Brake bleeding.

whizznbyu

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Location
Waxhaw, NC
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen 6 speed manual. B5 died at 302k miles.
I have a Motive Product bleeder and was told I will need the VCDS to bleed the brakes and open up the ABS module to get the old brake fluid out.
UNLESS I am able to achieve 2 bar of pressure (pressure will apparently "open" the ABS module). How complicated is this process?
 

mishkaya

TDIClub Contributor
Joined
Mar 4, 2005
Location
Iowa
TDI
'06 Jetta 5MT, '10 JSW MT, '14 JSW 6MT
From my experience, you don't need to pulse the ABS unless for some reason the system went empty due to a leak. As I recall, the process to bleed the ABS system was rather involved using VCDS, but last time I had to do it was about six years ago...
 

adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
The erWin procedure does not mention anything about the ABS module, though in earlier models I've seen that it's common practice to use VCDS to do this so the entire system is bled. The erWin process says to apply 2bar of pressure (was 1bar in the earlier models) to the reservoir and bleed FL, FR, RL, RR
 

whizznbyu

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Location
Waxhaw, NC
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen 6 speed manual. B5 died at 302k miles.
Just looked into a link regarding bleeding the clutch. Take the air intake out. Yikes.
 

bigb

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Location
Arizona
TDI
2015 Sportwagon S
Would gravity bleeding work on these? I successfully gravity bled my Ford with ABS, it got all the air out. I actually bled it normally after changing the rubber lines and drove it, there was a bit of air so I gravity bled and got it all out, it's possible that when I drove it I pushed the air into the calipers though.
 

nathanso

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Location
Redwood City, CA
TDI
2015 GSW TDI S 6M (sold)
Just a warning.. I attempted to bleed my brakes+clutch today using my Motive Product bleeder tool and VW brand DOT 4 brake fluid. Half way through bleeding the first caliper -- and using just 22psi (my mistake) -- the silicone tubing on my bleeder tool burst (the section within the engine bay, of course) dousing the engine compartment with brake fluid. Not fun.
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
Gravity beeding works fine, its a bit slower but avoids introducing air bubbles into system. You also avoid possibility of fluid damage to paintwork.
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
I wouldn't worry about it. When I do it on the Mk7 I just use about 10 PSI on the pressure bleeder and let some fluid out of each caliper until I've let out about a litre of fluid in total. (Or more... Just do it until the fluid coming out looks like the new fluid)

The service schedule calls for the first fluid flush after three years, and then every two years after that. My theory about why they did that is because on a new car, all the fluid is new. On subsequent fluid changes, you might not flush all the fluid, hence the need to do it every two years, instead of three.
 

nathanso

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
Location
Redwood City, CA
TDI
2015 GSW TDI S 6M (sold)
Finished the brake and clutch bleeding today after repairing my Motive power bleeder with reinforced plastic tubing. Did the job at 18-22psi. The purged brake fluid looked clean (car was a CPO sale in April 2019) but, as others here have noted, the purged clutch fluid was somewhat cloudy.
 
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