99 winny ABS bleed

Can The Abs Module Be Bled Without Going To The Dealer?
My Brakes Are Spongy, And The Fluid Looks Like Mud At First Glance,
I May Be Overreacting, But I Wanna Do A Total Bleed On The System I Understand The Fluid Can Get Pretty Nasty In The Module.

I would try doing a normal bleeding of the brakes at each wheel.
I would do it in such a way as to totally replace all the fluid in the system.
Start with the rear passenger side, then rear driver side, then front passenger side, and finally front driver side.
This is going from the farthest from the master cylinder to the closest, which is what I have read that they recommend you do.

You can also use a "turkey" baster to remove most of the fluid from the master cylinder, and put in new fluid, before starting.

You will also want to be sure to avoid bleeding the master cylinder dry, as that would get air into the system, which would be a pain to bleed out.

It was expensive, but I used Motorcraft brand of fluid, as it has a 550 degree dry boil point. I used a LOT of fluid.

When you do this job, I would advise you to take a look at the switch that has wires going to it on the bottom of the master cylinder. If it is moist with fluid (even slightly), I would get a replacement from the FORD dealer. This is the brake pressure switch. This switch is a high failure item, and the symptom of failure is that the cruise control does not work. It is a cheap and easy fix, and worth doing while you are messing around in there.

The only way to work the ABS is with a computer hookup, which they can do at the dealership. It should not be needed however, as you will be getting almost all the old fluid out with the bleeding.

I have pictures of the front disk and rear drum brakes in my pictures, as well as the brake pressure switch.
http://community.webshots.com/album/201931518cScpNK

I plan on flushing the whole system and have a question about the sequence.

The Haynes manual for my '99 LX indicates that bleading the brakes with an ABS system the sequence should be Driver Front - Pass Front - Driver Rear - Pass Rear.

Other strings on this site say to start in the Passenger Rear - Driver Rear - Pass Front - Driver Front.

Is the sequence important?

Heres the info from Alldata:

Windstar with Antilock Brakes

NOTE: Add Ford High Performance DOT 3 Motor Vehicle Brake Fluid C6AZ-19542-AA or equivalent DOT 3 fluid meeting Ford specification ESA-M6C25-A as necessary throughout this procedure.


Connect a clear waste line to the LH front bleeder screw.
Open the LH front bleeder screw.
With the bleeder screw open, cycle the brake pedal 25-30 times or until no more air is seen in the waste line.
NOTE: One cycle of the brake pedal is from the full upright position of the pedal, to full extension of the brake pedal, to the full upright position.

Close the LH front bleeder screw.
Disconnect the waste line from the LH front bleeder screw.
Repeat Steps 2 through 6 for the front right brake, rear left and rear right brakes.

Any idea as to the capacity of the system?

Would buying a 32 oz. container be enough to flush out all the existing fluid?

Steve

Heres the info from Alldata:

Windstar with Antilock Brakes


Connect a clear waste line to the LH front bleeder screw.
Open the LH front bleeder screw.
With the bleeder screw open, cycle the brake pedal 25-30 times or until no more air is seen in the waste line.
NOTE: One cycle of the brake pedal is from the full upright position of the pedal, to full extension of the brake pedal, to the full upright position.

.

Am I reading this correctly? The pedal is cycled (ie pumped) and the bleed screw is left open?

Yeah, I noticed the same thing. I suspect a typo...

On my '96 and on a friend's Taurus I have used a hand vacuum pump. The supplied hose fit nicely over the bleed port. I slipped a box end wrench onto the bleed screw, then the hose onto the nipple, pumped up a vacuum then opened the bleed screw and maintained a vacuum until the vacuum pump contaner was full (3-5 ounces I think). Then I closed the bleed screw, drained the container and repeated the process until clean fluid was pulled through. Of course we topped the reservoir between each "pull". I found it a very effective way to do the job. In both cases, after we had clean fluid at all bleed points, we re-bled briefly at each wheel using the "standard" 2 person method of brake on, bleed open, bleed closed, brake off....

I have since had to change the wheel cylinders and found the vacuum pump very helpful to fill and bleed those also. I would encourage a full system bleed as at around 85000 miles I pulled some really ugly stuff out of my brake lines. The worst was at the rear wheels where the first fluid out was very dark brown, corrosion I guess.

The info I posted was taken verbatim from Alldata, which is copied exactly from the Ford service manuals. I merely did a cut and paste of the info...

It's possible that the "clear waste line" mentioned has a one-way valve incorporated into it that would prevent air from being sucked back into the line.