I just replaced my front calipers. i now am ready to bleed my brakes. do i still have to bleed the rear? i was told to bleed just the front. was i told right? also should i bleed the brakes with the key on or not?

 

Any time you open the system you need to bleed ALL 4 brakes. Start with the front then the rear then the front again.

 

You need to start at the wheel furthest from the brake master cylinder and work you way to it. Bleed the front first and then once to get the majority of the air out and then start at the Passenger rear, then do the driver rear, then the passenger front, then the driver front. If you just bleed the front then you may push an air bubble into the rear lines and cause a headache. Shouldn't matter whether or not the key is on or off.

 

You can also "gravity feed bleed" by opening all of them and let them bleed themselves, but keep your eye on the reservoir so that it doesn't run dry ( this is good to do if your by yourself)...Tj

 

so i need to go RR, RL, FR, FL? and i have to have someone pump brakes like 3 times and hold it while i open the bleeder and close it then have them let off and repeat? how many times should i do that?

 

You only need to bleed the front, starting at the right front wheel. Do not push the pedal to the floor completely while bleeding, it could damage the master cylinder, and you don't need the key "on", just turned enough to turn the wheels right and left.

 

so now im confused. all four wheels or just the front? how do i gravity feed? i am by myself

 

Just the front. To gravity bleed, top off the master cylinder with fresh fluid and crack open the bleeder on the right front caliper and let it drip out. Watch the air bubbles work their way out and look for clean fluid to appear. Do not let the master cylinder go dry though. Then do the same for the left side. Leaving the cap off the master helps, but don't forget to put it back on when you're done.

 

do i have to use a piece of rubber hose? why did everyone else say to do the rear as well?

 

You don't need any hose, just don't push the pedal and let it up with the bleeder open. The hydraulic braking system is a two part system, the front hydraulic system, and the rear hydraulic system. If you did not open any part of the rear, you don't need to worry about it. If the master happened to go dry in the rear, then you would have to bleed both front and rear.

 

You should bleed them all starting with the longest brake line from the master cylinder first, then the second longest etc. And no you do not need the ignition turned on!

 

I went to the Bendix site and they say that with anti-lock brakes the engine does need to be on, I thought that was interesting because I've never thought about having the engine on while I was bleeding the brakes.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/abs_bendix9.htm

follow the page all the way down for the fluid instructions.

 

Start at the farthest from the master cylinder. Right rear. Open the bleeder until you get fluid coming out, do not take out. Watch the master cylinder and the fluid coming out. Once you see clear fluid ( have a flashlight ) close, refill master and repeat on the left rear.
Once you get to the front start on the right front doing steps mentioned before until you have finished all four lines. Refill once more and a quick once over and make sure you tighten the bleeders hand tight with pressure from one finger on the ratchet or end wrench you are using.
You need to do all four or you can get a bubble trapped and lose brakes to one or all wheels ( really bad). Before you take off with jeep pump brake peddle with engine off. Repeat with engine on and you should have just done a complete bleeding of your brakes by yourself. Personally I check mine every so often so that i can make sure i don't have stray bubbles in the lines. As for the ABS system you don't need to worry about it really. This is what i got taught in my vocational college. Good luck and it should take around 2 hours to do by yourself.

 

I would do all 4 wheels, it sounds as though you have never done a flush. Is the fluid dark?

 

yea the fluid was dark when i was bleeding it. only one that wasnt dark was the drivers front. thinking about somehow flushing it all out