Really weird fluke with my abs/brakes.

[tornado_735]

I was driving home from a friends house last night when I stopped at the gas station to get something to drink. I bought my stuff, got back in my car, started it up, and started to back out of my spot. The brake pedal went straight to the floor. It kinda startled me at first because I didn't think I was going to be able to stop. But as the pedal got all the way to the bottom, the car finally stopped.

 

I pulled under the canopy where there were lights, all the while pumping the brakes trying to build the pressure up and getting nothing except a little bit of stopping power with the brake pedal on the floor. I checked the brake fluid, and it was perfect. Thinking my master cylinder had taken a dump, I got back in (all the while leaving the car running) and sat there trying to figure out what to do. My I looked in the dash, and to my confusion, the ABS and Brake lights were not on. They have been on for the last 8 months, since I have owned the car. I have never had any problems with the brakes at all, other than having no ABS, which I sorta don't mind anyway. So I shut the car off, let it sit for just a second, and fired it right back up. I heard the ABS pump make it's little noise, and the lights came on, and the brake pedal felt normal again. I did this several times trying to duplicate the problem, and it didn't happen again.

 

Any idea what might have caused this? I thought maybe it was the ABS pump going apeshit or something.

 

I had a '95 Corsica and the ABS pump would just start to pump the brakes whenever the hell it felt like it. The ABS completely let off of the brakes one time coming up to a red light. I cussed, let go of the pedal, and got back on it, and still managed to stop in time, but that wasn't cool. I was glad when the transmission let go. That was a horrible engine/transmission combination.

[Crazy K]

your abs system is BAD. pull the ABS fuse and drive without it. otherwise, you probably need a new pump unit = $$$$$$ if you pull the ABS fuse it will turn off teh red brake light if the ABS system is causing a fault.

 

 

ACTUALLY... check to make sure the battery and aux post under the hood are tight too. I';ve seen this cause the abs system to fail due to low voltage.

[tornado_735]

your abs system is BAD. pull the ABS fuse and drive without it. otherwise, you probably need a new pump unit = $$$$$$ if you pull the ABS fuse it will turn off teh red brake light if the ABS system is causing a fault.

 

 

ACTUALLY... check to make sure the battery and aux post under the hood are tight too. I';ve seen this cause the abs system to fail due to low voltage.

 

Will do. I gotta find my owners manual...

[tornado_735]

Ok, checked the battery terminals. They were fine.

 

Pulled the #33 5amp fuse. What do you know!!!! Crazy K, you were right on the money. The red brake light went out.

 

So that might be an ABS pump...which upon investigation is upwards of $500 used.

 

To hell with that.

 

I think I'll just pull the damn light bulb.

[tornado_735]

author=Crazy K link=topic=80021.msg1086030#msg1086030 date=1246718615

 

...check to make sure the battery and aux post under the hood are tight too. I've seen this cause the abs system to fail due to low voltage.

 

You think the failing alternator could have caused a low voltage situation that would have tripped the ABS light?

[Leadfoot]

Yep, that has happened to me before.

[tornado_735]

Stuck the fuse back in and it's still bad. Maybe I'll go pull the ABS module off that '95 I salvaged the 5-spokes off of...

[Leadfoot]

Yeah, try the pick and pull. I had a problem with mine and it turned out it was a bad solder joint in it. My buddy who is real good at that stuff fixed it for me. The problem was figuring out what was wrong. We traced wires all over the car for about 2 months before we figured it out.