96 Grand Am.....Need advice on electrical and ABS problems

[pclover]

I love the 3 litre Grand Ams, they are fast and comfy, but they are plauged by the same problem every other GM is. In my opinion, GM build great engines, but to this day they still seem to have no clue how to build a reliable electrical system and my car is no exception.
My instrument panel is lit up like a Christmas tree with all my problems.
ETS has to always be disabled cause it malfunctions and retards the timing even in dry weather, my low coolant light stays on, god knows why, the coolant levels are fine. Check engine light stays on, and ABS light stays on.
I definatly have a problem with my ABS, the ABS computer is obviously bad. I about killed myself a couple times last winter. YOu know they are supposed to pump the brakes several times per second, well mine is only pumping the brakes once like every 2 seconds.....The car just rolls....Well, winter is upon us again and I need to get this straightened out. I refuse to put any money into this POS. It does not go into the shop unless it quits running. I change my own oil every 3000 miles and do my own tun-ups.
I would like to just be able to disable or somehow unplug the ABS...I can pump my own brakes anyhow, don't need a computer to do it for me, even though it is nice when its working right. I looked in my manual hoping there was a fuse I could just pull....There is a fuse for it alright, but its shared by other things, so I can't unplug it.........Anybody have advice?

[intimida]

unplug the abs relay that will shut it down.

[pclover]

Originally Posted by intimida

unplug the abs relay that will shut it down.

Sounds great.......Where is the relay located? Thanks....

[intimida]

actually the relay may be kinda hard to get too. on some it is located under the hood on the drivers side strut tower and labeled ABS.if not just unplug the control module wich is easy to get too it's located in the center of the firewall under the hood by the cowl panel it contains about 20 wires. unplugging any abs component will revert you to base brakes. wheel speed sensors in the front are easy to get to just lay on the ground and by the caliper unplug the 2 wire connector.

[Flatrater]

You say your ABS light is on then your ABS brakes are disabled. You say your electrical system doesn't work right I say it does since the lights are on meaning the system is doing what it is susposed to do.

Your coolant light stay son because the sensor is faulty or has dirt stuck to it. Your ETS light is on because you have a SES light on they go hand in hand most of the time.

You have fixable problems yet you refuse to make your car safe. Why???

[pclover]

Originally Posted by Flatrater

You say your ABS light is on then your ABS brakes are disabled. You say your electrical system doesn't work right I say it does since the lights are on meaning the system is doing what it is susposed to do.

Your coolant light stay son because the sensor is faulty or has dirt stuck to it. Your ETS light is on because you have a SES light on they go hand in hand most of the time.

You have fixable problems yet you refuse to make your car safe. Why???

I should have been more thorough in my explanation regarding the ABS light. It goes on and off randomly, as a matter of fact its off more than it is on, so they are working, just not correctly.
I don't follow your safety comment.....How am I not making the car safe?
Disabling ABS will make it safe as I won't have to worry about rear ending somebody because its malfunctioning.
Why don't I have it repaired? Its a 96 with 120,000 miles on it. If you think i'm going to take it into a shop and spend a couple thousand dollars to have some lights on my dash turned off, your crazy. I don't have that kind of money and I know what dealers do to people. As long as it runs, and runs quite nicely by the way, i'm leaving it alone....
There are other problems I have not mentioned, struts are shot, lower control are bushing is bad etc.....There is probably upwards of $2-$4,000
in repairs that need to be done to this car, but as long as it goes, I'll leave it alone and keep changing the oil and hope I get at least 175,000 miles out of this GM junker......Then I hate to say it, but i'm off to the foreign cars....Its amazing the quality difference between the Nissan Altima I was once driving and a GM car.....Night and day....Anyhow, thanks for the advice.....I see your a GM tech, good company to work for, you won't ever have to worry about not having cars to work on....

[axawire]

i used to have a 1996 grand am, it never used to flash the abs light on at all. but it would only pump the brakes like every 2 secs... at most. one time i went in the ditch as opposed to go through an intersection because the abs brakes failed alltogether... no light though, they only applied once and then released. would have been better off pumping the brakes my self. i want a car without computers!!! as a i side note the milage was 120666... spooked me out.

I'm sorry you cant drive this car anywhere the correct date/time has not been set!

[joshuajkelly]

I own a '95 3.1 v6 grand am and I have had my problems. I had a problem with my breaks. Once everytime I pushed on the pedal it was like I was slamming in to a wall. I had a broken break pad. I also learned that my grand am hade automaticly ajustable breaks, all you have to do is put your car in reverse and floor it backwards and then slam on the breaks. I will do this a couple of times when my braks are sticking or squeeking and it works everytime. And about your LOW COOLENT light, as long as your temp. dosent get hot it sounds like you have an air bubble stuck in your coolent overfill scencer. You have a scencer in there that after the coolent gets so low that the scencer is above the water air gets to it, then when you refill it air gets traped in the scencer. You need to start your car and take a heavy screwdriver or some type of smaller but heavy tool and tap your scencer untill the air bubble comes up and your light should be off. You have to do this with the car running though. Sometimes it takes a couple of try's to get'er done. thanks JOSH

[jmc67]

intimida,

I also have a 1996 Grand AM with similar problems. In the winter time, the abs works about 65% of the time and in warmer temps 25%. It is scary when you break and the car juggles until to force it to stop. I had the sensor in the front left changed since that was the code spit out by the computer. However the problem still exists. If I unplug say the wheel sensors, will the abs still work without the ETS or will the abs fail? What if I only unplug the wires you mentioned above and not the sensors?
Any other recommendations?

[GASE 95]

anybody else see a pattern in the 96 GA's?

[justin0717]

My ABS works just fine. 96 SE