95 Town & Country ABS probs

Hi folks -

I am looking at a decent 95 T&C that has ABS problems - - diagnosis is
"Front Brakes 20% Pressure - Accumulator pressure down ".

Any ideas as to what this will take to fix? As far as I can tell, the major
ABS problems were on vans before 1995. Otherwise, all the van needs is new
plugs and wires. Tranny recently rebuilt, all other stuff seems ok.

Any ideas, suggestions, stuff to share?

Thanks!

PoD

 

Whatever the problem it will have to be repaired at a dealer.

The pre 96 ABS designs were completely proprietary and Chrysler
did not release interface documentation to the scantool manufacturers,
you cannot even bleed the brake system without a genuine Chrysler
DRB scanner.

The ABS design in 93, 94, 95 were the Bendix 4, the design is fine.

The ABS design prior to this is the Bendix 10, the design is ass-backwards
and although you can keep it running, it will consume repair parts on a
regular basis.

How many miles are on this and what are you looking at paying?

It's not a common failure for ABS in the 93, 94, 95 series of vans.
I'd suspect some shadetree mechanic replaced a caliper or master
cylinder and didn't take the vehicle in to be bled at the dealer, or
they didn't periodically flush the brake fluid and water got into the
system and corroded the lines. Is there any fluid leakage in any
of the lines?

This could be a pretty spendy repair. If it was me and I got the
van for free I might take it, gut the ABS system and replace it
with wrecking yard ABS parts, then take it in for bleeding and
cross my fingers. You really have to get under it and take wheels
off and such and really look closely at the condition of all the brake
lines, calipers, etc.

Both my 94 and 95 T&C's have original factory ABS, no problems.

Ted

 

Thanks Ted. It has 186k on it and it is close to free. The asking price is
$800 - negotiable. For just a few hundred more, I bet I can find a van that
I can just get into and drive.

I have more thinking to do but I am looking away from it, now.

Paul

 

The current owner reports the car does not stop well. I can't help but
wonder if a poor brake job may be aggrivating the problem as - from what I
can tell - faulty ABS shouldn't affect regular braking. Oh well, maybe I
can drive it a bit soon - my brother found it and it is a few hours away.

Thanks again!

Paul

 

ABS has nothing to do with this. Go back to checking the base braking
system, pads, rotors, master cylinder, Booster.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Thanks Glenn-

I was leaning that way myself. I am not familiar with the ABS system except
for what I can find on the web but an ABS problem causing weak brakes
doesn't seem right. The van in question is one I may buy - if the price is
right. I may get to look it over this weekend - it is a few hours away (my
brother found it for me)

I appreciate the help!

Paul

 

$800 is too much for a vehicle with weak brakes and 186k on it. The
other problem is the transmission - you said it was a recent rebuild, well
the problem is you really don't know if the rebuild was done by someone
skilled or by the owner's brother in law Clive with kitchen implements.

Naturally, the braking system is fixable - and in fact, brakes are pretty
easy for a DIYer to do compared to tearing down an engine. But the
mileage is just pretty high. If the engine is bathed regularly in oil it
can
easily go to 250K. But, I would have to ask if the owner let the braking
system go, I'd wonder what else he let go. Is there a regular maintainence
log that came with the vehicle?

If the body is straight with no rust and no body damage that some
body shop has bondoed over, and the transmission has a 50K mile
warranty with 40K still left on it, which is transferrable from the owner,
then $800 is a fair price.

Otherwise, I personally wouldn't go much over $500 for it but it's
tremendously dependent on the condition of the engine. There's a
number of easy tests you can do to ascertain this, and a mechanic
who works on a lot of these vans would be able to tell after 5 minutes
looking it over.

Ted

 

Thanks Ted -

I had pulled about $500 as my max figure from somewhere deep in my head...
I have been a shade-tree mechanic all my life, learned it from my Dad. My
first car in 1972 was a '67 T-Bird with 82k miles on it and rust. I learned
fast since I couldn't afford many trips to the garage. I still enjoy doing
most of my own work, as long as exotic equipment isn't needed.

Mt brother is also a good mechanic although not professionally for many
years. He is a great hores-trader, tho. He thinks $300 might get it.
We'll see.

I appreciste all your tips, suggestions, and advise. I am not too afraid to
tackle the brakes, that old '67 Bird had 4 piston front disc brakes. I was
into them quite regularly. ICK!

Paul