can i get some help from someone who KNOWS what there talking about?

[vrytired]

92 explorer XLT 4x4.

whats the deal with brake bleeding and the RABS valve. after much searching it seems that half the first gen owners insist that theres a bleeder valve on the RABS module and it must be bled for it to work properly. the other half insist there is no bleeder and that the module should just be ignored. can someone tell me for sure what the deal is and maybe even include a picture of this suposed bleeder valve.

Examples of what people are saying

410fortune says : "Now if you want to see if you can get your RABS to work properly you must follow the correct proceedure for bleeding. You bleed the RABS valve FIRST, then move on to the rear drums."


Creager says :"1) Bleed RABS valve. its on the driverside frame rail, only takes a box wrench. Bleed it like you would the wheel cylinders"


jgilbs says: "i am convinced that you CANNOT bleed RABS. There is no mention of it in haynes OR chiltons, so i believe its a nonissue"

mrboyle says: "You should be able to bleed he valve by bleeding the rear wheel cylinders. If you are having trouble getting the rears to bleed, start at the line going into the RABS valve, bleed it, go to the line exiting the valve, bleed it, then try bleeding the rear wheel cylinders "

 

[410Fortune]

Your truck is a 92.
Does it have RABS or 4wabs?

RABS = is a bleeder valve
4wabs = no bleeder valve.

Your 92 should have RABS.

Get under truck, locate brake line that drops down to rear axle (black rubber with rings around it) Follow this line, it will lead directly into your RABS valve.

See a bleeder valve?

If yes, bleed it first.

Now you must understand it is very hard to diagnose or tell somebody what to do online without looking at a truck. Also you must understand Ford did some crazy crazy stuff, meaning half way through the 92 model year they might have started installing 4wabs, I have seen weirder stuff.

Also since your truck is a 92 and is 13 years old it is possible a previous owner replaced the RABS valve, maybe the updated version has no bleeder? I dunno.
Only by getting under the truck and looking will we know for sure.

good luck and quit being so bitter hahaha people are only trying to help

 

[vrytired]

.

Your truck is a 92.
Does it have RABS or 4wabs?

RABS = is a bleeder valve
4wabs = no bleeder valve.

Your 92 should have RABS.

Get under truck, locate brake line that drops down to rear axle (black rubber with rings around it) Follow this line, it will lead directly into your RABS valve.yes going to go take a picture right now

See a bleeder valve?i see something that could be a bleeder valve but its completly round, no place for a wrench. however it did have a rubber boot on it which says to me it must be important

If yes, bleed it first.i'm trying. i'm trying really hard

Now you must understand it is very hard to diagnose or tell somebody what to do online without looking at a truck. Also you must understand Ford did some crazy crazy stuff, meaning half way through the 92 model year they might have started installing 4wabs, I have seen weirder stuff.

Also since your truck is a 92 and is 13 years old it is possible a previous owner replaced the RABS valve, maybe the updated version has no bleeder? I dunno.
Only by getting under the truck and looking will we know for sure.

good luck and quit being so bitter hahaha people are only trying to help

 

[410Fortune]

take the rubbre boot off silly, its a protective cap for the bellder I believe.

I never did bleed mine I threw it in the trash instead.

 

[vrytired]

 

[vrytired]

i'll go take a better pic of the bleeder looking thing

 

[410Fortune]

see I tol dyou Ford does some crazy stuff.
That is a 4wabs style valve, no bleeder on that sucker.
With 92 being a crossover year I am not surprised to see that valve in there, it is different from the 88-91 style valve, it looks like the 4wabs valve but with the line for the front brakes blocked off.


those pics hurt my eyes and you got rust

Bleed the rear drums as you would on a car w/o a RABS valve.

 

[jimbo74]

i'll go take a better pic of the bleeder looking thing

good idea, all i see are rusty brake lines and a wiring harness

 

[vrytired]

thats the bleeder nipple looking think under the rubber boot. but as i said before is completly round no place for a wrench. in your posts where you said to put a wrench on it did you mean the big 1 1/8'' thing that the nipple is attatched too?

 

[410Fortune]

thats not a bleeder, that is a block off for where the front wheel ABS would go if your truck was a 93+.

You cannot bleed this valve.

 

[JDraper]

From what I remember about my '92 Sport with RABS, you could not bleed the RABS valve with a wrench. I had problems with my RABS system, and I remember reading somewhere that it takes a special tool to bleed the RABS valve.

There are at least two versions of the Haynes manual for the Explorer. The earlier one is white and covers '91 through '95. There is another one with a blue cover that covers '91 through 2000, and I'm sure they've got another one out to cover the newer models. I do know that the manuals contain different information. I swapped manuals with someone to get the newer version after I bought my '01, and I distinctly remember quite a bit more information on the RABS system in the white covered version. You might want to try and locate one of those to see what it says.

 

[410Fortune]

or power bleed from the rear drums and call it a day.
Are you having brake problems?

 

[trollkepr]

vrytired, If you are having RABS trouble you may have the problem I did. Thise suckers will plug up solid. I had no rear brakes at all. I had to replace it and I bled the whole line through the rear brakes. Now my truck will actually stop!

 

[the63duck]

just bleed it and when you think you have it bleed out do it two more times

 

[L5vw]

I just replaced the rabs in my 91 and it looked just like that but the big "plug" on top wasn`t round but had ahead for a wrench....I backed off the old one to "bleed" it and nothing came out...put new one in and did the same thing and still nothing came out? but I was able to bleed the rear brakes fine....pedal still seems a little low even with new master but the rabs light isn`t coming on anymore....think I`ll adjust the rear brakes up a little and see if that helps...but i`m still curious about why I couldn`t get anything out of the rabs? kinda thinking maybe it wasn`t meant to be bled??

 

[L5vw]

I actually opened up the larger part you can get a wrench on...the small "hole" in the center of it is just part of the whole "cap" thing....wonder why my 91 had that style?..and why Ford would put a hole in the center with the rubber cap on it ?..so there is no way to bleed that style? Anybody have a picture of the style you can bleed? ...and what`s the special expensive Ford tool ? or do you only need it when you actually have 4 wheel abs? Thanks !!

 

[410Fortune]

All the 91's I have seen have the rabs valve just like my 88 had, not a metal block like pictured in this thread, but a black box mounted on the frame rail back by the rear axle.
from this thread it looks like the 92 version is different.