ABS Light - Not Sensor

Maintenance/Repairs
, , ,
1

Recently the ABS light came on on my beloved vintage acura legend.



The light resets when the car is turned off.

The light does not come on till I am moving > 10mph. If i sit still no light.

Jumping the diagnostic connector gives a code 1 - pump overrun (meaning failure to generate pressure).



I do not hear a buzzing of the motor when the car is started and find it odd that the ABS light doesn’t come on till I start moving. Am going to check sensor resistance tonight.



Wonder:



1) can find the pump + solenoids on ebay for < $150 - Can I install this myself? Shop wants $350 to install. Do I just need to bleed or some special tool?

2) Why doesn’t the ABS light come on till I start moving.



2

The ABS doeas a self-test.

The first test is for pump/solenoid operation. If all is fine the ABS light turns off. The second test is for the wheel speed sensors. This test can’t be performed until the vehicle is moving. If there’s problem with the wheel speed sensors or the tone rings, ABS light turns back on.

Tester

3

Thanks for the quick reply. The code says that the pump is faulty but the light goes off when I restart the car - which is what you are saying. That the pump and pressure tests are done at startup. Will also try bleeding the brakes tonight (since it is cheap and quick).

Will check resistance to each of the sensors tonight and post the results.

4

I ran a test last night on the ABS pump - trying to bleed it by running the pump by shorting the relay connections in the fuse box. Manual says next step is to try bleeding using the “ALB checker” which hooks to the ABS computer and cycles the solenoids.

Two quick questions:

  1. Can I manually cycle the solenoids without this $1000 tool - the ALB Checker?
  2. If i buy an ABS pump / solenoids from ebay do I need this tool or just bleed by running the pump motor?
5

I just found this question, so you have probably figured out already what the solution is. I own an 89 Legend L that started the ABS issues you are having a long while ago. It seems to be that most all of these cars ABS Pressure Accumulators fail on them and are very expensive to repair. My solution was to pull one of the fuses that powers the ABS pump and live with the light on. You will always still have normal brakes. It was going to cost around $1000 to fix if I did it all myself, I just thught it too much money for a non-essential item.