is a 1999 1.8 gti golf the same process as you have said?

Yes, you have to do a basic bleed and that will be the Teves Mk20 system.