Cannot lock up brakes but no abs intervention either

[Todd Black 88]

Ok folks, I think I have an issue somewhere in my braking system.

First, the car has (800k) new rotors, pads, ss brake lines, ATE superblue fluid and rebuilt calipers.

As long as i have owned the car i have never been able to lock up the brakes or get the abs to actuate.(at least i don't feel it) I have hammered the brakes as hard as I could and the car seems to stop quickly, but I cannot get it to start to lock, or the abs to intervene. This leads me to believe there is something wrong with my booster or M/C.

Any ideas?

[KenC]

Lol if you can't get it to lock up, then of course the ABS isn't goin to kick in.

With the car running, press the brake pedal. Does it slowly continue to depress?

[Todd Black 88]

^^^ obviously. Thats the issue.

The pedal feels fine. First pump is very slightly soft, second is hard and doesn't bleed down.

[KenC]

^^^ obviously. Thats the issue.

The pedal feels fine. First pump is very slightly soft, second is hard and doesn't bleed down.

I guess I don't know why you mentioned the ABS. If the brakes don't lock, then of course ABS won't kick in.

I'm guessing that you have air in your lines. It's hard to get all of the air to go through the check valves in the ABS pump, even with a pressure bleeder.

I did a brake upgrade similar to yours and my pedal felt pretty mushy even after bleeding.
I found a couple open roads and was able to do some 70+mph HARD brakes in order to get the ABS to engage and blow the air through. I bled it again, and it was perfect.

[KenC]

Also, don't forget to bed the new pads after you get the system working properly. It's too long for me to write it out now ony iPhone, but just google it and you'll find a lot of resources.

[Todd Black 88]

Yes, i understand. i just put the ABS info in there to keep people from stating "the Abs is to keep you from locking your brakes."

I did bed the pads, and it was like this before the upgrade also. The car has had a track day since the work, so I'll try rebleeding.

I had some hard 110+mph braking that day and it worked, but not as well as I thought it should obviously.

[KenC]

Wow. I can't believe you had enough braking power for a track session, but can't lock them up.

Try a few HARD stops from 70+mph

[Adrian_Visser]

Unless you are very aggressive on the pedal the onset of abs can be hard to notice. I noticed this with my car after I got the abs working again. W/o the abs I had no trouble locking up the wheels.With the abs functioning again I couldn't feel the pedal vibrating like you would normally expect until recently at an auto-x stop box where I was standing hard on the pedal.

You should try disabling the abs system temporarily. Pull fuse 11 or the abs relay under the dash and see if you can lock up the brakes or not.

[Todd Black 88]

I'll try removing the fuse and see if I can lock them up. Where is the abs relay under the dash?

[Adrian_Visser]

Yeah you gotta take the knee bolster off it's above the abs unit next to the steering column. I would just take the fuse out.

[KenC]

I guess it's something to try, but I'm betting against you not being able to feel the ABS. Mine is VERY evident when it comes on.

[AlarmedBread]

Try a road with some sand, or a wet road. You should be able to lock up pretty easily. What kind of brake pads?

[Todd Black 88]

Try a road with some sand, or a wet road. You should be able to lock up pretty easily. What kind of brake pads?

Yeah, thats one thing I haven't done as i have never driven the car in the rain. factory pads

[Kershaw]

you should be able to lock up the tires at 25mph, easily.

just STOMP the brake pedal.

[Massive Lee]

What pads are installed? Are they glazed by any chance?