Brake Bleeding Methodology

Vehicle - 1994 Civic

Is there a specific order one should follow to correctly bleed brakes?

Is the following order correct for a '94 Civic:

1) Rear Drivers Side
2) Front Drivers Side
3) Rear Passenger Side
4) Front Passenger Side

Or should you bleed the rear brakes first and then the front brakes?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

The system is dual-diagonal, so your sequence is correct. If you have ABS,
you'll have to bleed the power unit separately.

 

Normally you start witht he wheel furthest from the master cylinder and work
in from there. So it would be:

1) Rear Passenger Side
2) Rear Drivers Side
3) Front Passenger Side
4) Front Drivers Side

 

RR R
FR L
RR L
FR R
is the correct order for 5 gen Civic

 

As per shop service manual...

 

????????

Do you mean,

Rear Drivers Side
Front Passenger Side
Rear Passenger Side
Front Drivers Side

Is this what you are saying or is it something else?

 

OK, your sequence is NOT correct, despite my reply earlier. I did not look
carefully enough at your sequence. Dimmi's is correct.

His acronyms mean:
ReaR Right
FRont Left
ReaR Left
FRont Right.

This is the correct procedure for dual-diagonal.

Dual front/rear split (as on most Toyotas) would involve:
RR R
RR L
FR R
FR L

 

RR to me always meant ReaR
FR - FRont (sometimes they screw it and FR means front right, but nevermind
them)
R - RIGHT
L- LEFT

I encoded the sequence in this manner so that it doesn't matter whether your
car has steering wheel on the right or left side.
It is pretty dangerous to refer "driver's" or "passenger's" 'cause you never
know what country the other poster is from, how freaky his vehicle is, etc.
....and of course I assumed you are from Australia, therefore I did not use
your terminology, instead I used something more common to eliminate
intercontinental misunderstanding (RR, FR, R, L). Did not work though...

Thanks to Tegger for decoding! Good job ;-)))

 

Thanks dimmi,

So regardless if your Civic 1994 (non ABS) is a left hand drive or right
hand drive, the correct order to bleed your brakes is:

1) Rear Right
2) Front Left
3) Rear Left
4) Front Right

 

this is supper-dupper correct and you are welcome ;-)))

 

If the steering wheel is reversed, i.e., RHD instead of LDH, wouldn't
the bleeding procedure be reversed also?

 

No, it will stay the same, given that all brake system (routing of the brake
lines)is the same. Which I am almost 99% sure - it wouldn't make sense for
Honda to make 2 or 3 or more sets of the brake lines depending on what
country this model is going to be sold at.
Correct me if I am wrong.
Where is the brake booster on RHD Hondas? If look at the front of the
vehicle, is it on your right, same side where the timing belt is?

 

Looking from the front of a RHD Honda Civic, the brake booster is located on
the left hand side. The timing belt is located on the right hand side of
the motor.

 

I was thinking that this would be different, making the bleeding
procedure different (probably reversed).

If a manufacturer moves the steering wheel to the opposite side, I think
a lot of things would change. Parts vary by country to meet emission &
noise regs. OTOH, I can certainly understand wanting to minimize the no.
of parts that have to be inventoried.

 

What I always found funny was how even though the driving position can be
on either side of the car, the pedals are always exactly the same
regardless of where the driver sits.

Therefore, in a LHD car, the gas is up against the transmission tunnel. In
a RHD car, it's up against the driver's door, still operated by the right
foot. Freaky, huh?

 

After melbourne wrote that his Booster is on the left hand side I tought
Whoa, that might mess everything up.
I went to online Honda UK service manuals at
http://www.honda.co.uk/owner/workshopmanuals2.html

British models have absolutely the same bleeding sequence to my greatest
surprise!!!
RR R
FR L
RR L
FR R

It is still unknown how brake lines (eg their length) is different between
RHD and LHD Hondas.

Dimmi

 

Chances are the lines are identical after the proportioning valve, which is
likely in the same place for both versions.

 

The brake booster is always directly behind the brake pedal.

The bleeding order has more to do with which circuit is connected to the
front of the master cylinder and which is connected to the rear or it. So
it really would not be a big deal to swap the circuits. The two connections
are only about 3 inches apart at the master cylinder. In any event you
would still be bleeding a rear followed by the opposite front, then the
other rear followed by the opposite front.

 

Hmm, yes. I guess they assume (or determined) that drivers can more
easily learn to shift with their opposite hands (thinking manual trans
here) than step on the gas with their opposite foot. Be interesting to
hear from some automotive engineers on this.

 

well, maybe it is just a matter of changing lines that go to the pressure
valve.