adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier - Suspension and Brake Forum

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adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Saturday, October 08, 2011 1:25 AM
how hard is this to do? just got the car from my brother and the ABS hasn't worked for about 3 years. the car wants to just lock up the skid on gravel, so i don't know how the hell he drove it in ice and snow for the last few winters..
i'm not a fan of ABS, since it's just more crap to go wrong and cause problems. but since the car has ABS stock, it has no stock proportioning valve in it like the old stuff i prefer to own and work on. it just relies on the ABS to regulate the brake pressure to each wheel.
is there a master cylinder and factory prop valve that will work for what i want to do, or do i need to piece something together and plumb in an adjustable prop valve on the rear line?
then once i accomplish that, is there any way to kill the ABS and trac control lights in the dash?

Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Saturday, October 08, 2011 11:05 AM
Swap the prop valve over from a non-abs j-body. And pull the abs and traction control fuses.




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Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Saturday, October 08, 2011 2:13 PM
What about the codes it will throw?



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Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Sunday, October 09, 2011 12:27 AM
Roofy wrote:Swap the prop valve over from a non-abs j-body. And pull the abs and traction control fuses.


pulling the fuses causes the lights to come on- along with the "BRAKE" light..
i think i'm probably stuck with unnecessary nanny state complexity.. hopefully it doesn't cost me too much to get it working..
Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Sunday, October 09, 2011 11:57 AM
You realize without ABS the wheels are going to lock up?

Maybe some good upgrades to the brakes will help.

With my simple brake mods when it is dry I can not engage ABS, in the wet it takes some very hard braking to engage it.



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Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Sunday, October 09, 2011 7:36 PM
Addicted to meth wrote:You realize without ABS the wheels are going to lock up?

Maybe some good upgrades to the brakes will help.

With my simple brake mods when it is dry I can not engage ABS, in the wet it takes some very hard braking to engage it.


properly match the master cylinder bore size to the caliper and wheel cylinder bore sizes and use the proper front/rear brake proportioning and you don't need a computer to keep your wheels from locking up- you jsut need to actually be paying attention and develop a "feel" for what the brake pedal and car are telling you under braking conditions.. a good example was my 71 Nova that had C4 Corvette brakes in the front with the stock 9" drums in the back with a manual master cylinder and adjustable prop valve on the rear line. that car repeatedly stopped harder and faster and with more control than any ABS equipped car i've ever driven- and i didn't need to worry about a silly fuse popping at just the wrong time or having a stupid light in the dash tell me the system was throwing a fit for some reason..
m ybiggest problem is that my cavvy doesn't even have a proportioning valve at all- it relies totally on the ABS computer to keep the wheels from locking up. but since the ABS doesn't work for whatever reason, it likes to lock up the wheels on even the lightest stops if there is any amount of gravel on the road.. i'd prefer to just ditch the system altogether and not have to worry about it. but if i just need to solder in the LF wheel harness and make everything work, i'll live with the ABS until spring and then look at getting rid of it then.

what was the last year that Cavaliers didn't have ABS standard? i know the master cylinder in the 97 i had a couple of years ago looked exactly like the master cylinder in the 87 Celebrity i had, except it had the ABS crap hooked up to it.. the ABS system worked perfectly in that car, so i never thought about ditching it. maybe i can use a Celebrity master cylinder and prop valve plumbed into the Cavvy, with an adjustable prop valve on the rear brake line for a little bit of adjustability..
Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 6:32 PM
The ABS unit has the proportioning built in, just like the non ABS block. With the right tools the ABS can be removed from the programing in the car.



Re: adding simplicity by killing the ABS on an 04 Cavalier
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 6:38 PM
I locked up my wheels with ABS a couple times with a quick jab to the brakes.

Pulled the ABS crap out and hasnt happed the couple times I tested it.


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