Mark: Hi, it’s Mark from Top Local Lead Generation we’re here with Bernie Pawlik
of Pawlik Automotive, sixteen time winners for Best Auto Repair in Vancouver - how’re
you doing today Bernie?
Bernie: I’m good, how are you?
Mark: I’m good.
So we’re going to talk about ABS, what are ABS brakes?
Bernie: ABS is short for Anti lock brake system and as the name implies these brakes are meant
to prevent your wheels from locking up and when wheels lock up the vehicle and skid and
it’s a dangerous condition
Mark: So is ABS on all vehicles?
Bernie: It’s on most vehicles, there are a few that don’t have ABS, but you’ll
find it on about 95% of all the cars on the road.
Mark: So what happens when the system fails or doesn’t work properly?
Bernie: Well, what happens when it fails is the vehicle reverts back to a normal braking
system, so the vehicle should stop just fine, you shouldn’t notice a lot of difference.
ABS only really works when you’re in a panic situation, when you have to hit the brakes
really hard, or when you’re on slippery road conditions.
So if at that point your ABS stop working, you have to go back to old fashioned manual
controls which should really work just fine most of the time.
Mark: So I guess I jumped a step there…
so how do ABS brakes work?
Bernie: So basically how they work, there is a computer at the heart of everything and
there’s a sensor on each wheel, so the sensors are extremely sensitive, they’re like on
a millisecond basis, they will actually pick up whether the wheels are accelerating or
decelerating and at what rate it’s doing so.
That sends a signal to the computer, so the computer is monitoring the speed of each wheel
and when you have the brake on or off and how hard you are braking, when it detects
when one wheel is slowing down to fast, then at that point it will send a signal to the
ABS module.
The ABS module has a number of valves inside, solenoids and valves and these can adjust
the pressure to the brake system to each wheel.
So it’ll release the pressure to the brake so there by stopping that wheel from locking
up.
Mark: So that sounds pretty complicated, what goes wrong with these ABS systems?
Bernie: Well, it is complicated.
What goes wrong - wheel speed sensors are probably the most common failure item.
They live out in the wheel environment which is wet, cold, salty, a lot of heat, so wheel
speed sensors are probably the most common failure item.
Next to that ABS brake modules which is the central control unit, either the computer
or the actual valves will fail as well but speed sensors are the most common issue.
Mark: So are these expensive repairs?
Bernie: They can be.
Wheel speed sensors really vary in price depending on what vehicle and sometimes when you replace
the ABS sensor you have to replace the whole wheel hub because that’s the way the vehicle
is manufactured.
It’s kind of common on more American vehicles where the wheel hub assembly has the ABS sensor
and the sensor ring as well.
Now interestingly as well for price, we often think of fancy German cars as being the most
expensive to repair, but often the ABS wheel speed sensors are extremely cheap for those
cars and they’re actually very expensive for Japanese economy cars.
You never know with cars which price is going to be higher or lower than others.
The other thing too that I failed to mention is diagnosis is needed every time too.
So it’s important to find the right component, it’s a computerized system so there is a
scan tool diagnosis and then an individual component testing as well to make sure we
replace the right piece.
Mark: So what kind of maintenance should I be doing to maintain my ABS brake system?
Bernie: Well, there’s really nothing you can do to maintain it because most of it’s
electric and it’ll live and die in its own time.
But one important thing for ABS is to flush the brake fluid regularly, every two to three
years depending on where you vehicle is, where you are located.
Keeping clean brake fluid and water free is really important because the last thing you
want is corrosive brake fluid to start sticking up the ABS valves and that’s really the
only thing you can do, other than that you drive with it and go from there.
Mark: So I’ve been talking with Bernie Pawlik of Pawlik Automotive who just won another
award as Best Auto Repair in Vancouver - 16 times now.
If you are looking for service on your brakes these are the guys to call, book your appointment
at 604-327-7112, they’ve got 5 bays open now or you can check out their website pawlikautomotive.com.
Thanks Bernie
Bernie: Thanks Mark