Hoodun,

No, the 6 solenoid valves all relate to the wheels. There are 3 inlet and 3 outlet. 4 of the valves are front wheels (2 left and 2 right) and 2 relate to a single feed to the rear.

Read through the very comprehensive section of the workshop manual on the ABS brakes and you'll understand the system better.

If you have a resistance or voltage failure on a solenoid it would take out the ABS, illuminate the light and the pedal would almost definitely get harder.

You can theoretically get a soft pedal and no ABS light with a small amount of air on the LP side of the system which requires an LP side bleed.

My suggestion is start off by running the 32 diagnostic tests on the ecu as defined in the manual. Only after successful completion of those tests would I start looking at the mechanical / fluid side.

Good luck

Paul

 

That makes sense. So its just a typical master cylinder, pump, and rear (acc ball) assist ?. The accumulator works with the sensors to provide the abs.

So it would have to be air in the system to get total brake failure.

 

hoodun,

No, it's far different to that. It doesn't have a typical master cylinder at all. It uses a complex actation unit with a primary boost and secondary (master) piston. The rear brakes are dynamic at all times, the fronts are static and then supplemented with dynamic under ABS conditions. The accumulator is working with the pump to create a reservoir of pressure to support the driving of the dynamic rear brakes only. This is why you don't bleed the rears with the use of the brake pedal.

You really need to read the section of the manual to understand the Teves ABS brakes. It's why so many owners struggle to understand and fix any problems with the brakes.

Cheers

Paul

 

It seems the problems are similar. If I let my car sit, is when the problem arises. I have been driving it consistently since the incident so its been working fine. I do fear if I let it sit for a month, I could be pulling out of my driveway with total brake loss again. I tried pumping the brakes a few times before having to shift it in low gear and hit the e brake to avoid being side swiped by traffic.

I have to read the manual on the Teves system. I though I had somewhat of an understanding of it.

I should note when I bled the brakes, I did not do a half *** job. I did it with the ignition on for the rears and someone pumping the pedal for the fronts. It required a lot of attempts to get it to flow. Apparently even then, thinking all the air was out and the fluid was flowing, I had a failure. I had to pump the brakes about 1000 times. This is no exaggeration and if anything a low ball number. I had a friend who rebuilds cars over and he sat there with me for hours while we just bled and bled and bled the brakes. This is after the brake failure, and after I bled them until it free flowed seemingly free of air. When I thought it was free of air the forth attempt (I replaced calipers and hoses at different intervals....), I spent another 45m continuing to bleed them. It seems to have worked, I will know for sure when it sits for a month or two.

 

You could have a small 'Air Leak' in one of the Unions where the metal pipes go into the Callipers or join onto the Flexible Brake hoses.

Once you have disturbed them, they may not go back the same as they came out and as such may not be completely 'Air Tight'

When I replaced my Callipers, I also replaced the old metal pipes with new ones made from the 'Copper Type' of Brake Pipe, which I made up with one of those 'Diy Brake Pipe Kits'

I'm starting to think that this might be your problem.

 

These solenoids allow the brake fluid pressure to "relieve"? on the wheel that is locking up. The pressure is relieved back into the reservoir. If one sticks, from what I've read, you lose all braking pressure. A design flaw for sure, but in another thread, we see where the sloenoids are tested, taken apart, cleaned, rewired?, and all is well again. Looking at the pics, it appears that moisture contamination is the culprit. How else could these solenoids look rusty?

 

hoodun,

Is there any chance that you've ever let air get into the LP side of the system? If so, have you bled the LP side of the system before you bleed the wheel circuits? If you have air trapped in the LP side, you can bleed the wheel circuits all day and you still won't get rid of the problem. It's a simple principle. The LP side comes before the HP side. If you don't have a sound fluid flow on the LP side, you can't properly bleed the HP side.

Good luck

Paul

 

I did bleed the whole system. Maybe I did not do it right.? I tried to be very thorough. The thing is they worked fine. I drove it everyday before it sat in the driveway.

Maybe someone tampered with my brakes? We do get motorcycles stolen out of our driveway... I dont know at this point.

 

hoodun,

You do know that bleeding the LP side of the system is completely different to bleeding the wheel circuits? If there is any chance that air has entered on the LP side, you HAVE to bleed the LP side before you bleed any of the wheel circuits.

Paul