My ABS seems really sensitive at low speeds around town. I can hit a bump whilst braking moderately and the pedal starts pulsing. It happens with the rears more noticeably when cold as if they are grabbing even under light braking.

I know its been wet and icy but I nearly went into someone earlier as i was slowing quickly as the abs just kicked in and the car kept going

 

Any suggestion? 

Its a 1.2 with drums on rear and tiny discs on the front

Drums are "grabbier" than discs; add cold and maybe wet or icey...

i went through all this with my previous vrs it turned out to be front hub bearing moved a few ml away from abs sensor .

or just crap tyres :no:

Thanks for the replies

Yes i am aware drums are grabby when cold so that might not be anything to worry about.

The ABS sensor sounds like it could be an issue how can i check them?

The tyres are new goodyears on the front and are very good, the rears are ditch finders but are in good condition.

I was quite concerned when i stamped on the brakes and just kept going which is why i thought there may be a problem with the ABS as i didnt feel like it was a particuularly slippy road - just about 4 seconds of the pedal vibrating and no real braking happening.

Can i temporarily disable ABS by removing the fuse?

Do you have the same size tyres all round?

"rear ditchfinders" - The ABS is probably trying to contain braking enough to stop them locking up!

yes all tyres are same size

The rears are accelera alpha's which do give up grip in the wet really easily.

The thing is that i thought abs would reduce effort on the rears only not take away all braking effort from all round

Well, I dunno, but with rear drums you often only get 2 channel ABS, rather than 4 channel like the 4 wheel disc cars have.

The thing is that i thought abs would reduce effort on the rears only not take away all braking effort from all round

 

Mine did it once. It scared the hell out of me because I nearly hit a stationary car at a roundabout. There must have been some oil on the road or something. It felt like the brakes lost all power, the pedal went down much further than normal and at the last moment the car stopped violently.

Sounds like exactly what happened to me. Almost no braking and then just as im about to hit the car it put me through the windscreen.

Maybe it was just some ice or oil in this occasion but I'm sure theres something a bit odd about the brakes

Sounds like exactly what happened to me. Almost no braking and then just as im about to hit the car it put me through the windscreen.

Maybe it was just some ice or oil in this occasion but I'm sure theres something a bit odd about the brakes

 

Yes I thought it didn't seem right either but I could find nothing wrong with the brakes. I've never previously had a car with ABS so I have no idea what it's supposed to feel like but it did not seem right at all.

When one of my cars was supplied new, it too had exactly the same problem, in fact it nearly caused two prangs. The main dealer said there was no problem with the car and would not investigate further.

 

I then sent them a Recorded Delivery letter stating that I was going to arrange for the AA to conduct an inspection at my expense and that if a fault was found then they will be liable for both the expense and to rectify the problem, with a further expense of the AA checking that the problem had been cured.

 

They immediately replied and the car was booked into the main dealers, they found that an ABS sensor needed replacing (that's what they stated), afterwards it was perfectly OK.

 

Good luck.

 

DB.

Maybe that's something i need to look at then

I might try removing the sensors and seeing if anything looks unusual

any luck with the car?

Maybe that's something i need to look at then

I might try removing the sensors and seeing if anything looks unusual

 

I wouldn't, you'll definitely ruin them trying to get them out, check wheel bearings and CV joints first to ensure the sensors are getting a consistent signal.