92 Chrysler minivan ABS controller

My 1992 GTRV van conversion (Plymouth GrVoyager) developed brake problems
over the weekend (pedal to the floor, minimum braking)

The dealership diagnosed a faulty ABS controller & offered two options:
1. New controller - $2500 plus. Not much of an option on a fifteen-year
old vehicle...

2. 'Used' controller - $800 plus...however, they said the work would not
be warranted and even if the part they put in didn't work I would still
have to pay. I'm assuming they would get it from an auto wrecker or
other such 'used parts' source.

Just wondering if there is a source for parts like this with some sort of
warranty...otherwise, is the 'used part' route worth the gamble it seems
to be???

Regards,
Cal

 

Go to www.car-part.com and drill down with your vehicle info. and the
part. That will show you every junk yard that subscribes to the service
(everyone who's anyone is on there) that stocks that part. It will only
list the part from vehicles that actually use that same part - usually
that info. is reliable, and errs on the side of caution. You can
restrict your search to yards within your state or region of the country
- and the yard will ship it to you for a charge - typically $8 to $15.
Or you can pick it up if they are close enough to you.

My guess is you'll find it at a yard in the same state as you are for
well under $100, maybe even below $50.

The only gotcha is that much of the price they quoted you may be labor
(don't know the vehicle, but ABS controllers can be a bear to get to in
many cases). If that's the case, perhaps you know of a competent
independent that will do it for less labor cost, and at the least you
will have saved the markup on the $50 or so part in addition to some
labor cost.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

If you go with a new or used controller you are throwing your money away and
it wont have any effect on the problem you are describing!! The ONLY thing
the controller does is anti lock, it has nothing to do with pump pressure .
You can take the controller off the vehicle and throw it away....assuming
the pump and hydraulic assembly are working as designed you will have
standard base braking only.
There is a lifetime recall on the pump, and hydraulic assembly or pistons if
needed.
Your brake pedal didn't go to the floor!! it had no pressure and would not
move at all. Turn the key on and listen for a pump noise just under the
throttle body. Pump the brake pedal to see if it turns on. If it doesn't,
take a bar of some kind and tap on the pump (sits just above the trans under
the throttle body) If the pump now turns on, find another dealer and tell
them you want the pump replaced under the lifetime warranty recall. let me
know what the results are after hitting the pump

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

As Maxpower said it is under a lifetime recall on ABS brakes.
Let cry take care of it on there dime.
Call the 800 customer service no in your owners manual and
Look for a 5 star dealer.

If they do not take care of it let us know.
And let us know how it goes anyway.

 

A little more background:

I had ABS controller issues since 2000 (yellow ABS light on), but since
it didn't affect brake operation I left it alone (the cost issue factored
in too...)

Right now, the pump does not seem to be working (even after tapping), and
the red 'brake' fault light is on at all times...

Dealership report goes like this:
Check fault codes...clear & recheck
Modulator fault still present
Check for leaks...none found
Modulator fault test...defective cab module found.
Recommend replace then recheck.

Where it's at right now...

Regards,
Cal

 

I'm up in Canada...but looks like around $125-150 from checking around...

Heh...the dealership quoted $500 for the 'used part cost'. Some markup!

Regards,
Cal

 

BS!! Why didn't you even try what I said?

I just did a check on car-part.com filtered for Canada. There are 4
listed for $50 CAN - 6 more listed for between $65 and $100 CAN!!

Yep.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

As I said, the ABS controller DOES NOT control pump pressure. It controls
the valves in the hydraulic assembly for ABS feature only!! They never told
you there was a fault code stored for a low accumulator fault which states.
NO PRESSURE. If there is no pressure that fault will be set. Find another
dealer

 

All located in Ontario, 3000 miles away from where I am on the West Coast.
I prefer to deal with people closer to me..enough said.

Regards,
Cal

 

I agree with max. If you don't have any brakes, then you need to get the
lifetime warranty coverage going. The controller is not going to make any
difference.

 

There are 2 parts that are not covered that will get a stiff pedal, the
first will be the Dual Function Pressure switch and the other would be the
Accumulator, if the Accumulator goes out it will cause the pump to cycle
everytime the pedal is pressed. the switch will cause the pump to not turn
on

 

Update: problem has become intermittent...

Went to another dealership, they found a low accumulator fault code, but
couldn't get it to fault again after two days. Of course, once they
returned it to me, it faulted on the drive home...returned to dealership,
(same fault code) but they couldn't pin it down or get it to fault again
after a few days of trying...

Since then it's faulted once more...but fixed by turning on/off the
ignition switch until the ABS pump starts up. Also seems that the
problem occurs in stop&go heavy traffic where I'm riding the pedal a lot.
Other times there's no problem...

Sort of at a loss on what to do here...

Regards,
Cal

 

Did you look up a five star dealer.
Did the dealer offer to fix it for you?
That thing is under a life time warranty as stated in upper post.
Get right on there case and or call the 800 customer service no in your
owners manual.
MT

 

I've been to *two* "five-star dealers" so far...

The first one said "ABS computer problem" & quoted some high $$$ options,
which I didn't take up, so replaced computer myself...

The second (which I used to deal with regularly), can't get the brakes to
fault while in the shop. When I specifically asked about the
warranty/recall, their answer was that the problem could be "one of five
or six things", and that they would be on the hook if they replaced the
recall items and Chrysler found that they weren't faulty. I can
understand their stance to a degree, but from my point of view it
bites...

I'm running out of local 'five-star dealers' to take this thing to...

Regards,
Cal

 

Thats not good to have an intermittent Low accumulator fault because you are
loosen pressure and could possible loose all brake pressure

Once again, A low accumulator fault is a pressure problem.More then likely
the pump is not kicking on.

Of course it happens in stop and go driving because each time you hit the
brake pedal the pressure drops and the pump is supposed to kick back on when
the pressure drops to 1600 psi. The pump will kick on and turn off once the
pressure reaches 2000 psi. The pump is not turning on when it is supposed
to.If you get the lite to stay on and the pedal goes hard take a long
extension or pipe and tap on top of the ABS pump motor ( located just under
the throttle body on top of the transmission) and with the key on see if the
pump turns on. If it does, the pump is bad and will need replacing, (part or
the Bendix10 recall)

 

Not all true MT... A stopped up return filter, a worn out accumulator, a
faulty ABS relay or the Dual function pressure switch is not covered under
this recall and will cause the same problems as the OP is talking about. But
agreed that he should take it back to the dealer be it five star or not and
tell them it is NOT fixed and he wants it fixed NOW!!

Glenn

 

I thought I told you that this module has nothing to do with your problem
long ago before you replaced it??

 

Call that 800 customer service no in the owners manual and tell them
what the dealers are pulling on you.
And then tell them you want it fixed on there dime.
It is under a lifetime recall so get on there case.

 

Yep, but still replaced it since 1) it was faulty anyways and the 1st
dealership had this "do not pass go" attitude where they didn't want to
investigate further until it was replaced...

BTW, I talked to an independent repair shop today & they told me that the
ABS computer needs to be "programmed"...funny enough, it's not mentioned
anywhere in the Chilton manual. So forgive me if I take any information
with a grain of salt these days...

Regards,
Cal

 

Tell me about it!

Today, it faulted after about half an hour of driving, stopped/restarted
a few times to see if the pump would turn on...it wouldn't. Tapping the
pump had no effect. Got back home (carefully!) and waited 3 hours, and
started the van up again...bingo...the pump turns on for almost a minute
and the fault lights go out...Temperature/overheating problem???

Regards,
Cal