This is with reference to a 1995 Accord auto. Approx 80k miles.

If I stop the car after ignition and restart the car (30 seconds, 2 minutes, 30 minutes between a restart, the ABS light checks the system and then stays on.

If I start this car after it has sat for a few hours, the ABS light checks and then goes off, I can drive 1000 miles and never see the light. The ABS physically works (have road tested) but if I stop for gas, or groceries, jump back in the car and start it, the light will stay on. Like clockwork.

The light does not come on while driving and if I only drove the car once a day, I would never see the light and the ABS functions normally. This has been happening for 18 months and has not gotten any worse or better.

I have taken to many mechanics who wont work on it because their equipment wont talk to the ECU, even though it is all Honda equipment. I took it to Honda main dealer who said they were not 100% sure but they think it could be a main pressure pump or something and wanted to charge me $3000 to replace even though this might not fix it. The car's only worth a k, if that.

I have no fault codes (I don't know how to find the blue jumper) and I have limited mechanical knowledge and equipment. All fluids are filled up, I can hear the ABS humming when the vehicles starts (for about 3 to 5 seconds) and other than this the cars in perfect condition.

I suspect this to be maybe an electrical problem and only occurs after the vibration of starting the engine? I have an auto electrician booked for the new year.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

It sounded like your ABS pump was pumping but cannot maintain enough pressure in the unit. You may want to look into bleeding it.

 

Potentially, but if this was the case, would the ABS not work at all or not work more regularly?

If I only drove the car once a day, be it 10 miles or 1000 miles, the system would operate perfectly and I would never see the light. Only stopping and restarting the car would show the light.

I drove 200 miles in a trip last week, parked up for 4 hours and drove 200 miles back, the light did not show.

 

Not necessarily. My 96 EX V6 had a similar problem. It went away after I bled the unit. Couple things I found out while bleeding the unit. You could leave the bleeder open for too long and the pump can't keep up. Air may get back in the system. The pump through the years of usage may have weakened somewhat. The brake fluid level needs to be filled to the very top, not easy to do. And it's messy if you don't plan out carefully how to proceed.

 

Okay, thanks for the advice. What kind of problems were you having with yours? I will mention bleeding to the mechanic. I have a guy to look at it next week, he seems to think something is old and worn as hes seen similar problem before (Steering shaft or something or other, cant remember what he said).

Will let you know if he fixes it!

 

My problem was similar to yours. After starting, buzzing sound from the passenger front where the ABS modulator/pump was, would sometimes last 60 seconds, then the ABS light would come on. Sometimes, the buzzing sound would be less than 60 seconds, then no ABS light. Sometimes after driving a few hours, then the light came on. It was random, but related to not enough pressure inside the ABS unit after starting the car. Indicating that there was air bubble inside the unit or the unit simply was too old.

It's important to note that there is no leak at the bottom of the unit through the o-rings. If there is, then there is a famous good write up on how to replace the o-rings for $1.53 in FAQ.

 

I have a 94 GSR, and the same symptoms occur on mine, only that very recently, the buzzing sound is heard more frequently. Once the sound goes away the ABS light goes on. I went ahead and checked the ABS error code and there were three flashes (quick flashes i might add) but in between each flash there was around a 10 second time interval in between. Then the ABS light would stay off until I turned on the car and the buzzing sound went away or after a few minutes of driving. So my question is would that be a code 30? Or did I do something wrong. I made sure to follow this:

http://www.team-integra.net/sections...?ArticleID=493

I purchased the car with a semi-dirty engine bay, and I did notice there was a bit of grease/grime around the ABS unit. The brake fluid level is fine though. Sorry for bringing this back up from the past, any input or ideas would be great, thanks!