Sorry I made I new thread, thought about posting it in the STR prep thread but didn't really go with that and I wanted to quickly get a answer so I made a new thread. you can delete it after I get some great input from the fellow racers.


I used to hit the brakes and it would lock up the front tires and nose drive while going into ABS. I haven't changed my brake fluid in about 4 months and 10,000 miles.

The issue I'm having is when I hit the brakes the peddle "goes into ABS" and by me saying goes into ABS it has that ABS feel to it but the tires don't lock up and the car doesn't stop very fast like it used to. This is causing all kinds of brake point issues while autoxing. DO you think the brake fluid just needs to be changed and it will be back to normal? I was thinking about taking the pads out, cleaning them really good, lightly sand the rotors, change brake fluid and "re-bed" the pads. By the way the pads are OEM.


I tried explaining this to my cousin (honda mechanic) and he just laughed at me and said "josh ABS is ABS" but I swear it's not. I'm not on A6's, the cold RS-3's should lock up or damn near lock up before going into ABS. This is like it goes into ABS mode but the tires are slowing like I only lightly pressed the brakes. It's been like this for a month atleast. stopping normal during DDing isn't a issue but when I come up on a brake zone and jab at the brakes to scrub off speed before a turn the car doesn't scrub off speed fast enough at all. It used to do this really well. The only change I can think of is maybe the pads have glazed some from DDing or the brake fluid is old and has air in the line.

thanks,

Josh

Got to get ready for sunday!

 

is this the method I should do?

http://www.stockcarracing.com/techar...ing/index.html

 

Your cousin is wrong. Try the following:

Take your wheels off and use a 10mm wrench to remove and thoroughly clean your ABS sensors. They're permanent magnets and I'll bet they're covered with furry metal shavings from autocrossing. That confuses the sensors and impairs proper speed sensing. The ABS computer will think one wheel is slipping and ABS will pulse inappropriately.

 

Also, bad brake fluid and glazed brakes won't give you that "ABS" feel.

You're talking about inappropriate ABS and subsequent lack of braking power, not lack of braking power from lack of primary braking grip if I understand you correctly.

And by cleaning the sensors, I mean alcohol and microfiber towels.

 

I shoot my sensors with compressed air and it seems to remove the metal shavings--you don't even have to remove the wheels, just shoot them from under the car.

I agree that it sounds like your ABS system is malfunctioning and if cleaning your sensors solves the issue consider yourself lucky.

 

Yeah, I usually wipe them without taking them out, but I figure for the first time he should definitively try the solution by looking at them up close. If they're crudded up, then likely yes. If they're shiny and clean, probably something else.

Note: I had one tech who was too liberal with dielectric grease in the area. Sensor got coated with it and was malfunctioning. So for the first time, clean them really well... you never know what junk could be on them. And if that doesn't solve the problem, you'll know you excluded it. Could still be a fracture in an ABS sensor wire, but those tend to trigger the ABS light when there's no output for more than a few seconds.

 

Also, if cleaning doesn't solve the problem, you can unplug one ABS sensor and deactivate the system. If the car now "nose dives" with effective braking, you know it's an ABS issue rather than a mechanical brake one.

 

Another good thing to do is take sand paper and do a very quick sand of the area the sensor attaches to (not the sensor itself!). I had the same problem, cleaned the sensor it didn't do anything, measured with calipers and noticed that the sensor was slightly too far away from the teeth. Did a very quick sand of that area, reattached, and that fixed it. I think there was rust or little shavings or whatever that were just offsetting it slightly up.

 

I'll do all that you all listed today and report back. Thanks guys, I hope it's nothing serious, if it was somthing big I would think it would throw some sort of code.

 

Chalk up another bullet point for the yearly maintenance list.