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Thread: How to disable ABS

  1. #1
    Senior Member bzacon's Avatar
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    Post How to disable ABS

    Has anyone successfully disabled the Antilock Braking System in their Mirage yet? Sensha showed me the other day that she cannot stop in wet conditions and almost got us into an accident. Luckily, I was quick with the handbrake and a counter-steer so we were able to get from 50-0 sideways in the remaining 50 feet or so once I realized she wasn't going to stop going the normal direction. I tried pulling the fuse, but that disables everything. By everything, I mean power steering, TCS, ESC, TPMS, speedometer, economy gauge (did not verify but I don't think my odometer changed while I was driving with everything disabled). Unplugging ABS unit with the big fancy lever plug yielded the same result. Lit up dashboard with every non-essential driver assist disabled. Any help getting ABS to stop doing its thing would be greatly appreciated. In case you’re not convinced by the physics that this is a good idea, in wet conditions, a spinning tire feeds more snow or rain under itself, continuing to slide. A skidding tire acts like a squeegee and quickly wipes the rain or snow away and gets down to dry pavement. In wet conditions, ABS is great for handing the steering wheel back to an inexperienced driver who doesn’t know to release the brake, but it also prevents the car from stopping.

    P.S. For any nanny state warriors who don’t understand the difference between wet and dry panic braking, (and why ABS is great for stopping distance on dry pavement, but only dry) save the “why would you want to disable ABS, that’s dangerous!!!” for the Honda-Tech forums


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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bzacon View Post
    P.S. For any nanny state warriors who don’t understand the difference between wet and dry panic braking, (and why ABS is great for stopping distance on dry pavement, but only dry) save the “why would you want to disable ABS, that’s dangerous!!!” for the Honda-Tech forums
    Fair enough!

    Good luck. Looking forward to reading the responses to this.

    PS: And don't forget that the Mirage (and other cars, I'm sure) have a Event Data Recorder.
    Last edited by Eggman; 08-05-2017 at 11:55 PM.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bzacon View Post
    ...Unplugging ABS unit with the big fancy lever plug yielded the same result. Lit up dashboard with every non-essential driver assist disabled.
    Welcome to CAN bus. Every major electrical component in your car is basically part of a network. Disconnecting a major component like that just screws up your network and everything freaks out. That's the low-tech explanation as to why you can't just unplug it.

    I suppose you could try disconnecting a wheel speed sensor. You will probably get an immediate ABS and traction control light doing this...but it might be enough to prevent your ABS from functioning. There simply isn't going to be a way to turn off your ABS functionality and maintain traction control and not have at least a couple of warning lights constantly lit up.

    What tires on are your car? Could that be part of your braking problem?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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  6. #4
    Where's the leak ma'am? Marklovski's Avatar
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    Get better tires
    Fuel Log: Good enough
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    Senior Member bzacon's Avatar
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    Thanks for suggestions so far. Would disabling wheel speed sensors also constitute odometer tampering though? also I would likely have no speedometer. I am still running original RE92's, which seem to be pretty good and have a fair bit of tread left, but I will be replacing them with something 195/50R15 on Integra GSR rims in the near future. Looking at Kumho Ecsta PA31 and Toyo Extensa HP for a good all-season (I may be a bit ricey, but I never try to sacrifice wet performance for something silly like dry grip)

    I'm guessing at this point that the only way to do it without significant electronic side effects is to mechanically tamper with the pump motor or solenoid bank...
    2014 Mirage GLX 5MT Plasma Purple
    2004 Accord EX 5MT Graphite Pearl RIP

    No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. -- That's why Ford outsells Mitsu in the US

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    Where's the leak ma'am? Marklovski's Avatar
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    If you need performance in the rain then why not a touring tire?
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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bzacon View Post
    Would disabling wheel speed sensors also constitute odometer tampering though?
    No...a wheel speed sensor is not what the computer uses to determine the car's speed. A different sensor does that. The wheel speed sensors (there's one at every wheel) just tell the computer if a wheel is rotating...and at what RPM. It uses the input from the 4 sensors to determine how much braking force to apply/reduce during a hard stop. If you take away one of the sensor inputs, the car doesn't know what to do because it can't tell what the wheels are doing. That's why disconnecting a wheel speed sensor would trigger a constant ABS and traction control warning light. Check out YouTube. There are lots of videos on disabling ABS...but it's probably going to be vehicle-specific.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Sounds like you are in the market for a '95 Geo Metro...

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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bzacon View Post
    Has anyone successfully disabled the Antilock Braking System in their Mirage yet?
    Hey bzacon have you made any progress with this?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member bzacon's Avatar
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    Not lately, although with cold weather coming, I should really get on it. I recently upgraded wheels and tires so I'm enjoying better handling and stopping in the rain. Coupling that with a lack of at least front abs would be fantastic. I may look into disabling certain solenoids for a selective reduction in ABS. If anyone else has thoughts, I'm certainly interested in hearing and sharing. I'll try to get some pictures when I go after it. I have similar plans for the power steering.


    2014 Mirage GLX 5MT Plasma Purple
    2004 Accord EX 5MT Graphite Pearl RIP

    No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. -- That's why Ford outsells Mitsu in the US

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