About 4 days ago it rained hard in this area. Since that day, the anti-lock brakes on my '89 Max have been malfunctioning.

The anti-lock feature kicks in when I come to a stop and when I'm traveling under 5 miles an hour. What happens is that I press on the brake and just before the car comes to a stop, the anti-lock kicks in and releases the grip of the front calipers. It also makes a funny sqeak sound as it malfunctions.

I don't know why this is happening at very slow speeds and under totally dry conditions. Does anybody know what's wrong? Thanks.

 

hmm... you sure you got abs? i didnt think they had it till 91? ...

 

i have a 90se and it has them, i think only the se's had them, and few of them becasue it was an expensive option

 

According to the FSM:
1 - check for foreign material and clearance of the sensors at the wheel (0.008 - 0.039 in)
2 - Proper grounding (0 ohms) of the sensor wire shields (on strut towers).

 

considering that it is a saftly equipment failure you should take it to the dealer for trouble shooting and repair.

Fro

 

I betcha anything that either your left or right front wheel speed sensor has bit the dust. Somehow water gets in there and corrodes the wires. To be sure, measure the resistance of the two sensors at the harness connector on the strut tower inside the engine compartment. If you can't get continuity between .8 -1.2 K ohms, you got a bad sensor. Has happened to me and others on this board.

 

Thanks for the tip... Any idea as to how much a new sensor would be and are they difficult to replace? Thanks again.

 

From a dealer 350+, from courtesy 250+, from a junkyard 20+... Takes maybe a half hour max.