I have a 98 S10. When I turn the wheel almost all the way to the right at slow speeds, sometimes the antilock breaking system kicks in and I have take my foot off the break and reapply the breaks. What could this be? It only happens when I turn to the right.
The antilock braking system is responding to a sudden dramatic difference in the speed of the individual wheels, which is how it senses that a wheel is slipping. Early systems sometimes suffered this characteristic.
The wheels are traveling at different speeds because the inside arc radius is dramatically smaller than the outside one, making the arc length traveled during the turn much shorter. To cover a shorter arc length in the same amount of time, the wheel travels much slower.
In short, in a tight turn your inside wheel is suddenly turning much slower than your outside wheel. Your ABS system thus thinks a wheel is slipping and activates.
This just started happening about 2 months ago. Any reason for the sudden onset of the problem?
You probably have a wheel speed sensor and/or ring dirty. Or failing. You have a wheel speed sensor system similar to the one in the attached diagram at each wheel.
Thanks for the advice. I will look into that. Would this dirty or falty sensor
cause the ABS light to come one? Also, should I be looking at the right side since
it occurs when I turn the wheel to the right? I assume this would be the case since
you explained that the sensor is sensing the slower wheel turn on the inside.
Yes, it could cause the light. While your logic is sound, you might as well look
at both sides.