Looks to me like quite a few of us Protege owners are having this ABS failure problem. Sorry if this is long......here's my story. I hope it ends up helping somehow.
The first time my ABS failed was last winter, somewhere around 27K miles. The brake pads still had plenty of meat on them (about 1/2 gone). I had put snow tires on (LM22s) a few weeks earlier. I very lightly touched the brakes and the ABS kicked in (should not have). The pedal was very hard also.
After this, the ABS and BRAKE lights began coming on simultaneously every once in a while. Sometimes the ABS would kick in VERY prematurely with a very hard pedal. Other times, the pedal would be very soft and ABS would not function. This was on snowy/icy roads but also happened on dry roads.
It was still in the warranty period so I brought it to the dealer. They said they drove it and could not get it (light/ABS failure) to happen. I told them to go drive it again. Then they said that it did happen. They told me that I needed a full brake job (all rotors, pads, bleeding) and it would not be covered because they are wear items. I said no way (cost was insane) and I would do that myself if it really needed it. So I asked them what is causing the light to come on (you know this light can only come on for certain reasons). They did not know the reasons, but then said that it could be due to low fluid level from to the pads being warn. They said they topped of the fluid and the ABS/Brake lights did not come on during thier test drive. Since they did not replace any parts, this was not covered under the warranty and I had to pay 1.5hrs of labor, fluid, and thier stupid additional fee for rags and stuff. I was pissed. I basically gave them my car for a day and paid them a couple hundred bucks so they can tell me they don't know what the hell they are doing. Although, it was worse, they overfilled the MC and brake fluid came out under braking and got all over everything. So they left me with a nice mess. Stupid MFs.
Okay, so I replaced all the brake pads (Hawk HP+/HP), rotors were fine. I hadn't seen this light come on since. However, I had also put my summer tires back on just a few weeks later and of course there was no salt/snow/crud on the roads during the summer. ABS was functioning fine, no lights coming on, this is great. The front Hawk pads (HP+) were squeeking too much so I put the stock pads back on (they still had plenty of mtrl). No problems. ABS still worked fine, until December.
I put my snow wheels/tires on for this winter last month. It's only been a few weeks, but the ABS is failing worse than ever. Light is on almost all the time. If not, it comes on just after premature activation. Then I have no ABS at all, snow covered or dry roads. I have noticed, I can stop much faster on my snow covered/icy road now that the ABS is not functioning.
I think that basically, the ABS SYSTEM in the car sucks. What a brilliant conclusion eh? Heh,heh. I suppose the traction difference between summer and winter tires may have a small effect. Perhaps warn pad (requiring more fluid volume) could contribute also. But it seems to me that this is a controller/valve/sensor problem. I am headed out to the garage to take a look. I'll let you know the outcome.
duff
The first time my ABS failed was last winter, somewhere around 27K miles. The brake pads still had plenty of meat on them (about 1/2 gone). I had put snow tires on (LM22s) a few weeks earlier. I very lightly touched the brakes and the ABS kicked in (should not have). The pedal was very hard also.
After this, the ABS and BRAKE lights began coming on simultaneously every once in a while. Sometimes the ABS would kick in VERY prematurely with a very hard pedal. Other times, the pedal would be very soft and ABS would not function. This was on snowy/icy roads but also happened on dry roads.
It was still in the warranty period so I brought it to the dealer. They said they drove it and could not get it (light/ABS failure) to happen. I told them to go drive it again. Then they said that it did happen. They told me that I needed a full brake job (all rotors, pads, bleeding) and it would not be covered because they are wear items. I said no way (cost was insane) and I would do that myself if it really needed it. So I asked them what is causing the light to come on (you know this light can only come on for certain reasons). They did not know the reasons, but then said that it could be due to low fluid level from to the pads being warn. They said they topped of the fluid and the ABS/Brake lights did not come on during thier test drive. Since they did not replace any parts, this was not covered under the warranty and I had to pay 1.5hrs of labor, fluid, and thier stupid additional fee for rags and stuff. I was pissed. I basically gave them my car for a day and paid them a couple hundred bucks so they can tell me they don't know what the hell they are doing. Although, it was worse, they overfilled the MC and brake fluid came out under braking and got all over everything. So they left me with a nice mess. Stupid MFs.
Okay, so I replaced all the brake pads (Hawk HP+/HP), rotors were fine. I hadn't seen this light come on since. However, I had also put my summer tires back on just a few weeks later and of course there was no salt/snow/crud on the roads during the summer. ABS was functioning fine, no lights coming on, this is great. The front Hawk pads (HP+) were squeeking too much so I put the stock pads back on (they still had plenty of mtrl). No problems. ABS still worked fine, until December.
I put my snow wheels/tires on for this winter last month. It's only been a few weeks, but the ABS is failing worse than ever. Light is on almost all the time. If not, it comes on just after premature activation. Then I have no ABS at all, snow covered or dry roads. I have noticed, I can stop much faster on my snow covered/icy road now that the ABS is not functioning.
I think that basically, the ABS SYSTEM in the car sucks. What a brilliant conclusion eh? Heh,heh. I suppose the traction difference between summer and winter tires may have a small effect. Perhaps warn pad (requiring more fluid volume) could contribute also. But it seems to me that this is a controller/valve/sensor problem. I am headed out to the garage to take a look. I'll let you know the outcome.
duff
