steyr911

ok ok, i know i was stupid. i have a 2000 camaro v-6. i thought i could make it to the bank in 5 inches of snow without a hitch. well, i didnt crash it, but coming home i got stuck. so i started rocking the car, got out and shoveled, and kept basically roasting my tires on the snow tryign to get free. then all of a sudden the brake light came on in the dash, and so did the 'abs inop" light. after that the brakes felt REALLY mooshy. like there was alot of air inthe system. i got home, turned off the car, and turned it back on and everything seems normal again. it did it once b4 in the summer too. its kind of disconcerting to know that my brakes could go out at any time. thanks for posting!

enginetune

Don't know a lot about ABS, yet, but i'm learning. It is computer related and certain conditions have to occur for a light to come on. The rears turning and the fronts not, might do it. These systems are screwy and info on them is a guess at best. Even the dealerships throw parts at them for a lot of money and hope for the best. I have also heard of several GM troubles with mush pedal or no pedal conditions due to leakage inside the ABS unit. What happens when the ABS light comes on is an apparent default condition and what goes on inside the controler is a mystery. Either no one knows or they don't want you to know, I haven't figured out which. I wish I could recommend something but any body can take your money on this stuff. Last summer, what conditions caused the sponge pedal? I think you can best diagnos the problem with what you know.

grapony

If the ABS computer see's some wheels turning and others not turning it's gonna think the wheels that are not turning are locked as in sliding. It then dumps brake pressure from the wheels that are not turning to unlock them that's why your pedal dropped. This is how ABS works. You just fooled the ABS computer while you had it stuck. If the light went back off you should be ok.

__________________
14 year auto tech from AL. Ask if you need some info.

enginetune

I have been doing a lot of research lately to correct a few of my own problems and info is limited. I have made a few deductions as to correct operation but nothing actually pinpoints specific intermitent failures. I have heard too often that replacing the whole control system is the best answer. At whos expenceis the part I don't like. As Grapony says, it makes sense for the winter condition. If the rears are spinning and you step on the brake it will affect the ABS. But the pedal is not supossed to get mushy. It should get hard. That is a common read complaint that GM says the internals of the pump are leaking. It would also indicate a loss of brake pressure, somewhere, that would cause the brake light to come on. It is not supposed to happen that way. I would think there is a problem in the Abs unit. There is a way to test it but it has to have the condition when tested to get an accurate result. The summer condition is harder to explain. If the abs pump does leak, and one of the sensors stopped working, the abs comes into play, you have a mush pedal. Sounds like two things defective if what I read last week is true. I think a number of negative letters to the auto and brake manufacturer are in order. I am doing so to try to sort out my troubles, on someone elses trucks but I want to be able to answer there questions with my knowledge, not dealer double talk.