rear brakes just replaced, but car kept going!

[dynofan]

This happened 1st time several years ago. After my rear brakes were replaced the ABS light would not go off. Several times the car ran on when I tried to stop, and I almost got creamed. Just had the rear brakes done again a week ago, and was finally stopped this time by a phone pole. All the fluids are fine. It is so intermittent, I don't know where to look?

[JAMAS]

Air in the brake lines?

fat foot covering both the brake and the gas? (this is actually rather common)

[blacksambo]

Air in the brake lines?

fat foot covering both the brake and the gas? (this is actually rather common)

Good point.

[etlsport]

Did you do the brakes or was it in a shop? if the brakes bled improperly there could have been air in the lines or damage to the brake booster. The vx is different in that it must be running and the ABS must be disabled in order to bleed the brakes properly. many people wouldn't bother to find this out before bleeding the brakes and it could have some serious consequences

[dynofan]

H-m-m-m...., first off..., I do have a 'good-sized' foot for a girl. However, I don't ride the pedals. How do you disable the ABS? (The light has been on since brakes were done 2 years ago.) I have one shop that works on my car, and I will certainly ask him to tomorrow how he does it. I LOVE my "baby" but these surprises are tough! Also...., don't call me "dumb blonde," but where's the brake booster?

[tom4bren]

It's pretty easy to pull the dash & just remove the ABS light. Some have had luck in disabling the lite by bending a pin over on one of the connectors (didn't work for me though).

[Etfren]

Did you do the brakes or was it in a shop? if the brakes bled improperly there could have been air in the lines or damage to the brake booster. The vx is different in that it must be running and the ABS must be disabled in order to bleed the brakes properly. many people wouldn't bother to find this out before bleeding the brakes and it could have some serious consequences

Why does the engine have to be on? I did mine back in April, with the motor off, and haven't had any issues. Stops great and the pedal feel is just as good if not better than before.

[MSHardeman]

When I did my brake job and read up on how/why to bleed the brakes on the VX what I got out of it was that the brakes are power/ power assist so the engine needed to be running to make sure that the pressure was up high enough to push all of the fluid/ air bubbles through the system. As for pulling the ABS fuse; the ABS unit itself holds a good bit of fluid in it so in order to get the brake fluid/ air bubbles out of it, you have to pull the fuse to disable the ABS so, for lack of a better term, it opens up and allows fluid to pass through it. If you leave the fuse in then the ABS unit doesn't "trip" and it stays outside of the loop and fluid doesn't pass through it. With the unit disabled, it becomes part of the loop and allows fluid to pass through it. That's my understanding......but I could be TOTALLY off.

dynofan, I don't ride the pedels either, but our gas and brake pedels are so close together that I have accidentally hit the gas a couple of time while stepping on the brake, and it is a bit disconcerting when you think you're just stepping on the brake, but the engine revs up a little and the VX lurches forward.

The brake booster is a big drum that is on the firewall right behind the brake master cylinder. If you open your hood, the brake master cylinder and brake booster are on the right side, right in front of the steering wheel. The master cylinder has the brake fluid reservoir on top of it.

[dynofan]

Thanks for all the info folks. My mechanic is going to do it again next week with the car running. Sounds like most people don't like the ABS, so the fact that it doesn't work is not a problem. We'll disconnect the light.