HELP ME MY ABS AlMOST KILLED ME.

T

T4RSR5'98

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[/B][/B]Everytime I push my breaks in snow I get a weird grinding noise and I can't stop for about 50feet! I almost died yesterday on the highway. Does this sound normal to you. I am use to no abs! So it might just take some getting use to. If I were to disnguage the abs how would the 4runner react? I'm driving a 98 4runner with 256,000km. Our winters are so bad around here. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to look at my thred. Cheers.
 
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oh man that sounds like it was pretty scary? with what you have said it sounds you may have been going pretty fast to get that kind of reaction? If that was the case then yes its normal and its designed to help you have more control of your vehicle in sliding situations. You probably already know this so sorry if i sounds like im preaching the choir but In reality you should use your brakes as little as possible while in the snow or ice. (thats why the ABS feels like its not stopping you.) Brakes can make the situation a lt worse. EDIT: ABS basicly acts as if you were pumping the brakes which can help but raelly instead you should downshift (even in an automatic) and keep a safe distance and just drive slower.
I think everyone has this same experience sometimes. Black ice can catch you off guard. Even then you shouldn't use your barkes but just let of the gas and try to control your slide. be safe out there
 
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To make it worse the ABS systems on 3rd gens blow. All other cars I have driven where I braked hard enough for ABS to engage the system helped the car stop quickly in wet/dry situations as it is designed to do. The ABS on my 4runner will go off if I'm braking lightly and hit a bump and when I could really use ABS it makes the truck take longer to stop and just straight up sucks. Having oversized tires makes it worse too.
 
Yes the abs helps sometimes I'm just not sure if there working full force? Is the grinding normal? It sounds like sand inbetween my pads and rotors when the abs kicks in. Does this mean there faulty? hopefully not. We gt about 4 feet of snow in the winter (yes I said feet). Gotta love Ontario. Thanks to anyone who shares the knowledge. Cheers
 
Pull the fuse as an immediate solution, i almost rolled out into a main road because of it, i was only going 8 mph last winter, and i put the clutch in and pressed the brake, and i heard abs and the brakes did nothing, so i put it into first and and let the motor stop me.
 
The other day I was on a trail in the MTN's in 4 LO with Auto tranny in L. The truck in front of me stopped to look at the Deer running in front of us. We were going no more then 10mph and I almost hit the back of him because of the ABS.
 
T4RSR5'98 said:
[/B][/B]Everytime I push my breaks in snow I get a weird grinding noise and I can't stop for about 50feet! I almost died yesterday on the highway. Does this sound normal to you. I am use to no abs! So it might just take some getting use to. If I were to disnguage the abs how would the 4runner react? I'm driving a 98 4runner with 256,000km. Our winters are so bad around here. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to look at my thred. Cheers.
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Not sure if I can contribute anything to your original concern with the sound other than you might have an actual mechanical issue with your brakes.

To the later items about stopping at slow speeds. Gearing down helps when decelerating but there comes a breakeven point where you are slow enough that now your braking is fighting the idle rpm's. I find that when the ABS kicks in below this point it works better to just pop it into neutral. It's saved me on many intersection slides, especially since this is where most ice buildup happens. It's almost a habit now.
 
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I believe Toyota wanted to kill their 3rd gen customers so they put the worst ABS design imaginable into the 4runners, especially the '96-98s. I pulled my fuse years ago after almost driving into a river and then a house. As far as Toyota is concerned, they told me my ABS was functioning properly, so by that I guess they meant it's normal for your 4runner's brakes to not work and let you crash.
 
This is interesting. Iv yet to experience the ABS on my 4runner. So far of all the vehicles iv driven, I like the brakes on my 4runner the best. Not to sensitive, not mushy. But again, I havent felt the antilock yet. But iv felt the ABS on my 98 taurus, my moms 05 accord, and a few other vehicles, and they all felt as described. Kinda like sand in the roters, and really really loud. So that part is normal.
 
Thanks for all the feed back this site is killer. The grinding noise only happens when the ABS kicks in. Should a light come on when ABS is working? I think i might pull the fuse tonight to see how she reacts. id rather not wait until i crash into someone to pull the fuse. i can always put it back.
 
You will never put that fuse back, it's so much better on snow without it. I'm convinced ABS is just another gizmo designed to help a 16 year old high school kid stop faster on the freeway so they don't have to learn how to really use brakes. Screw everyone else that needs to stop on slippery surfaces. Car manufacturers don't seem to realize that people actually drive in conditions that aren't absolutely optimal, haha. If Toyota ever tested their ABS on anything other than a dry flat road, I don't believe they would have ever put this system in.
 
ABS has always acted like this in other vehicles that I've ridden in and experienced it. Our 2000 Safari GMC van was like that when I was a kid. My mom's Malibu was like that as well. As a result of that and my lack of financial prowess, I've always owned vehicles without ABS haha, and I enjoy knowing that my cars not going to give me problems like that when I'm supposed to just push the brake pedal and not pump it.

BTW. you don't have to pull the fuse to disable ABS, you can simply disconnect the plug underneath the master cylinder fluid reservoir and in doing so can disconnect ABS, VSC and ATRAC at the same time, systems which I've yet to need. (will eat my words when it snows I'm sure (which is why I connect the plug back for normal everyday use).

Hope that helps as well.
 
was raining pretty bad yesterday and i was heading home on small road..car in front of me decided to make a left turn without turning on blinkers. had to brake pretty hard and slide onto the right shoulder. I did notice the pulsing in the brake pedal and felt like there was sand between the pad and rotor. Now i know its ABS and not warped rotors! now what would of happened to me if i disabled the ABS in this situation?
 
All depends if your use to ABS or not. in my case iv never felt this ABS thing before. Just bought my 4Runner and I'm going to be driving in the worst conditions around. Its final I'm going to pull that chit after work. you guys are awesome thanks. this site is %#king awesome. cheers guys.
 
No link, but you need to unscrew the whole fuse block, flip it upside down and unscrew the ABS fuse from underneath. Then you can pull it out from the top and screw the fuse block back on. Pretty simple, takes ~15 minutes.
 
bootown said:
Haha. Pretty sure you're right. In 2000 they had to reassess the situation and decided that they weren't killing enough 3rd gen owners so they thought "we've taken their ability to brake, how about we take their ability to accelerate also" and added VSC for 2001.

OP, pull the fuse. You will never put it back. I am 100% certain I can stop waaaay faster w/o ABS than with.
Click to expand...

:iagree: I'm installing the andymod to fix this lol

VSC / TRAC defeating - is anyone closer? - Page 15 - YotaTech Forums

I would install the Begilmod but I don't know that much about relays... don't know if the andymod applies to your year 4runner but its worth looking into.
 
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