916 series gtv/spider abs

[Cool Jesus]

Morning troops, having had the spider off the road for some time (soon to be rectified) I've been tinkering with the few niggles I have with it. One of which is the Bosch 5.3 ABS. I've had the control unit serviced and renewed by Dr ABS. Nice old south american chap who tells me he restores the control units to better than new, hence the 2yr warranty. Anyhow, having reinstalled the control unit I was still receiving the ABS warning. Managed to get the car to Dr ABS to either get my money back or resolve the error. Turns out one of my front ABS sensors is faulty, giving a higher than normal resistance reading, hence the ABS she no work...

I was hoping to see if anyone had a spare front sensor for this series GTV/Spider, perhaps a vehicle being wrecked for parts? Its the 2 pin style with the white (yellowed with time) connector in the engine bay. The magnetic pickup is the fatter style, not the long slender unit for the later series models.

A tip from Dr ABS from my last visit with him, he mentioned he was receiving many repairs with the ABS warning activiting after brake pad servicing involving owners (and within the trades) forcing the brake pads apart when installing new ones. Apparently you should crack the bleed nipple to alleviate any back pressure in the ABS system and allow some fluid to escape via the nipple when pulling apart the pads off the disc. Apartently the one way valving in the line or pump internals can be comprimised. He asked me if I do this and having just recently changed the pads, D'oh, I do remmeber they were unusually difficult to pry apart. Hopefully I didn't stuff the valving???

[colcol]

Good tip Cool Jesus about opening the bleed valve to let the pistons go back to accomodate the new thicker pads, never heard of this one, but makes perfect sense, should bleed the brakes every few years to keep the fluid nice and fresh, so that the ABS unit doesn't rust up, and those one man bleeders with the little bottles are good as well, particulary if you don't have any freinds......to help you, Colin.

[Cool Jesus]

Holly crap I imparted some knowledge to col-be-one kanobe, always learning I guess. Will be flushing the brake system this weekend after replacing the clutch thrust/slave cylinder (slave cylinder kaput) on my daughters 147. Alfa must have had an absolute belly full of laughs with that design.

[mikeinoz]

Hi, I have just been reading about your ABS repair and I have the same problem, Do you have the contact details for the DR ABS please.

Cheers Mike

[Cool Jesus]

It's a pity your so far away. I would have suggested you drop by first before you pulled anything out.

Here's the link http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Doctor-ABS

Carlos is a retired technician and I believe he does this to keep himself occupied. Very knowledgable and he backs his work up with a 2 year warranty.

This isn't bad timing actually I've just ordered a front sensor to confirm Carlos' diagnoses and hopefully wrap up this thread.