ABS bleeding, code reading

[BabyFace Fitz]

2001 OBW H6 replaced one brake caliper and might have got air in ABS. Brakes are spongy after trying to bleed.  Radio light dims when I put on the brake.  Yesterday the radio light would dim right away but today after more bleeding attempts it dims five seconds after holding pressure on the pedal.

I put on some new rotors/pad all around and found I had a driver side front caliper bad.  I pulled the caliper off and went to the store and took about an hr to get the new one on. I was concerned about getting air in the line so I put on some blue tape on the line.  It was not sealed up well.   Once the brake job was done I did the normal bleeding sequence but then read about the subaru order, pass front, driver rear...that order was done too.  I still have spongy brakes.  I tried some hard breaking to get the ABS to cycle but I don't think 40mph on drive pavement did it. I plan to find a muddy road to see if the ABS pulsing kicks in and maybe cycles out the suspected air.   My mechanic buddy from the suby stealership suggested we crack the supply lines on the ABS.  We did that on all six lines with a pumping bleeding procedure.  I saw you can connect #3 and #6 on the ABS connector but the connector under my dash does not have the same number of pins.  My connector, is white with only four pins.  It's bundled with the two bare lead wires.  I tried connecting a various combination to get the ABS to cycle.

 I have another issue with my ABS.  The ABS and VDC light in on the dash for the last year.  Months ago I connected the right leads on the connector to get the ABS code.  But I have not figured out how to read the code.  Below is my attempt to describe the code message.   But when working on the brakes I noticed the rear pass side would have a spark sound when the brakes were pushed.  I wonder if this is a bad speed sensor. Sorry for the long mystery bleeding game.

 Here's the flash pattern.

 I am unsure if a count every flash.    The pattern repeats, and is made of long flashes (I) and short ones (i) and spaces..   Here's my break down. Long one, short one, space, , 7 long, 1short, space,  7long, 4 short, space,  four long, 9 short then quickly repeat.  If I count all of them I get 34,  Front left outlet valve? 

[idosubaru]

At least he didn’t recommend changing the master cylinder which is what most people pointlessly do.  But goodness - works at a Subaru dealer and doesn’t know how to bleed Subaru brakes or diagnose this in person?  Dont crack the ABS lines unless wasting time sounds fun.  

1. There is no special process needed for bleeding those breaks.  Follow the order but there’s no additional work needed with the ABS pump, lines or fuse. The “cycling of the ABS” is entirely unnecessary on that vehicle. Maybe it cuts down the bleeding time by 15%, if it all.  but it’s not needed unless you’re designing a vehicle assembly line and need to save 7 seconds and 8 ounces of fluid per unit.

2. If you lost significant fluid there’s a ton of air in the line and they take forever to bleed.  I’ve needed 64 ounces to bleed a thoroughly drained system.  It simply probably wasn’t enough. Bleed until it seems like way too much and do it two more times.

3.  Fix the bleeding issue first, get the car back to working properly before chasing all of those electrical gremlins. 

4. Maybe there’s an off chance it won’t bleed properly if something else is amiss mechanically. But that seems unlikely if the car was working and driving fine before the brake job which seems to be the implied story line from what you wrote.

First flashes are 10s digits and second set of flashes is ones digits.  

7 long then 1 short is 71.
7 long 4 short is 74.  

A. Look up each code and post them here.

B.  ideally, clear the code and see which one comes back first.  One may be contributing to the others. 

C. check the ABS wiring by the pump for rodent damage or wire abrasion in case the car has ever been in an accident/incident. 

[BabyFace Fitz]

Yeah, I'll plan to do more bleeding. I gone thru about 20 oz of fluid so far so I might need to do it some more. I thinking of using a bug sprayer pump or get the motive one on amazon.  My ABS code looks like 71, 74 and 49.  Those numbers are not listed on the ABS codes I have found.  thanks

[idosubaru]

4 hours ago, BabyFace Fitz said:

Yeah, I'll plan to do more bleeding. I gone thru about 20 oz of fluid so far so I might need to do it some more. I thinking of using a bug sprayer pump or get the motive one on amazon.  My ABS code looks like 71, 74 and 49.  Those numbers are not listed on the ABS codes I have found.  thanks

Hmmm. Double check the code reading and interpreting.  didn’t you say you had a single flash at the beginning too?

Maybe I said it backwards and these could be a 17, instead of a 71...that doesn’t track exactly,  it something like that.   would indicate 10,11, or teen number .

Is this a VDC, maybe those are VDC codes?

[BabyFace Fitz]

Yes, it is a VDC.

 

[idosubaru]

2 hours ago, BabyFace Fitz said:

Yes, it is a VDC.

 

i'm guessing you're seeing VDC codes. double check what codes you're getting and ready, or maybe they cross over?  I've read ABS and VDC codes before but it's been awhile and i'm not recalling the differences or if there's overlap. 

[BabyFace Fitz]

I've ordered the Motive brake bleeder kit.   Got to get these brakes less spongy.

 

[BabyFace Fitz]

Once I had the Motive brake bleeder, I put 32 oz of brake fluid thru the lines.  Following the suby order, pass front, driver rear...etc.  It still felt spongy.  So I got the larger 1 gallon container from NAPA.  I started at the pass front but then open all four lines.  While pumping 10-15 psi with the Motive I pumped the brake pedals.  After it was done brakes are not spongy.   During the power run I released the pressure by taking the Motive top off to add more fluid.  There was 1.5 ft drip tubes on each bleeder valve and they showed some bubbles from "sucking" in when I popped the top, but I still had a 1/3 of a gallon to finish.  I would recommend closing the bleeder valves before releasing the pressure.

thanks for the help with the bleeding.  I'm going try the plug/unplug three times on the OBII reader to try to clear out my VDC/ABS code.