This ABS is going to be the death of me

[JamesWyatt]

At 7K had ABS/TC/HDC lights come on. They replaced ABS modulator and fixed grounded wire behind fuse box.

Now at 10K I had ABS/Brake/TC lights come on. Then at next crank, only the ABS light came on. Then next crank nothing came on. Has stayed this way.... but....

Now two separate times I've come to a normal, controlled stop (no bumps or potholes in road) and right before stopping the ABS goes off (no lights) and increases my stopping distance by one time three feet, and the other by one foot. Luckily no one was in front of me either time.

Obviously, there's a problem in the ABS system, and the normal wisdom is it's OK to drive until my service appointment; however, this seems to be a pretty dangerous variant of the problem, as I could go ABSing right into someone's rear bumper at any time.

Questions are:

1. Until I can get my service appointment, should I pull the ABS fuse? Sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea.

2. Will the D2's crappy ABS system eventually lead me to keep it off anyway?

3. If I keep the ABS fuse pulled even after it's fixed, what should I expect when I get it offroad? Obviously, HDC and TC won't work anymore. Is HDC actually useful, or just a fancy feature that's not needed by a good offroad driver? Without HDC would I be smart to replace the gears with 4:10s (or whatever 4: number it is) so I'll get better gear braking going downhill? And, without TC, can I assume I should avoid TrueTrac combos and go straight for ARB lockers?

Thanks...

 

[frickjp]

Unintended activation is usually a sign of a contaminated wheel speed sensor. It will have stored a code.

 

[DiscoJon]

the 2002 wrx's had a similar problem, mine was afflicted and the abs would randomly come on when braking even on the smoothest of streets. I don't think Subaru ever acknowleged the problem but some owners filed a class action lawsuit

 

[FIVESPDDISCO]

pull the fuses and live a little longer

 

[sjsst41]

I had the same issue - only it took me into a busy intersection ! Fortunately I didn't hit anyone, and I didn't get hit - Definitely an unsafe ABS failure mode (any LR engineers listening !)

After the local LR dealer told me it was a bad sensor, and $1k to fix, I pulled the ABS fuses.

 

[Lino]

pull the fuse. ifixed one sensor only for it to work for two months.

lino

 

[JamesWyatt]

Pulling the ABS also disabled my SLS. Also, it's not just the ABS light that stays on with the fuse pulled..

 

[texmotoII]

James,
Disabling HDC will not directly affect your "crawl" rate; going to larger tires will True Tracs work great with or without ETC. FWIW, I prefer to have the ETC off when trying very difficult rock/ledge climbs. I run an ARB in the rear and a TT in the front. Disabling the ABS also disables the ETC and the HDC and that's why you have all three lights on. BTW, where in TX are you located?
David

 

[purple98tj]

We've been going without ABS for sometime now and we have found the brakes to perform better. We just have to remember our snow braking techniques! One question I have is here in MA they hook up the inspection machine to the Disco, does anyone know if it will show a code and fail the truck? If it passed I have been thinking of replacint the abs mod. with a proportioning valve.

Eric

 

[JamesWyatt]

James,
Disabling HDC will not directly affect your "crawl" rate; going to larger tires will True Tracs work great with or without ETC. FWIW, I prefer to have the ETC off when trying very difficult rock/ledge climbs. I run an ARB in the rear and a TT in the front. Disabling the ABS also disables the ETC and the HDC and that's why you have all three lights on. BTW, where in TX are you located?
David

Thanks, David for the info. I'm in Allen, which is a Dallas suburb north of Plano. I used to live in Abilene, so I'm familiar with West Texas. I've passed through your area a time or two on the way to Big Bend...

FWIW, also my brake light goes on, the speedometer doesn't work, and I'm assuming that the cruise control doesn't work as well. And yes, the braking seems better now - no more squirrelly behavior, but with all these issues from disabling ABS... I'll at least have to wait until I get the SLS converted to coils. Anyone have a way to keep your speedometer and still disable ABS? I wonder if ABS could be disabled in the computer and still leave the rest working...

Gotta love modern technology, or at least the LR version of it.

 

[S Marks]

James, what was the issue at 7K w/ the ground wire? Was the reason for your ABS modulator replacement the shuttle valve issue?

Off topic: when did you live in Abilene? I grew up in Abilene and a surrounding small town. I have actually seen you driving around the Plano area in the recent past. Hard to miss the G4!

Spencer

 

[JamesWyatt]

James, what was the issue at 7K w/ the ground wire? Was the reason for your ABS modulator replacement the shuttle valve issue?

Off topic: when did you live in Abilene? I grew up in Abilene and a surrounding small town. I have actually seen you driving around the Plano area in the recent past. Hard to miss the G4!

Spencer

Hey, Spencer. I lived in Abilene from '87 to '01, with the first five (!) years being college at HSU.

Jeez, I can't get away with anything in this silly truck - might as well be the Oscar Mayer weinermobile.

Here's the link to the details of that grounded wire. I think it was the ABS pump relay they were replacing, and maybe a modulator as well.

 

[Bigcat6969]

I pulled the fuse to stop the silly pulsing. Pulled the light out of the instrument cluster to forget about ABS altogether. At 2 tonnes if that baby starts sliding on the ice ABS isn'r going to help anyway.

Rob

 

[RichardS]

Some of the other threads on this brought up the potential liability issue with pulling the fuse. Does not seem likely to me but just in case you could intentionally blow the fuse and put it back.

 

[JamesWyatt]

Some of the other threads on this brought up the potential liability issue with pulling the fuse. Does not seem likely to me but just in case you could intentionally blow the fuse and put it back.

The biggest problem is that on my 04, pulling the fuses lights up the dash like a Christmas tree (brake, ABS, HDC, TC, and SLS lights). And, in addition to just disabling ABS/TC/HCD, it also kills the speedometer, cruise, and SLS system. This could work offroad, but I think killing the speedometer and cruise control is a deal breaker on-road. If I'm in a wreck and they find out that not only did I pull the ABS fuses, but also pulled 5 warning lights from the dash and had no working speedometer... that could be bad news.

 

[rover4x4]

put a piece of tape over that portion of the instrument panel. All you need to see really is the gas gage tach and temp

 

[MontrealRR90]

weres the fuse on a 96 ?

 

[RichardS]

In the fuse block under the instrument panel. There's a funky yellow plastic gadget around the ABS fuse. There's also one in the fuse block behind the battery.

weres the fuse on a 96 ?