Almost killed a Mustang today with my 2000 Ex!

[Shane]

I was approaching a light at about 50mph and it turned yellow with plenty of time to stop. I tried to brake, but the ABS system kicked in completely, vibrating the pedal and rendering the brakes completely useless. I quickly reapplied the brakes experimenting with heavy and soft/slow approach, and nothing worked. The black mustang coming the other direction turned in front of me, expecting that I was going to obey the law and stop at the light. Finally the pedal stopped pulsing with one more attempt and the brakes kicked in, so I screeched to a halt just in time. Went to the dealership, and the initial report was that there was no code, but the tech was on the phone with the service rep I was talking to and he was definately reproducing the symptoms. So they felt it must be the front suspension/steering causing this problem, or maybe a faulty hub bearing assembly. All of that was completely replaced less than 30,000 miles ago, so I hope not. Then I was later told that their laptop that they were using for live feedback while driving kept crashing, so they were unable to get any data. They want to try again tommorrow. Well, I gotta go home (4 hours away) on Sunday, so they better find something. How could my ABS completely fail like that without throwing a code, though? Does anyone have any idea? Also, if they can't find anything, is it possible to turn the ABS off so that I can get home without driving off the mountain cliffs? or rearending/T-boning some poor soul? or renting a car for an extended period of time? I had a sensor go bad on my New Beetle, and I used my CAN adapter/computer software to shut off the ABS so I could drive it to the dealership safely (again, I'm 4 hours away). Don't have a OBD2 thing for the Ex that can see the ABS system, so I am clueless. Dealership says it's impossible, but I imagine they are concerned about liability, not true possibility. Anyone more knowledgable than I about this?

[BeXtreme04]

Usually abs will have it's own fuse... Not sure if it does on our trucks but if so you can just pull the fuse


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[jesilvas]

Could be a bad abs sensor? I had a bad one and any brake made the ABS kick in. I didn't have a light on either.

[Shane]

Thanks. I was hoping it would be a sensor since that is easy and quick, but I never thought one could go that bad without a code thrown. Makes me feel more optimistic if it has done it to someone else.

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[jesilvas]

I had a bearing seize up, hollow out the hub making it loose and wobble enough to mess up the sensors fins. No codes, just ABS engaging during most braking. Finally pulled out the sensor, and that was it. Just replaced the hub and bearing too so it didn't mess up another one. There are three on there if it's a 2wd, just pull and check em.

[Shane]

Got a call from the stealership. It is the left front sensor. Should be just fine in a few more hours and afer I sign a $963 check. Good work if you can get it, eh? Thanks for the replies.

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