i took my 1993 prelude SI4WS to a garage today to diagnose a problem with my ABS. my abs light comes on everyday. i feel some pulsing in my brake pedal, but after the abs light comes on (and the abs disengages) the brakes are smooth.

i have changed all my pads and rotors over the past few years, just for routine maintenance, but since i have had this abs problem, i always kept an eye out for anything that might cause this abs problem. last spring, when changing the rear rotors, i noticed the rear target was cracked, but i wanted to take my car to a garage before i spent money on some parts.

so, today i took my car to a garage that claimed it had the honda ALB checker, rather than a dealer that would charge twice as much. i just wanted to confirm that the rear pulser was the only problem with the abs before i bought any parts. well, the tech report states "scanner detected a code 3-4: right rear ALB wheel sensor failure". i have two problems with this diagnosis that i would like to confirm.

first, if a garage has an actual honda alb checker, they would not have listed a "code 3-4". what this describes is a diagnostic trouble code, which i can read myself from the ABS light blinking, correct?

second, according to my helm manual, a DTC 3-4 actually indicates a rear right or left pulser problem, not a sensor issue. strike two

i believe i am justified in demanding my money back from this garage. they clearly do not have a honda alb checker, and not only that but they mis-read the DTC. they asked for 500 bucks to replace the right rear sensor. i want to not only get my money back, but punish them. any suggestions?

 

id go back in and ask to see their alb reader (dunno what that is actually) and when they cant show it to you.. tell em you want your money back for falsely claiming they had the device. not only that go back and tell them they gave you the wrong information. since you looked up the code yourself

 

alb checker stand for "anti-lock brake" checker, which is a nice little box that honda dealers can use to check exactly what the abs problem is, instead of reading the diagnostic trouble codes, which i read myself. unfortunately, the DTC cant tell me if it is the right or left pulser - they would both read as the same code, while an ALB checker, which expected, would tell them exactly what the problem is.

of course, the DTC for right and/or left pulser is 3-4 - exactly the code they got, but NOT the right diagnosis. they are so imcompetent and i am so angry i want to really teach them a lesson. how........

 

Did you pay with a credit card? Talk to the bank if they don't refund your money.

 

I had similar issue with my 1992 prelude.

Do you feel the ABS pulsating even if you don't brake ? In my case ABS pulsated every time I was driving at very low speed, somethiing like 8 mph, no matter if accelerating or decelerating, braking or no.

Is this the case ?

If so, some sensor has an internal shortcut - it gives such phenomene. The ABS error codes that are memorised are strange in this case or even are not recorderd at all. It means you can have problems, but no ABS error codes. But don't worry if you have strange codes at this moment. Do the right with the sensors first.

The best and simplest way is to measure resistance of all sensors. Look at helms manual what the resistance is supposed to be. Also the resistance of two fronts sensors should not be very different. The same for rear.

To measure front sensors, just unplug the orange plugs that are on underhood suspension columns. To do it with rear sensors, the acces fron under the car is needed: the plugs are behind the fuel tank.


AAAhhhh, by the way, when I went to local Honda dealership here, they told "The ABS pump is to be changed. Cost about $1000" hehehehehehe. So incompetence is quite common..... I resolved finally the problem by myself and by buying a junkyard front left sensor for something like $30..........

 

what does the estimate/quote sheet say that you signed when you dropped the car off?
if it says something like "diagnose anti lock brakes" they did it and you are **** out of luck.
Unless you are specifically asking a shop to diagnose a problem so that you can do the work they are not going to tell you exactly what you need to do to fix the problem, after all they are making a living selling their repair service.