ABS Question
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ABS Question
My wife drives a 2004 Accord (w/ABS) and her brakes locked up yesterday while making a turn into a parking lot (<30mph). Since her brakes locked up she skid/skided/skidded into a parked truck. I haven't seen the bumper in daylight but there appears to be no damage except she claims there's a gap that I think will probably just pop back in.
Is there a problem with her ABS? Does ABS not engage under a certain speed, or while turning, or just for my wife?
I told her to have the dealership check her ABS. What should I expect? Will they just say it looks good have a nice day or can they do any kind of test or extensive check to see if there is a problem?
Is there a problem with her ABS? Does ABS not engage under a certain speed, or while turning, or just for my wife?
I told her to have the dealership check her ABS. What should I expect? Will they just say it looks good have a nice day or can they do any kind of test or extensive check to see if there is a problem?
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Rep Power: 0 If the ABS light is not lit, then the dealership isn't going to find any error codes. It would be quite simple for you to investigate. Just find an empty parking lot to see if you can reproduce the problem. I suspect that the ABS did in fact work, but may have made a skidding sound. ABS doesn't cut down on your braking distance. It only allows you to maintain steering in emergency situations.
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Rep Power: 270 But the concern is that it wasn't an emergency situation. She was just turning into a parking lot and applied the brakes and they locked up. She didn't say if her light was on or not, I'll check tonight.
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Originally Posted by dariusld
Why do so many people think this? 
http://www.mileone.com/corp/info/research/faqs/abs.htm
Do cars with ABS stop more quickly than cars without?
* An ABS is designed to help you maintain control of the vehicle-not make it stop more quickly-during emergency braking situations. An ABS may shorten stopping distances on wet or slippery roads and many systems will shorten distances on dry roads. On very soft surfaces, such as loose gravel or unpacked snow, an ABS may actually lengthen stopping distances. In wet or slippery conditions, you should still make sure you drive carefully, always keeping a safe distance behind the vehicle in front of you and maintaining a speed consistent with the road conditions.
* An ABS is designed to help you maintain control of the vehicle-not make it stop more quickly-during emergency braking situations. An ABS may shorten stopping distances on wet or slippery roads and many systems will shorten distances on dry roads. On very soft surfaces, such as loose gravel or unpacked snow, an ABS may actually lengthen stopping distances. In wet or slippery conditions, you should still make sure you drive carefully, always keeping a safe distance behind the vehicle in front of you and maintaining a speed consistent with the road conditions.
Any way. Bobsagator, is your wife 100% certin that the abs kicked in? as in did she feel a pulsing in the brake pedal? did she hit an un seen patch of oil or radiator fluid? dirt or sand maybe? also, Braking and turning at the same time is rarely a good idea any way, it not only lowers the amount of braking you can use, it allso reduces your turning traction...
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Originally Posted by bobsagator
My wife drives a 2004 Accord (w/ABS) and her brakes locked up yesterday while making a turn into a parking lot (<30mph). Since her brakes locked up she skid/skided/skidded into a parked truck. I haven't seen the bumper in daylight but there appears to be no damage except she claims there's a gap that I think will probably just pop back in.
Is there a problem with her ABS? Does ABS not engage under a certain speed, or while turning, or just for my wife?
I told her to have the dealership check her ABS. What should I expect? Will they just say it looks good have a nice day or can they do any kind of test or extensive check to see if there is a problem?
Is there a problem with her ABS? Does ABS not engage under a certain speed, or while turning, or just for my wife?
I told her to have the dealership check her ABS. What should I expect? Will they just say it looks good have a nice day or can they do any kind of test or extensive check to see if there is a problem?
Maybe it wasnt skidding, it was slidding 
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Rep Power: 322 whats the conditions of the tires? Maybe the abs did kick in but the tires were low on thread so it couldnt get traction that well. I know the 04 tires for the civic suck *** and i started skidding a little only after 20k on them.
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Rep Power: 0 things about ABS you may not know
1. ABS takes longer to stop with than cars without (its true)
2. ABS only works when the brake is apllied as hard as possible (no pumping)
3. ABS will not prevent skidding or sliding..thats traction control and civics dont have that.
4. The idea behind ABS is if you car dose have to stop short you will not spin out of control if or when turning the wheel
5.women suck as drivers (prooven fact... women have more accidents then men but men have more fatal accidents)
1. ABS takes longer to stop with than cars without (its true)
2. ABS only works when the brake is apllied as hard as possible (no pumping)
3. ABS will not prevent skidding or sliding..thats traction control and civics dont have that.
4. The idea behind ABS is if you car dose have to stop short you will not spin out of control if or when turning the wheel
5.women suck as drivers (prooven fact... women have more accidents then men but men have more fatal accidents)
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Rep Power: 813 i'll have to argue #2. In the snow and ice, I only had the brakes pushed a little and it started pulsing. But yea people think abs is so great but really all it does is make it so you can turn better while braking instead of locking up and going in a straight line.
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Originally Posted by gearbox
i'll have to argue #2. In the snow and ice, I only had the brakes pushed a little and it started pulsing. But yea people think abs is so great but really all it does is make it so you can turn better while braking instead of locking up and going in a straight line.
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Rep Power: 270 Well, the Accords at the dealership now so we'll see what they say.
I knew ABS doesn't stop you faster, but I just don't understand why her wheels locked up. Her account of the story is she was making the right hand turn into the parking lot at a normal turning-into-a-parking-lot speed and there was a truck in the lane in front of her in the parking lot so she slowed down a little more, the brakes felt weird, the tires locked up, and she skidded into the truck. Her paseenger side front bumper has some scrapes and is loose, the headlight is pushed in a bit, and the side fender is pushed in at the headlight.
When she said the brakes felt weird, she says it was more of a mushy feel than pulsing. The car only has 17K miles on it and the Michelins look good (rotated about 7K miles ago). We just got back from driving the car to Gatlinburg for a week and I never felt anything strange with the brakes, even through the mountain roads...he he.
I'm just waiting for the call from the dealership saying "Thanks for wasting our time because we find nothing wrong..."
I knew ABS doesn't stop you faster, but I just don't understand why her wheels locked up. Her account of the story is she was making the right hand turn into the parking lot at a normal turning-into-a-parking-lot speed and there was a truck in the lane in front of her in the parking lot so she slowed down a little more, the brakes felt weird, the tires locked up, and she skidded into the truck. Her paseenger side front bumper has some scrapes and is loose, the headlight is pushed in a bit, and the side fender is pushed in at the headlight.
When she said the brakes felt weird, she says it was more of a mushy feel than pulsing. The car only has 17K miles on it and the Michelins look good (rotated about 7K miles ago). We just got back from driving the car to Gatlinburg for a week and I never felt anything strange with the brakes, even through the mountain roads...he he.
I'm just waiting for the call from the dealership saying "Thanks for wasting our time because we find nothing wrong..."
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Rep Power: 270 Well, an update:
Went and picked up the car from the dealership and they checked the sensors, pressures, and did a test drive (i.e. slammed on the brakes and made the toys in the back seat fly everywhere) to tell me that everything checked out ok. Service guy told me that the pedal feeling mushy is common prior to ABS kicking in.
So my account is the wife was going too fast into a parking lot while turning, changing elevation, and changing road surfaces. When she saw the truck, she panic braked and the tires slid due to the braking, turning, elevation change, and/or road surface change or at least some combination. Minor damage to the bumper and fender brace. I'll replace the brace and headlight bracket, throw on some touch up paint on the scratches from the light and call it a day. She can live with the scrapes on the bumper and I think it will help to remind her to slow down when going shopping!
Went and picked up the car from the dealership and they checked the sensors, pressures, and did a test drive (i.e. slammed on the brakes and made the toys in the back seat fly everywhere) to tell me that everything checked out ok. Service guy told me that the pedal feeling mushy is common prior to ABS kicking in.
So my account is the wife was going too fast into a parking lot while turning, changing elevation, and changing road surfaces. When she saw the truck, she panic braked and the tires slid due to the braking, turning, elevation change, and/or road surface change or at least some combination. Minor damage to the bumper and fender brace. I'll replace the brace and headlight bracket, throw on some touch up paint on the scratches from the light and call it a day. She can live with the scrapes on the bumper and I think it will help to remind her to slow down when going shopping!
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