jwframe

I have a 86 300e. At every stop the abs was coming on which actually seemed to reduce my stopping distance on dry pavement. I had a mb mechanic look at it and he cleaned the abs sensors (I assume the ones at each wheel??) This worked well for about a week and then the problem started over again. My method of fixing the problem was to unscrew the abs box in the engine compartment and remove the relay. This made the abs light stay on permanently and fixed the problem of unwanted abs. Any thoughts on actually fixing the problem instead of bypassing it? I search the w124 forum but didn't find much about this.

landspeed124

Bump. I'm interested in the answer to this as I have the exact same problem.

berti_00

hahaah i am havin that same sh!it too WTF.... when the abs light is on the car breaks fine no problem but when i come to a stop and the abs light is NOT on the car hesitates to stop right away i mean it stops but makes this grinding noise which i assume is abs stuff?

anyone

viperuk1

I had a problem when braking at really low speeds the ABS would engage. Really annoying bit of a grinding sound, i believe it was on of the ABS rings had split or some thing like that an at low speeds the sensor thought the wheels were stopped (locked) so engaged the ABS.

We had some bad snow an ice an while going down a hill i had the ABS engaged for a good 10 20 seconds an now it seems to have stopped. im going to get it checked out soon though so will hopefullly have some answers.

berti_00

yah exacly same here... plzz do let us know what it could be the problem would love to know...
i went ahead and bought whole ABS unit but never got around to changing it soo

viperuk1

i think i spoke to soon. was driving this morning an it happend again!!!

will get it checked soon an let you know.

TheGerman

Check the wheel bearing backlash, first.

YNVDIZW124

Bleed the brakes correctly, it should go away. I fixed this a year a go but i forgot how to fix it! I still have a replacement sensor somewhere...
It's kinda scary when you can't stop and it pushes the pedal back at you.

viperuk1

mines not that bad yet just kind of pops on for a brief second, booked in for monday so might have some answers then.

berti_00

my breaks are bled in correctly? but still dono what

Kourier

Here is a late reply..

I bought a car with ABS warning light on, checked all sensors whoch seemed to be reading ok. Its an '87 so its more than 20 yrs old at this point..

I dont have a diagnostic tool so I plugged the sensors one at a time into an audio amplifier much like you would a microphone (abs uses magnetic pickups, small signals like a microphone) and spun the wheels and I could hear it working. (sensors $170+ each)

Since that seemed fine, it stands to reason every sensor has a computer so I reseated all the black boxes behind the bettery (unplug, clean and put back in) and my problem went away.

I even found a slippery street and jammed on the brakes to 'test' the abs and it worked.

hope this helps...

ps2cho

^ A bad OVP will throw the ABS light on even if the ABS works fine. Keep this in mind if it returns again.

I had the same problem on my both W124s when I bought them.

morris374

where are the ABS sensors located?

landspeed124

Two in the front in each front wheel hub and one in the rear diff.

124-Fan

The actual answer to this lies in the toothed abs pickup ring at either of the front wheels. Its either damaged or there is rust inbetween the teeth, fooling the abs sensor.
Fixed excactly this problem the other day by prying out old rust and dirt from between the teeth with a small screwdriver. Then sprayed it with WD40 and brushed the teeth with a wire brush. - Like new afterwards..
Cheers,