sleeprtsi

Oy vey!

So I got the car a few months ago, finally got to work on it. Replaced the timing belt, water pump, etc, etc...pads and rotors at all four corners and calipers in the rear. Couldn't get good pedal feel after tons of bleeding, so I replaced the master cylinder. tons more bleeding (and taking tension of the e-brake cable) got me a solid pedal. Took it out for a few 2-3 minute test drives and everything felt good.
Went a bit farther last night, about 7-10minutes in, felt like the car was sluggish...then i realised that all 4 corneres were glowing hot.
GOt the car home and this morning everything is free, no binding, whats the deal

MikkiJayne

Sounds like the ABS return pump is dead or dying. I just had this on a '96 - intermittently one or two wheels would lock while it was in the shop, and while it would drive it wasn't happy. The ABS controller was showing an error for the pump (can't remember the exact code) so swapped it for a new one and all is well again.

sleeprtsi

Interesting...I just left the car idling for 15 minutes in park, and brakes were locked up. Without a vagcom, is there a way to test the return pump? Maybe its just the relay?

MikkiJayne

Hmm the one I had in would lock up after you press the pedal but not if it was just sitting there. Sure it didn't lock up when you stopped and you only noticed later?

Is the ABS warning light on? I don't know of a way to test it without VCDS.

sleeprtsi

No abs light or codes with my standard obd2 scanner.

I started it and went forward and backwards a few times without any drag. left it idling in park for 15 minutes as soon as i hit the pedal i knew: way to high and hard. Sure enough, put it in reverse and wouldn't budge.

sleeprtsi

So, vcds needed to diagnose further?

jfrahm

VCDS is probably needed or will be at some point. Where are you located?

I would suspect, in order:
Overfilled brake fluid
Brake Pedal adjustment
MC issue
ABS pump/solenoid assembly

If it's not one of the first two I would not mess with it until I had VCDS to do the ABS tests and see the brake pressure, etc.

-Joel.

sleeprtsi

I live in Western NY between Buffalo and Rochester.
im going to disconnect the Vaccum booster when I get home tonight and see what that does...It's the only thing thatakes sense to me. After that I'll look at pedal adjustment
I'll report back wirhy findings

MikkiJayne

If there are no codes from the ABS then its less likely to be the return pump issue, although I wouldn't rule out something funky going on in the ABS unit. I agree check mechanical issues first though.

sleeprtsi

Pinched off the vacuum hose to the booster and let the car idle for about 30 minutes; brakes were free so Ive found the problem. I'm assuming it just needs to be replaced, so I'm searching away now