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Re: Disabling ABS & ABS Light and Sensor
Posted by Ywan Mason (more from Ywan Mason) on Sun, 30 Jan 2000 11:24:01
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

It is best for the safety of you and for that of other people on the
road, or near it for that matter, to not tamper with the ABS system.
Especially the adding of disable devices. 

Like the airbag system,  it is not a good practice to repair harnesses
in this system. When you need it to work, it HAS to work.

Early cars will not, as Larry West posted to the group already, have
rear brakes. This could cause you to loose control. It certainly will
increase stopping distance. You will have a marked increase in brake
effort. In fact, I have had cars towed in to me before because the lady
driving it could not generate enough pressure on the pedal to stop the
car and was afraid to drive it. The later systems incorporate a booster
and you will still be able to stop without a loss of assistance. But it
will not be with the full safety of a functioning ABS system. Later cars
also have other systems dependent on the speed signals generated from
the sensors. You might go from having a ABS light on to also having a
non functioning cruise, a check engine light , and a myriad of other
failures if you go goofing with ABS.

Wheel sensor problems can be easily diagnosed. If the light comes on on
start up and goes out after the self check, before you move the car, and
then comes on again after you turn, hit a bump, or exceed 20 mph, bets
are it is a sensor reading out of whack. Bets are off that it will
reliably be the wiring. The system can set a code for a sensor if the
wheel bearing is bad. It looks not only at the ac voltage the sensor
generates, but also at the amplitude of the signal. Amplitude changes
when the sensor comes closer or farther from the trigger wheel teeth.
You can get a pretty reliable diagnosis of which sensor is bad simply by
raising the wheels one at a time and using a AC voltmeter to measure
each sensor's output as you turn the wheel. One will be out of line with
the others. This measurement is a lot more reliable than the resistance
test on the sensors. While you have the wheel off the ground, you can
also check for anything that might be leading to that sensor's faulty
reading, such as a bad bearing or dragging brake. I've never seen a
sensor not function because it was 'dirty' with anything you might
remove. I've seen them covered in metal shavings from metal to metal
brakes and still function fine. In areas were there is a lot of salt in
the winter, I have seen corrosion build up between the sensor and its
mounting so badly that the sensor was crushed and then stopped
functioning. ( These are real fun to replace too.)

Lots of other things can go amiss with the system and they get pretty
involved to trace down. I've probably seen as many control units go bad
from water getting into them as I have bad sensors. You just have
different symptoms.

My advice is to fix the ABS properly if it has a problem, or sell the
car if the repair exceeds the funds available to do so.  I've already
dodged one out of control vehicle this week with the snows we're having
here,. I was half way ready for that as I saw him coming. But I might
not have been looking for him on a dry road if he lost it because he had
been flipping the on off switch for the ABS.

Be safe. These are your BRAKES, not your radio. Your life depends on
them daily.

Ywan Mason
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