Anti-Lock Braking (ABS) – What Does it do..

Anti-Lock (ABS) Braking – What Does it do..

By law if you own a car manufactured after 2003 it should have an anti-lock braking system (ABS).
The Anti-lock braking system (ABS) is designed to prevent the vehicle wheels from locking up (stopping completely) when braking heavily on wet, slippery or loose gradient road surfaces. Without ABS the vehicle tyres lock-up (stop) causing a loss of traction with the road, potentially losing complete control of your vehicle.
The ABS that we use today is controlled electronically by an ECU and speed sensor readings from individual wheels..

The theory of ABS operation.
When braking heavily or emergency braking, the ABS system will apply the maximum amount of braking possible and varying the brake fluid pressure so that the vehicle wheels do not lock-up.
In addition to allowing you to safely bring your vehicle to a complete stop, ABS also allows you to manoeuvre your vehicle whilst braking heavily, allowing you to avoid something should you need to… Something that vehicles with no ABS would not be able to do and consequently lose total control and possibly via off the road skidding dangerously.
ABS can also be of value in wet and slippery and conditions, where even light braking can cause issues, the ABS will sense when a wheel loses grip with the road and again start to vary the braking of necessary wheel(s) to maintain stability.
How does ABS work?
ABS ECU monitors the speed at which each wheel is rotating via a tone ring and magnetic speed sensor at each wheel. When a locks up occurs, wheel speed information is sent to the electronic control unit (ECU) which is in control of the ABS, it knows that the brakes are no longer effective on that wheel and the system then uses the distribution block and pump to modulate the braking performance of brake caliper(s) on the vehicle wheel in order to allow rotation and resolve traction loss.
The ABS will keep reapplying and releasing (this causes the vehicle brake pedal to shudder) the brakes on that wheel in extremely quick succession in order to bring the car to a stop without further loss of traction. Should the ABS ECU detect any fault in the system it will illuminate a tell-tale light on the dashboard to make the driver aware and to have the system checked and repaired by an Autobahn technician as soon as possible!
It is also important to remember that for the ABS to work satisfactorily the other components of the braking system need to be of good service..

An Autobahn professional technician can advise you on the correct service procedures for ABS and repair your braking system.