Hello Club Lexus,

I have a 2007 Lexus LS460 Base, and I understand that using TIS/Techstream is the proper way to fully bleed the brakes via the pedal, especially to cycle the ABS pump. My question is: if I use a pressure or vacuum bleeder, do I still need TIS?

My thinking is that since these tools don’t rely on the brake pedal or the car’s internal pump, maybe TIS isn’t necessary. A pressure bleeder pushes fluid into the reservoir so it flows out when you open the bleeder screw. A vacuum bleeder pulls fluid out from the bleeder screw, so again—no need to touch the brake pedal.

Can these tools be used to get around needing TIS/Techstream and make brake bleeding easier on this car?

 

You need Techstream to properly flush/bleed the brakes.

 

You need techstream or equivalent. The accumulator and pump both need to be de-pressurized and run respectively to fully exchange the fluid, I usually zero down 4 times and extract all fluid from the rez between cycles to make certain all fluid is new.

 

@Striker223 Do you suppose the new Autel scanners can be used in place of Techstream? They show on their site they can do ABS bleeding for the car but I’m unsure how truthful that is

 

Looking at the Autel MX900 and it says it can do the brake bleeding as well as other sensors for the Lexus but I want to know if this can be used as a replacement for TIS

 

Yes as that's what I use, techstream is too slow/clunky for me plus it's useless on other cars. That said I'm using an ultra so it's not quite the same as their base models....