Stopping

[92BIRD]

So i'm going about 55 down a road, green light for the left turn lane i want, so i keep my speed up, the guy in front of me was going fast, and is now hard on his brakes for no reason, so I come close to locking mine up, all well and good, no accident. But as I come around the corner to my house, I tap the brakes. and theres nothing, I put the pedal to the floor, and get maybe 20% of my normal stopping power, I checked the lines, no leaks, and i've been told it wouldn't be the master cylinder because those don't fail instantly, though the guy who told me could be wrong.

Also, my abs has never worked for as long as i've owned the car, and it seems to be a negative multiplier in my problems with the car, is there a way to completely shut down and remove the abs system from the car?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[007_SuperCoupe]

Are you sure you have ABS? It was a rather rare option on anything other than the SC...which was standard equipment. I'm only asking because I don't hear about anything other than a SC with ABS.

I know a fair amount about the Teves II ABS system. You don't have a master cylinder, so it can fail. Has your ABS light and/or brake light been on for a while? If so, how long?

Here's a very common problem (just fixed it on mine, in fact)... You have a brake accumulator. If you look at where you fill your brake fluid, peer just behind it under the cowl. You should see a black ball. That is the accumulator. That is the device that stores the pressure for the brakes. It stores it upwards of 2600 psi, so there's quite a bit of pressure. There's an electric pump that charges the accumulator. In addition, theres a brake pressure switch. These function together as the switch turns on the pump and shuts it off. Easy enough there. The accumulator will break and will no longer be able to sustain a set pressure. It leaks down. Eventually it gets to the point of not holding the pressure at all and when that happens, the electric pump runs continuously. That causes the pump to heat up significantly. As a safety feature, Ford incorporated a thermal switch to shut the pump off if it got too hot. That would prevent premature pump failure. The problem though is that the accumulator can't hold the pressure and the pump is shut off (usually for 15 minutes or more) so you effectively have NO brakes. This has happened to me before. Then if you let it go long enough, the pressure switch can also fail, not allowing the pump to run at all, or to not let it shut off at all, (except for the thermal safety switch). Then, worst case is that the pump itself fails. So it all depends on how long you've let it go as to how bad it will be. The TEVES II system needs to be serviced IMMEDIATELY to prevent a huge cost later.

The accumulator can be found at a number of places online if that ends up being all that it is. It costs around $110 or so depending on where you get it. A couple vendors who sell it are www.supercoupeperformance.com, www.spinningwheels-sc.com or prior remanufacturing (don't remember their website right now). If it is more than the accumulator, then you will likely need a remanufactured unit. Those run roughly $650. And it's a lot of work to replace one...not so much on an LX/Sport as a SC, but still a lot of work.

Pay very close attention to what the pump is doing and reply back. I'll help all I can.

[92BIRD]

The light has been on for as long as i've owned it, the guy I bought it from said it was wheel speed sensors, and with everything else that has gone wrong with the car, I just didnt have time or money enough to take care of it, besides, i didnt see wheel speed sensors as a problem because all it meant was no abs, which i was used to anyways. But I guess I shot myself in the foot on that one... it'll probably be the closing argument in getting rid of it if I have to pay 650 for the ability to stop.

Any parts you need Supercoupe? Because that's probably the next step.

[92BIRD]

One more question, Is there a way to switch to a master cylinder and not run abs at all?

[007_SuperCoupe]

Yes, you can switch. I've known a few people to do that because they no longer want to deal with the ABS. I don't know the details of it, but am sure that it isn't any more difficult than replacing the ABS unit.

You also have the ability to pull codes from the ABS system. You'll likely have to take it in to have them pulled because a typical hand held scanner won't read the ABS system. The connector for it is on the passenger side of the trunk under the carpet next to the fuel door...or there abouts. It's red and look just like the code diagnostic port that is under the hood (behind the passenger wheel well next to the fire wall). That would help you out too and give you a better idea of where to start. You may be good to go with an accumulator. You've just got to check it out and see.

The first thing you could do is turn your key to the "on" position, (with the hood open) and listen to see if the electric pump is working. It makes a noise that is easy to hear. The next step would be to check the relay. The relay (at least on the SC) is behind the eec diagnostic port under the hood. It's just a square box looking thing with a wire connection going to it. On the SC, there's 2 there, and I don't recall which is which. I've got a '92 shop manual though and will check it out later today to see which it is. That can go bad (I've had that happen too) and then you have no brakes either. I'll also do some digging and see if I can find some good diagnostic info on the ABS system. Don't throw it away yet. It's a really good system. It's just that many people don't understand it because they're used to dealing with a master cylinder system. It is a little more complicated, but one of the best systems that I have driven with.

[92BIRD]

the pump is not running at all ever, we checked for power going to it and got nothing, im in the process of looking at the relay... but it doesnt match what the ford book says, according to ford its a 5 pin relay, mines 4...
So, we'll see I guess.