Advice re ABS Modifications on Cruiser
Submitted: Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 19:01
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MikeV
Hi folks - in post 14176 I outlined a spongy brake problem I was having with a '93 TD GXL cruiser.
So far $2500 spent without improvement
1) resleeved master cylinder (and tested a new one)
2) new pads all round
3) new rotors all round
4) rebuilt calipers
5) replaced all flexible hoses with plastic coated braided ones
6) power flushed the system umpteen times
All fingers are now pointing at the ABS modulator. Replacement cost = just under $4000, but no replacements in the country (new or used).
A few posts indicated that disabling ABS is illegal - does anyone know whether there is a way that it CAN be done legally - eg by bypassing the modulator entirely with new hydraulic plumbing and getting an engineer's certificate?
Alternatively, anyone have a second hand unit I can borrow to check that
mine is actually the cause of the problem? I'm in
Canberra but am about to do a major trip via
Sydney then west to
Cameron Corner, down to
Ceduna and back via Great Ocean Road. Would be delighted to call in anywhere along the route to do a swap test.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Cheers
MikeV
Reply By: geocacher (djcache) - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 20:46
Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 20:46
Mike,
I can't say for certain but having worked in the the automotive safety testing field i would suggest that your vehicle passed ADR (Australian Design Rule) with ABS and you won't find an engineer that will give you a certificate that will certify the vehicle below it's factory safety specs.
Are your vehicles brakes spongy compared with other Cruisers of the same model and spec or is it that you perceive that they are spongy compared with what you expect them to be. I dare say it may have been suggested but are you sure you aren't chasing a problem that isn't there?
The fact that there isn't another modulator in the country suggests that either they've failed en masse recently and stocks have been exhausted (unlikely) or they fail so seldom that no one keeps a $4000 part in stock because they fail so rarely there's no point keeping them on the shelf.
Just my 2cents worth.
Dave
AnswerID:
76849
Follow Up By: MikeV - Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 18:21
Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 18:21
Thanks Dave - I appreciate your comments
I must admit - given the work already carried out - that I had begun to doubt that there was a problem, particulalry since a couple of brake
places said that they thought that the feel of the pedal was quite acceptable and that I should just get used to it. But it wasn't like it is now when I first bougth the vehicle last year, and it certainly is much softer than my mate's cruiser which is almost identical, except that it doesn't have ABS. So something appears to have changed for the worse over the last 12 months.
A couple of replies have suggested a different way of bleeding the abs, so I'll try that before I do anything else.
Cheers, and happy crusin'
MikeV
FollowupID:
336643
Reply By: Member Eric - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 21:25
Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 21:25
you can legaly remove the abs system and put it to standard brake system , this is legal because its only a aption on the 80 series . You must remove it from the vehiucle all together and make sure you are running the non abs master
AnswerID:
76853
Follow Up By: MikeV - Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 18:23
Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 18:23
Thanks, Eric - that's what I had hoped to hear. If all else fails, I'll start to look for a friendly engineer who can guide me through the process.
Cheers
MikeV
FollowupID:
336644
Reply By: Eric Experience. - Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 22:09
Friday, Sep 17, 2004 at 22:09
Mike.
You may be trying to fix a nonfault. Pressure bleeding is not the way to go with abs. the recomended method is to use a device to suck the air out of the abs unit. when you power flush the air bubbles are compressed and traped in the abs valves when you suck the bubbles are enlarged and come out much easier. If you cannot get hold of a suitable device you can make one by reversing the washer in a bicycle pump.
Eric.
AnswerID:
76867
Follow Up By: Member Eric - Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 09:31
Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 09:31
Eric , are you talking about the plastic bottle that has air rushing past to cause a siphon affect ? If yes , there quite cheap ar Bursons arn't they ?
FollowupID:
336611
Reply By: Member - Bradley- Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 16:32
Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 16:32
I prefer the vacuum bleeders , ABW make a nice one , also they are great for sucking out power steer resiviors etc.
When doing a proper bleed on an abs system with the commodores etc, you have the diagnostic unit plugged in and it runs a cycling program on the abs motors while you physically pump the brake pedal, this flushes all the fluid through the abs pumps. So not sure if the toyota is the same but i assume it uses a bosch abs unit like most cars so probably needs a dealer to do the flush. cheers
AnswerID:
76920
Follow Up By: MikeV - Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 18:30
Saturday, Sep 18, 2004 at 18:30
Thanks Bradley - I must confess to feeling a bit depressed about this whole sorry saga, but your suggestion has raised the possibility that a fix might be only a couple of pedal stokes away - I'll follow up first thing Monday morning - thanks. Everything I've done so far can be written off as preventitive maintenance, so I guess I haven't wasted any $$$ yet. But I'd be royallybleepif I outlayed $4k when a vacuum bleed might be all I need.
Thanks again for the suggestion.
MikeV
FollowupID:
336645