ABS problem

R

roy_b

Registered User
Abs problems

First off I have a 91 sc with the 3.8 in her. Just go the car about 3 weeks ago and am in love. After paying for the car and 1500.00 in repairs along with the insurance, I’m really low on cash!
Some times my abs light and brake light come on, still have a good pedal. Then I will lose the brakes totally. The pedal become like a brick. After a short time the pedal is back to normal. Some times the abs light and brake lights go out. Pedal is fine.

Check with the repair shop and there are no codes being throw at all. He wants to replace the abs unit. I checked with my body shop, yes body shop because he has more brains then the mechanic. Same thing no codes. But he kept on reading what the snap-on computer told him, do a brake job and replace the rotors. I ordered the brake pads from ford still waiting for them to come in. The front brake pads are almost gone.

Could wore out brake pads and bad rotors cause the lose of pedal? Tripping the abs unit? Also how do you tell which other part might be bad if it isn’t throwing any codes.
One last question. I live on long island is there any repair shop that the shop owner knows the SC and also knows what they are doing with ABS units?
Thanks
Roy
ponyboy@optonline.net
 
Change out your accumulater. Its that black ball looking thing. The cost is $100 and you can get one from> Prior manufactureing. They only last for about 10 years. Do a search on antilock. Do not replace the ABS unit as a new one from Ford will cost you over 2k. Only other thing is a brown relay on the passanger side firewall. That goes bad as well.
 
hi there
tried to do a web seach for Prior manufactureing, have to look harder.
thanks for the information. I will look sunday to see how hard it is to replace the parts
thanks
roy
 
Look here :cool: If you normally have brakes and every now and then you loose power assist and every now and then the lights come one, replace the pump motor relay first. A bad accumulator is consistent. :)
 
Last edited:
I had the exact same problem on my '92. After changing the relay, which didn't fix the problem, I replaced the accumulator, and it fixed the problem immediately. After hearing some of the issues with Prior's reman's, I chose to get a new one from Ford. The price for a new one was around $231. I thought this was worth it if the original one lasted 13 years.

I also had ended up replacing the ignition switch on the steering column since I was getting intermittent problems from there. Found the switch was actually coming apart. All is working great, except for a minor leak I am still tracking down.

Roy, congrats on the purchase.
 
Ok when to Nappa auto parts, picked up the relay AR240SB paid 30.00 The brake light went out after 30 feet, but the ABS light is still on but I have a good brake pedal now. Nappa is about 5 miles away. When I got home, I turned off the car then back on again both lights where off, but who knows for how long? The next step for me is to have the repair shop change the low-pressure hose leading from reservoir. Looking at the accumulator looks like a real pain to do it. Do you have to bleed the brakes after you change it?
Oh, Nappa has the accumulator for 90.00
How safe is it to drive my bird with the ABS light on?
one last thing I found out alot of information from, hope i get this right
www.albeedigital.com/supercoupe/articles/abs-system.html
 
FLBlackBird said:
I had the exact same problem on my '92. After changing the relay, which didn't fix the problem, I replaced the accumulator, and it fixed the problem immediately. After hearing some of the issues with Prior's reman's, I chose to get a new one from Ford. The price for a new one was around $231. I thought this was worth it if the original one lasted 13 years.

I also had ended up replacing the ignition switch on the steering column since I was getting intermittent problems from there. Found the switch was actually coming apart. All is working great, except for a minor leak I am still tracking down.

Roy, congrats on the purchase.
Click to expand...

Thanks! i love my bird! are you saying that the ignition switch might be giving me problems to with the abs? I know i have to play around with the key and shifter to get it started
 
roy_b said:
Thanks! i love my bird! are you saying that the ignition switch might be giving me problems to with the abs? I know i have to play around with the key and shifter to get it started
Click to expand...

If you search back through the different posts, you'll find that a few people mentioned problems with the switch. There is a little play in the key, which is normal, but when mine was turned a little within that play toward the 'Start' position, my abs/powerbrake pump wouldn't come on, as well as my electronic climate control. When it was twisted back slightly away from the 'Start' position, the pump would work normally. You may not have that problem at all. I only mentioned it as another possibility before attacking the accumulator. My problem was still the accumulator, but my switch did happen to be going bad. I only found the possible link to the abs lights, while I was searching for my ECC not working.

The accumulator is very easy to remove. There are more details in this post:
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61910

Replacing them can be a little more tricky, since the aftermarket/rebuilt ones apparently do not the the original hex/allen wrench hole in the top to tighten it back down.
Hope this helps you out. This site has been a big help for me.
 
hi there
I want to thank everyone for there help! It has turned out to be the relay. the first day the brake light went out, and over the next few days the abs light has stayed off. Next weekend I am havein a new ing. lock changed
thanks again for all your help! :D
 
Cant figure it out

Ok, :confused: The Amber ABS light is on, the red one does not come on under breaking or anything like that. the car is very hard to stop. i have been reading up on this all morning, and i just dont get it. Do i need to bleed the breaks? or could it be electrical? I AM SO LOST!!!!!

Any help you guys could give me would help out alot with getting this bird back on the road.

90 SC
Joel Comstock
 
if pedal is rock hard to push , check the relay first on passenger side firewall i think its the second one in . on mine after 205 k miles it was the abs pump motor under the master cylinder brushes were shot . i got a used one from a lincoln for 10 bucks .then after i put it on it wouldnt pump up till it sat all nite full of fluid it must have took a while to work the air out of the pump
 
rlong said:
if pedal is rock hard to push , check the relay first on passenger side firewall i think its the second one in . on mine after 205 k miles it was the abs pump motor under the master cylinder brushes were shot . i got a used one from a lincoln for 10 bucks .then after i put it on it wouldnt pump up till it sat all nite full of fluid it must have took a while to work the air out of the pump
Click to expand...

Well, i have been working on the car all day, checked the Relay. after messing with that, we got the ABS(amber) light to go off and stay off. Now, i still have no power break assist, and no rear breaks, and i have to push the break pedal to start the car :confused:
i am trying to find anything i can to fix it without having to replace the pump motor, or anything i can, we also took the car and plugged it in to check the ABS computer and got no reading back from the computer. with all that said, i hope someone might have had the same problem or could guide me in the right direction.


*note the amber light comes back on when i pull up the parking brake. then turns back off once the brake is put back down*

Thanks,
90 SC
Joel Comstock
 
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