SnowMax3

A couple of years ago I got in to an accident and smashed in the front of my max. It has since been repaired and runs just fine to most standards. My brother had the car over the summer about a year and a half ago and when it came back the brakes barely worked. Now this wasn't from the pads or rotors because they were all brand new. I took it to midas and they said they would need around 1200-1400 bills to fix it. They told me the ABS pump was broken and a new oem one would run around 1000-1200 dollars. Now after further inspection by myself I could see all of the brake fluid running down the side of the pump (this explained having to fill up the brake fluid on a regular basis). I said thank you and brought my car home and sat on car-part.com. I found a use one in good condition for about $200 and put it in myself at the hobby shop on my base. It was a pain in the butt all day event, but definately a learning experience. This pump has worked fine I guess for a little over a year, but I have never heard the abs kick in. About 2 weeks ago now I came up on a stopped car I could barely see around turn and rammed on my brakes. Now there was no ABS buzzing and all I heard was tires squeeling. I didn't hit anything and pulled away in one piece not thinking about it. Two days ago my brake light came on and I checked the brake fluid level. It was down to the low level and now I'm fearing for the worst again. I filled it up to max and ran the car for a day or two now. The brake light has come on again and I can see fluid running down the sides of my abs pump. I think I may have blown some seals or something when I slammed on the breaks, but then again what do I know. This is the second pump and it's getting old fixing it. Could this be a problem with the ecu controlling the abs? Has anybody else had problems with this? Sorry this post is so long, just wanted to make sure you guys knew what the problem was. Help please

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

if the ABS pump is leaking, it needs to be fixed whether or not the computer is working.. at least you'll have brakes, whether the ABS part is working or not. once you get the hydraulic problem fixed, then worry about the ABS part..

(there's a flashing LED on the back of the ABS module in the trunk, and there's a list on the bignissans.org.uk website that will tell you what the sequence means. follow that stuff and go from there.

Cutler

iTrader: (3)

Dealer should look at that, ABS is not something to mess around with

SnowMax3

Ok, some of this sounds helpful, but what do you mean by the hydraulics needing to be fixed. There is brake fluid leaking like crazy from my abs actuator, therefore draining my brake fluid tank and lowering the total level of fluid in this system. And from what I understand, this is what makes the brakes all mushy and why I have to push harder. I don't see where hydraulics comes in to this. Also where exactly is this box in the trunk? Thanks again for the help!

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

your entire brake system is hydraulic... you pump hydraulic (brake) fluid to each brake caliper in the system to squeeze on the pads and make the car stop.

when you've got a leak in the system, you push on the brake pedal and some of the fluid squeezes out of the leak instead of creating pressure on the brake caliper pistons.

my point is that you need to fix whatever's leaking first, THEN worry about why the ABS doesn't do what it's supposed to.

SnowMax3

I understand now, thanks. The thing is I'm wondering why my actuators keep springing leaks. This will be the third one I have to put in this car. I'll start shopping around for another used one though.