KillerTA

My car is a 97 TA with 40K miles.

I have a Haynes manual and it says not to bleed the brakes if the ABS Inop light is on--but doesn't give a reason as to why not. Well mine has been on since I did my header install and I have no clue why. Is there a reason why I shouldn't bleed the brakes with the light on?

Also, can I do this without an assistant? If I have a long enough hose, air shouldn't suck back into the brake system when I let off the brake because the hose will be filled with fluid, right?

My brakes are pretty spongey but I've never touched the brake system and the car has 40,000 miles. The fluid level is fine Do the brakes just need to be bled periodically.

Injuneer

The Chilton's manual indicates that before you can correctly bleed the brakes when an ABS code is present, you have to clear the code and "home" the ABS motors with a Tech-2.

KillerTA

Thanks for the info.

The abs inop light won't be getting fixed anytime soon, so I guess I shouldn't bleed them then or should I? They're spongey.

I'm thinking that it's a precautionary measure though. The manual I have also says I shouldn't drive the car and have it towed to a shop which is obviously totaly unnecessary.

2QUIK6

Since you said the ABS inop light came on after the header install, I bet the passenger side front ABS sensor wire got up against the header, it runs very close to the header there....if it is, the only way to get to it is to drop the header as its a very tight fit...while the header is off, wrap that primary tube closest to the wire/wires with heat wrap...there's several other wires that run down beside the ABS wire, I believe they are the knock sensor and O2 sensor wires and ignition maybe.

KillerTA

I did take that into account when I was doing my headers and zip tied it so it wouldn't touch the header although it's still very close to the header, maybe 1" or less away.

Also, the light went on right after startup, so I don't think there would've been enough time to burn the wire. I'll have to check for sure one of these days though.

I will NEVER drop that damn header again unless absolutely necessary I've had enough of headers for my lifetime.

Thanks for the info.

2QUIK6

I hear you on that, I lost count how many times I had to remove my driver side due to it rubbing on the steering knuckle once it got hot.
Maybe you pulled a wire loose on the connector for the ABS wire, the connector is right beside the header where you would have been tieing it up at.