About a month ago, the ABS light on my 2002 Malibu has been coming on at seemingly random times. More recently, the ABS has been kicking in when coming to a stop, (usually the first stop after starting the car). The big problem is that when the ABS starts, the braking goes out on the car completely and obviously causes a pretty major safety concern. Luckily, we’re usually going slow enough that we’re able to get it to stop.
After the first stop, it still happens occasionally, but almost always on that first instance of braking after starting the car.
So, my question is… Is this just a malfunctioning Anti-Lock Braking System or could it be something else? I really don’t have the money to get it fixed at the moment so I’m wondering if it might work to disable the ABS somehow by pulling the related fuses. I really think that if I disable the ABS, that this will fix my problem for now.
I realize that I sound like an idiot for not immediately taking the car into the shop. It’s just really difficult for us to manage right now and I’d like to avoid it if possible.
So, what do you think? Can I disable the ABS? How would I best go about doing that? Do you think that will help my issue?
Mate, you’re playing with your life here. Unqualified car maintenance advice from a random person on a website might kill you. Take it to the shop, get another car, or stop driving.
I’d guess it more likely as a sensor/computer problem.
If you can’t afford full repairs try calling a couple places and ask if they can take a quick look with the intent of temporarily disabling the abs for cheap.
At the same time, you never know - there might be some common issue with those cars a tech will know about that’s an easy, cheap, total fix.
Please describe precisely what you observe when “the braking goes out on the car completely.” Do you mean pedal goes to the floor and there is no braking effect whatsoever? Something else?
When I say that the brakes go out, I mean that the ABS kicks on as I feel and hear the vibrating/pulsing when it kicks on. Even though the ABS is on, it can stop but it doesn’t stop well. The brakes are more “soft” when this is occuring than anything.
So before I got any responses here, I pulled the ABS fuse and took the car around the block a few times. The brakes work great and the ABS problem did not rear it’s ugly head.
I know that this is not a permanent fix, but for now it seems that I’ve gotten around the issue. I do plan on getting the car into the shop asap to see what might need to be done.
Turns out the ABS Sensor ring was cracked. The ABS wasn’t broken per-se, but because this ring was cracked it was activating at all the wrong times. I drove like this for about 6 months until I realized it was just too f’n unsafe to be without brakes that much.
I had my cousin the mechanic fix it. I guess on Fords, the sensor ring is part of a larger part (whose name escapes me) and is sort of a pain to fix. It was a sort of arm that connects the wheel to the rest of the car. Getting the part through my cousin was only $80 but I think Ford wanted to charge me $500 for the whole operation.
HOWEVER, my friend who is a “Chevy guy” says that Ford does this ABS sensor ring placement in a stupid way and Chevys are so much easier because you don’t have to replace that entire part blah blah blah. So if my “Chevy guy” friend is right it may not be too expensive for you to fix.
By the way…the Ford dealership DID suggest I remove the ABS fuse when I moaned about not being able to afford their price. So I don’t think you’re really doing yourself any harm - since it’s not snowing out or anything.
One possible scenario is that a wheel speed sensor is faulty and the ABS controller interprets that as a wheel locking up and tries to come to the rescue. There’s a reasonable chance it’s something relatively simple like that.
I can see where it wouldn’t stop as well with the ABS trying to rectify a wheel lock-up (which isn’t occurring) than with the brake system operating normally conditions that are not actually inducive to skidding.
Just a reminder that when the ABS engages, the thing to do is keep constant firm pressure on the brake pedal. That will get the most braking possible during ABS operation.
With the ABS disabled, it won’t be able to help should an actual skid be encountered, but it shouldn’t have any effect on the basic brake system. It’s essentially like having a car without ABS at all.