Greetings,
I have a '98 Cavalier with ABS. Ever since I've had the car (2 years), the ABS light has always been on. I have never really had a problem until recently. The car started taking a longer distance to stop and the rear brakes would grab/lock-up (front rotors, front pads, rear shoes, rear wheel cylinders have all been replaced). I had the ABS code scanned (by a local shop that didn't seem very knowledgeable) and it said something about the "Right Side". The shop didn't have any idea what it meant or how to fix it. Then the problem got worse. The rear brakes would lock-up anytime you tried to brake the vehicle. The car was taken to another shop. They looked at the entire braking system and said there were no visible problems. Then they hooked up a ABS scanner and said all 4 wheels were within 1 MPH of each other and that the problem was probably the Master Cylinder/ABS Control Unit. It was like $800+ at the dealership. I got one for $35 at a local junkyard and the garage put it on for me. Now the ABS light doesn't stay on and the rear brakes don't grab anymore
There are a couple things I have noticed now. First, the Low Traction light doesn't come on as frequently now (it used to come on a lot... I am guessing it was because the braking issue, whenever I would go down a muddy hill the brakes would lock and the Low Traction light would come on. Now, the ABS will actually kick in and "pump" the brakes, thus not locking up... and I can hear the ABS "clicking" normal. Second, the vehicle stops in a much shorter distance, and you don't have to push the brake pedal down as much to actually stop.
Now for my 2 questions
1. I have been testing the brakes for the last day and a half, and can see a big difference in how functioning ABS works compared to my previous situation. When going 50 MPH and slamming on the brakes in gravel, I can feel the brakes "pumping" instead of locking up. The vehicle will kind of "scoot" instead of "sliding". However, when I am going like 30 MPH and get on the brakes pretty hard, it will do the pump/scoot thing also... is this normal? Is this how the ABS in these cars are supposed to work or is there possibly still a problem? Do I just need to drive it for a couple more days and get used to the ABS?
2. After not seeing my Low Traction light come on for a day and a half, I questioned if it was even working. So I went about 45 MPH around a turn and drove off the shoulder a little bit into gravel. The Low Traction light did come on for a second or two then went back off. So I assumed it was working properly. However, this time when the Low Trac light came on, it triggered the ABS light on. After the Low Trac light went off, the ABS light stayed on. The vehicle was operating and braking fine (however, the ABS light remained on). When I got to work, I turned the car off. I then started it back up and the ABS light was off. Did the Low Trac situation somehow "trigger" the ABS light? Do I still have a problem somewhere (perhaps ABS, ETS, etc.)? Was this just a fluke?
Any comments and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
-Thanks
Basically, everything is normal. That ABS light staying on seems normal to me, I believe. Could be wrong.
And, the brake tests that you did, no matter how fast you are going the ABS will do that. ABS keeps your brakes from locking up, at any speed. Although, ABS is a pain in the ass on ice. I prefer no ABS, because the slightest push of the pedal can lock up the brakes for a split moment, and then ABS kicks on and you don't stop at all. WIthout ABS, you can better control the stop on ice.
1983 Camaro Z28
the idea of abs is to allow you to steer the car while you brake hard. if you lock up the brakes without abs you can't really steer at all. with abs you can effectively steer around an obstacle while the abs is "pumping" the brakes. in a straight line abs does help stopping distances if you just hammer the brakes but with a good driver that can "threshhold brake" a car will stop slightly better without abs. on ice i agree with ling427ttvette, if you don't panic you can stop way better without abs.
