ABS fault?

[DavidAshton]

I think I may have a fault with my abs or is it just the way the starlet system works? I dont think it is because i dont see anyone else mention it.

Basically, whenever the abs kicks in I loose a little pedal feel i.e the brake pedal can travel a bit further after over say 6 months i eventually get to the bottom of the pedal i.e cant push it in any further and have to bleed the brakes. Its not too bad normally i can live with doing it every 6 month or so.

So with the snow the abs has been going a little mental and has been kicking in all the time for quite a few seconds and my brake pedal has gone from firm and working properly to loosing all pedal firmness and at the end of the travel and not applying the brakes fully in one day.

Im pretty sure this shouldnt be happening and ive not read of anyone having any similar issues. Im also pissed off that ive just had to go out in the snow and try and bleed the fronts without taking the wheels off, obviously its helped but im still going to have to do the full system this weekend now.

Is this a fault or does abs work by letting air into the system, in my head i can see that it could work by letting air in the system to take pressure off the disks, in that case i guess it would be normal.

I normally wouldnt mind running without abs but recently it has saved my beans so want to keep it.

Any input would be apriciated.

David

[paul w]

A leak in your braking system, old brake fluid or a dodgy master cylinder maybe?

[AlexGTAdv]

That definaty isn't normal mate. ABS works by taking pressure off any wheel that is locked up and it does this by the big controll unit on the left hand side of your engine bay. It sounds like it must be the unit itself if it only does it when the abs kicks in. I would suggest checking around the abs unit for any leaks and if you cant find any then maybe try and find someone braking a glanza and get a second hand unit. Wouldn't hurt to get it up on a ramp to check the braking system either.

[AlexGTAdv]

That definaty isn't normal mate. ABS works by taking pressure off any wheel that is locked up and it does this by the big controll unit on the left hand side of your engine bay. It sounds like it must be the unit itself if it only does it when the abs kicks in. I would suggest checking around the abs unit for any leaks and if you cant find any then maybe try and find someone braking a glanza and get a second hand unit. Wouldn't hurt to get it up on a ramp to check the braking system either.