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View Full Version : Anti-lock Brakes problem (after an accident)



Fool Otto
12/23/2003, 02:19 PM
I was recently in an accident. A lady ran a stop sign and hit me squarely in the passenger door. She was in an older Chevy Caprice cop car and hit me at (I'd estimate) 30 mph (her car was totalled). Immediately after the impact I hit the brakes as I was pushed into the oncoming lane at the 4-way stop. The VX didn't stop or slow down, so I hit the brakes again - no response. I slowly rolled into a Ford F150 and punched in the front end of my VX. The engine was still running, so I know I didn't lose vacuum pressure to the brakes. I never had a dashboard brake light come on. The brakes work fine afterwards - I drove home with no problems. I don't think that I missed the brake pedal, especially two times. I was stunned for a second after impact, but I'd guess that by instinct alone I'd hit the brakes anyway. The repair shop gave me a WAG that the sensors may have reset after the impact, but they admit that that is unlikely. I'm pretty sure that the accelerometers (sp?) are under the passenger seat along with a lot of ABS electronics. That seat area was not physically affected (ie., crushed) by the impact - at least the seat is intact and not damaged (visually) by the intruding door panel.
So, anyone have any ideas?

BTW, the damages is going to run ~$8600... And the drivers side door still opens and shuts, tight as a drum.

Anita
12/23/2003, 04:50 PM
Just a question... did you hear or feel the brake pedal pulsating under your foot?

That is indeed an unnerving feeling- to push on the pedal and not stop. Definitely ask a knowledgable mechanic and get a sufficient answer to your question.

Hotsauce
12/23/2003, 10:59 PM
If you had a wheel off the ground, as a result of contact with the other car, the brakes wouldn't hold even a little. the ABS ECU would see that the airborn wheel wasn't turning, and interpret that as a tire locked up, and releas all the other calipers trying to match wheel rpm's.

John C.

Fool Otto
12/27/2003, 11:49 PM
Anita:

I did not feel a pulsating from the brakes. I know what ABS pulsations should feel like, but I did not get that feeling. The pedal didn't go to the floor as if I'd lost pressure. Granted, I only had maybe three seconds from the time I was hit to the time I rolled into the pickup truck. But I was very cognizant to hitting the brakes twice and continuing to roll.

Just very odd. Maybe I was just confused, but I don't think so.

Regardless, it is being checked out. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a problem like that, with either a VX or any other Isuzu vehicle.