Bleeding brakes on a mk4 golf is vagcom essential?

[DegsyE39]

Hi all hope your all good.. I'd like to replace a crusty looking brake line on my golf i have all the flaring tools etc. Its just a lot of places are saying i need vagcom to bleed the brakes up after, can i do it without vag com? Cheers lads

[petrolbloke]

Shouldn't need it. I think there is a bit of scaremongering about air getting into the ABS unit and that needing VCDS to bleed properly.

I have a similar car (mk1 Octavia) and replaced & bled a front brake caliper with no issues.

[Who me ?]

On older cars ( pre ABS) I used either auto bleed niples or my concoction of a rubber tube with a car tyre valve on end with good results. But on MK1 Fabia I've had no problems using a Gulsen eezie bleed ( the one tht uses a spare wheel set at 20 psi ). Before disconnecting, I attach the bottle ( without connecting to spare) to master cylinder and block off air intake ( to prevent fluid draining out of open line). After connecting up I open up theair to the spare and bleed each nipple as per instructions. I've seen talks about using Vagcom on my model to bleed brakes, but I've never had to do it.

[ninjag]

icarsoft tool can do an ABS bleed, although best to check for specific models. I can't imagine why you would have to bleed the ABS unless it specifically has air trapped in it.

I use this tool for brake bleeding, it pressurises the system and pushes the old fluid out of the bleed nipples whilst filling in new fluid. Great for bleeding and even better for swapping out old brake fluid and can be done with just one person: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081HD3CNB/ref...

[shtu]

You don't need a scan tool.

An eezibleed type tool makes it simple, and are only about £20.