Had forgotten how WELL the Teves Antilock system worked!

[drtidmore]

Finally last night and today I ventured out after the horrible ice storm from late last week. It had been years since the Reatta had been on roads that presented slippery conditions, but before I trusted the Teves, I found a nearby, nearly empty parking lot and did some testing. At first I thought the system was NOT working, however, the Reatta was stopping straight-line and shorter than I expected, but I was missing the hard brake pedal pulsing that I had grown accustomed to on my C5 Vette. After several practice runs at ever increasing speeds, I realized that the Teves was working perfectly, just a LOT smoother than I was expecting. Yes, I discovered that I could barely feel a slight pulsing in the brake pedal when it engaged but again, nothing like the GM designed antilock system on the C5. The Teves may be more complicated than newer designs and require more TLC, but it sure performs well!

[Ronnie]

I like to drive the curvy back roads here in East Tennessee late in the evenings in the Summer. For some reason that is the time of day the deer like to cross the roads. The Teves system has saved my butt twice by stopping straight as an arrow and very quickly. I was surprised how quickly a Reatta will stop in a panic situation.

[Barney Eaton]

When the Reatta was in production, the Teves ABS was one of the few ABS units available and was possibly the best. The problem some owners have today is the lack of preventive maintenance and/or just running one of the test that have been established. These test will reflect the condition of the accumulator, which is the most common failure item. The accumulator slowly looses it factory nitrogen charge (over 15-20 years) and the test will give you an good indication of its condition.

If you have not heard it before or if you are a recent/new owner of a 1988-1990 Reatta, flushing the brake fluid is a good preventive maintenance step. Old fluid has little to do with the accumulator condition but it does have a bearing on pump, & seal wear. If there is good news, the Teves unit has several parts that can be replace individually. If you have newer ABS units and it fails, you must replace the entire ABS unit as the individual components have been consolidated into smaller unit that is seldom repairable.

Go to Ronnies site www.reattaowner.com and www.reatta.com to find more detailed information on trouble shooting and testing the Teves ABS units.

1991 Reattas used a completely different Bosch ABS unit.

[Guest wally888]

In the 90's I found a deserted road, took car to 50 mph, engaged anti-lock, held on, then measured distance from start point to complete stop.

I ran the same course after disconnecting the Teves Pump and using brake pedal to relieve all pressure. Difference was astounding! Think I could have stopped sooner dragging a foot! Don't remember the exact figures but w/o pressure was 3x + longer! Beware!

[TexasJohn55]

In the 90's I found a deserted road, took car to 50 mph, engaged anti-lock, held on, then measured distance from start point to complete stop.

I ran the same course after disconnecting the Teves Pump and using brake pedal to relieve all pressure. Difference was astounding! Think I could have stopped sooner dragging a foot! Don't remember the exact figures but w/o pressure was 3x + longer! Beware!

Is that a valid test? Didn't you rob the system of all assist making it basicly a manual braking system?

[Guest wally888]

Is that a valid test? Didn't you rob the system of all assist making it basicly a manual braking system?

Valid test when system fails, hard pedal ! Many have and numerous wrecks were results.

[Ronnie]

I have done the same test as Wally with similar results. It is hard to stop without the Teves motor running but not impossible. I think all Reatta owners would benifit from testing their Reatta in a safe place with the motor disconnected (and pressure bled off) so they will know what to expect in the event the motor stops running.

[TexasJohn55]

Valid test when system fails, hard pedal ! Many have and numerous wrecks were results.

I had a '98 Olds vacuum booster fail, very spooky, I needed both feet to stop or I would have tried dragging them!

[Guest K_lo]

The correct pronunciation is tev-vee correct?

[Machiner 55]

My understanding is that it's pronounced "Teh-vess"

John F.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Machiner 55 (see edit history)

[wws944]

And the other part of the corporate name is pronounced "Ah-Teh".

[Ronnie]

Teves Pronunciation

Named after Alfred Teves.

The Teves Anti-Lock Brake System used on the General Motors A-Body cars is manufactured by Alfred Teves Technologies of West Germany. The 4-wheel system uses a combination of wheel speed sensors and a microprocessor to determine impending wheel lock-up and adjust the brake pressure to maintain the best braking. This system helps the driver maintain the control of the vehicle under heavy braking conditions.

This information has to be correct because it's posted on the Internet.

[Guest K_lo]

Ah. Looks like it's Teevs. Like Jeeves the butler.

[Guest Corvanti]

My understanding is that it's pronounced "Teh-vehs" John F.

that's how i've always heard it!

OT: if you really want to get into car pronunciation, is the Willys (Jeep, etc.), a "Willies" or "Willis"?

[Machiner 55]

I stand corrected.

I 'd originally pronounced it TEEVES until the guys at the local FLAPS damn near laughed at me for doing so. Since then, I've been saying "Teh-vess".

That's what I get for listening to the Hoosiers around here.

John f.