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Anti Lock Failure?

Mad-Mic

Gone but not forgotten
Joined
Feb 12, 2002
Messages
1,853
Location
Annapolis Maryland
Corvette
1987 Redskin Red Coupe
c4c5specialist ABS Brakes ???

was out at the local hang out and when i left i got about a mile down the road and i heard a double "thud" on the right side. instantly i thought i ran over something. i looked in the mirror and nothing so i didn't think anything of it. pulled up to a stop light up another 1/4 mile stopped and the brake felt fine. pulled off and thought i had a flat tire! well come to find out my Right Front tire locked up and would not turn. to make a long story short i jacked the car pulled the tire and got the rotor to spin freely again. the light is still on even after cycling the computer and even trying to pull the fuse to see if that would un lock it with no go. so after freeing it up i drove it slowly home and now she sits. going back to the dealer either monday or tuesday. luckily i still have a bumper to bumper warrenty that includes ABS! :)

will update asap. does this regularly happen in vettes with 50k in miles?
 
HI there,
It sounds to me like your isolation solenoid, or your pressure solenoid has locked up. When the braking hydraulic system is contaminated with older brake fluid, moisture sometimes create deposits within the system.
With the light on, you should be able to retreive codes, and find the exact solenoid that is creating the issue.
This is one of the primary reasons that I recommend flushing the brake fluid every 2 years on ANY car equipped with ABS. This is ESPECIALLY true for the cars not driven frequently.
Allthebest, c4c5:hb
 
can't get it into the dealership till monday :(

BUT my warrenty covers the power seats (lumbar) and also my power lock that the switch is broke on the passenger side :D

if i have to get rotor's cause the right side is burnt up should i go with 13's and if so do i need new calipers?
 
I'll bet it's not an ABS issue, but rather whatever you ran over caused a crease in your brake line (by bending it, squashing it, or whatever) and when you applied the brake, the pressure was enough to work the brakes, but when you let off, the line was probably pinched enough to not let the caliper free up.

I'd check your brake lines on the side of the incidient to see if you can see a crease or a bent line.

-Dave C.
 
If you get it fixed under warr. I doubt you'll get an option to go to a different size rotor unless you know the dealer REALLY well (like he's your inlaw or something).
 
Grrrrr.....

i'm so ****ed right now. dealer told me to bring it in monday. well they still haven't got it in the damn shop to look at it! i HATE dealerships! if it wasn't under warrenty still i would of took it to another shop to get it done and back with in a few hours.

i told them to fix my lumbar seats also and the auto door lock button on the passenger side. this is also covered under warrenty!

just talked to the service manager to raise some hell and they better have it done tomorrow! i had plans to goto the track tonight and meet up with a few of my F-Bod friends and 2 other guys that has vettes in Deleware that are coming.
 
I used to get all pi---ed off at the knuckleheads at the dealer, but now I'm trying to be really nice.

For example, I just got a call from the service writer letting me know that I need a new control head for the climate control on my 96.

This is their second try at fixing it & they've had it about 6 days total.

Well, of course, I TOLD THEM THIS WAS THE PROBLEM WHEN I FIRST DROPPED IT OFF! (shouting).

I diagnosed it using the great people & archive threads on this forum (& the other one).

I could have yelled at him, you dummy!, I told you a week ago to just replace it!

But I just smiled to myself & said thanks, call me tomorrow when it's ready.

Of course I have several other cars, so I might not be so calm if it was my only one.

Anyway, I don't think you gain much by going ballistic at the dealer. My 2 cents.
 
i didn't go ballistic i was calm and collected but really just mad. i just wish they would of told me they are so busy they can't get it in and i could of made other arraingments. my first call to them to get it in was the 25 of june. told me to bring it in on the 7th of july. ok that was fine. i was under the impression that i had an appointment on the morning of the 7th. this is why i am so mad. they will hear from me when it's done.

BTW i have 2 other vehicles i can drive. my saturn and my C1500 truck so thats not a problem. i just like to drive the vette during nice days and it has been pretty nice the last 2 weeks considering the following 3 months pretty much rained.
 
Hey Mic, if it makes ya feel any better, I took my ET Streets to my tire shop today to have tubes inserted (which should have been installed in the first place!). I got the recommended tubes from Mickey Thompson and took those along with my tires/rims to the shop.

When I got them back, I noticed one of the valve stems was slightly cocked at an angle and I asked him about it. Turns out that the valve stem for the tube has a "clamp ring":
After centering the valve stem, install the valve stem clamp ring.

His explanation was that the tube's stem wouldn't fit through the hole, so he added extensions to the stems and that is what you see poking through the rim - the extension!

Step #1 in the installation instruction:
Check the vlave stem hole in the rim. The hole must be 5/8". Note: If necessary to drill the valve stem hole in the rim, make sure the rim is de-burred and free of material and sharp edges.

So now I'm out another twenty bucks and will probably have to spend that much again, that is if I take 'em to have it done. Now that they're mounted, it's a simple matter of deflating them and drilling the hole, but why in the hell can't they have done that in the first place? :hb

My *****in' is done. :L
 
MM,

Not saying you were ballistic, saying "I" used to do it. In any case I get the impression that "service writers" know very little about the cars.

I was hanging around the service writer office (4 desks at my Chevy dealer) and two of them were arguing/discussing the correct answer to an exam they had to take - a study course that GM makes the writers do so they have at least a chance at guessing what the customer is telling them is wrong.

As a side note - not too many people walk in to the service dept. and tell the writer what's wrong AND how to fix it. I think a lot of the forum members probably do!

Anyway I eaves dropped (sp) and took sides in the debate - One was reading too much into the answers. But it was interesting to catch a glimpse of that part of the service business.

I also like it when the dealer leaves the business magazines in the waiting room - like Brake Jobbers Monthly (made up) - how to increase your profit & prevent do overs etc.:)

I think if the service writers are mechanically inclined they become mechanics & make more money.

The good mechanics at a mid to big dealership probably do ok.

See Ya!
 
ken i can understand that. just makes you mad doesn't it? they knew it wasn't right and tried to sell you the service anyway. that makes me more mad than anything.

Froggy. i'm just mad cause they lied to me. since my car is under warrenty they are trying to get all the paying customers done first. well i will be getting the last laugh when i have my way with them after they are done. their excuse was well the guy that works on corvettes is on vacation and the other guy that works on vettes has been working on the same car for 3 days! :eek

come on give me a break. you can build a freaking car from the ground up in nearly 3 days!
 
I hear ya, hope it comes back fine.:)
 
c4c5specialist,

i changed the header to reflect a more updated picture. well today i called the dealer and they told me it wasn't an ABS issue. there is a bit of a story behind this. when i first test drove my car i noticed a slight pulsation in the brake pedal. after the dealer inspected this they found that the previous brake job did not put shims behind the pads. (excuse me i do know alittle about how they work and i've done my fair share but don't like too so if i sound alittle sketchy it's cause i haven't done front pads in years.) ok they fixed it upon purchase of the car. today i was told it was not ABS failure. it was a caliper bolt came loose and locked the rotor up. well i had the brakes inspected upon delivery of the car by my personal mechanic and he said at the time (20k in miles ago) i had over 70% pad left all the way around. when the brake failure happened 2 weeks ago a guy that stopped and helped me at 1 am was a mechanic at Mr. Tire. a local shop in my area. he said the rotor was fine and pads had atleast 50% life left on both sides. now mind you this was a visual inspection at night with a flash light.

i've never heard of a caliper bolt coming loose after this many milage and they say this is not covered under warrenty. my question is this. are they trying to put the screws to me because my car has been in the shop for 6 days? they only got it "in" the shop friday (yesterday). do i have any grounds to hold them liable for the previous job? (i save all my documentation of any work performed on all my cars) Guardian warrenty is suppose to cover bumper to bumper plus ABS and all electrical. they fixed the auto lock button on the passenger side. the lumbar they say they are waiting on Guardian to ok the work for the power seat. it is in writing that states the power seats are covered. would this be covered?

Thank you for your time! if you don't mind can you state your credentials so i can take a copy of this post to them?

Thanks,
 

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