Series owner working on 95 Classic ABS

[NC_Mule]

Helping out a friend of my brothers with her 1995 Classic with ABS. She has had the car 10 months, quit driving it 1 month ago due to poor brakes. She said the brakes have been poor since she bought it but now they are very very weak. I drove it around a parking lot and it takes 10 feet to stop from 10mph. The brake pedal feels fine, feels like it has good pressure, doesn't travel too far or too little...but you really have to put some force on it to slow down. ABS light is on but she said it goes on/off.

I checked both brake fuses in the fuse box and they are good. She mentioned some noise coming from the brake master area, I didn't hear anything. May be she was hearing the pump running? Should I hear something in that area?

Brake MC has the proper amount of fluid.

Pulled the electrical connections off the pump and they are very clean.

Did a search and learned a little but most people complained of no pedal pressure. One owner solved his problem by cleaning his brake pump ground, I'll go back over and look for that. Also read about a brake relay under the drive seat, I'll check those connections.

I inspected each brake rotor/pads and the front look good but both back rotors are rusted like they haven't had a pad run across them in a year or more.

Hearing all of this do any bells ring? Other then run away from this vehicle and go hug my simple little Series IIa.
pb

[slorocco]

Is the pump working? You should hear it run and pressurize when you first start up the car. The pump should stop running when it reaches full operating pressure.

You also should check for siezed up rear calipers. Sounds like they are not working at all.

[NC_Mule]

Is the pump working? You should hear it run and pressurize when you first start up the car. The pump should stop running when it reaches full operating pressure.

You also should check for siezed up rear calipers. Sounds like they are not working at all.

I'll go listen for the pump running. Would you still have a firm pedal with out a working pump?
pb

[slorocco]

Yes, I think you can still get a firm pedal without the pump running. Been a while since I played with Rover power brakes but on other vehilces I can get a very firm pedal without the pump running.

[NC_Mule]

Well I went out and did some checking. I do have power at the pump but I have yet to hear it run. I even followed the depressurize sequence twice hoping to take the pressure out of the system and trigger the pump.

In the trouble shooting section it says to unplug the brake fluid level switch and see if the "brake" light goes it, it does so that seems that the switch on the cap is bad and triggering the "brake" light. That indicates that the pump and pressure switches are good. As the manual says if the pressure switch is bad it will trigger the "brake" switch. And if the pump is bad the system will be low on pressure and trigger the "brake" switch.


The ABS light is on, I checked the connection at the computer and all looked clean, but I could not find the ground. The manual says the computer is grounded to the chassis but the power seats don't work so I could not get good access to the tunnel. The ABS system has codes, how do I pull those?

Think my next step it to free the stuck rear calipers and see where that takes me. May be if I get some more travel in the brake system the pump will have to kick on.

Any idea on how to pull the ABS codes?

thanks pb

[slorocco]

Getting beyond my capabilities now man. Wish I could help more.

[workmeistr]

I’m not kidding when I say this: Whack it with a hammer. This worked for me the last time I tried it in 1998. Sometime the whack will loosen things up; mine ran fine for years afterward. My thought was no $1K part was going to fail on my RR without being subjected to the hammer, so might as well try it first. The pump is an electrical motor that builds up calcium/rust/who knows what. Best of luck, let us know if it worked.

[NC_Mule]

Whacked it and nothing happened, worth a shot.

I think the power circuit has failed, the back brakes are not working at all. Since the pump is a key part in the power circuit I'm inclined to think thats where the problem is. However I'm not going to ask her to buy a 1,200 part unless I know it's the problem. I told her to take it to a shop and get a 2nd opinion.
Thanks for the help!
pb