chapter 4
ABS
12/2/2010
who needs brakes
My second car was a '47 Plymouth obtained from Virgil farmer Earl Kraft for $25 around 1958. A fine vehicle for running behind our house and thru the hayfields (perhaps a little too roughly). Learned some mechanics from that beast. I'll never forget the feeling of driving around our track, applying the brake and it went to the floor boards. A quick downshift and turning off the ignition averted disaster. A ruptured brake line required a simple steel tube replacement, unlike the abs induction coil needing replacement above.
This chapter documents a little experience I had with my abs (anti-lock braking system) on the 2001 Ranger 4x4 for whoever is interested. The ABS had been experiencing what they call a signal drop-out from the wheel speed sensor. ABS light did not come on but vehicle would not stop properly coming up to a stop sign at say 4mph. The brake pedal would rise under foot (NOT pulsing rapidly, only once) and the vehicle would uncontrollably take another 10 or so feet to stop. High speed pulse activation was normal. I disconnected the abs electrical connection to the hydraulic control unit in the engine compartment for the last 2 years so I could drive with "old fashioned" conventional brakes and the abs light on.
Recently decided to fix the abs. The picture folder will explain to the mechanically minded, but the point is I lost patience and paid a mechanic whose routine procedure is to simply replace the whole hub bearing sensor assembly. That was about $700 for both front wheels. I could have done it for about $70 by simply replacing the speed sensors myself. I had already replaced the single rear sensor for about $30 but I lost persistence when the front sensor broke off in the hub. That is apparently common but I did get it out later by tapping around the perimiter with an ice pick and using the forcepts I got from Aslam's doctor wife (my dentist's dental picks failed to work).
ABS is a nice thing, (especially for pickup truck with a light rear end) and I'm glad it's fixed for now. But if I had known then what I know now, I would loved to have tried the simple fix. Your mileage may vary.
Kathy is now going beyond ABS and going Rogue with Electronic Brake Force Distribution (electronic and independent 4 wheel version of old purporting valve) and Intelligent Brake Assist that thinks for the vehicle sensing when and how much brake pressure is being exerted sending extra pressure to each of 4 disc brakes as well as sensing slip at all 4 wheels independently and adjusting braking force. In addition the vehicle will think for you by braking indepent wheels it senses are slipping during acceleration in the Active Brake Limited Slip Control, Vehicle Dynamic Control, or Traction Control System . They are taking all the drama away. You can get lost in the jumble of word descriptions but the systems do work and you can feel it if you are sensitively atuned to feeling your vehicle.