:O\

[Guest]

I'd get a second opinion. If you ABS is still active and connected (i.e., it participates in stopping your car), there is no non-critical part that you can do without. I'm guessing that he said the valve block assembly is bad. I'm not sure how/if that is bypassed, but I'd have to advise strongly against having a faulty one be part of the braking system in your car. It IS the usual suspect in one-front-wheel lockups during panic stops. As I said in a previous post, this problem is INTERMITENT. As such, no amount of testing on deserted roads should give you confidence that it will work straight and true when you actually need it.<P>Besides, if you disabled the ABS, you are driving the car without one of its key safety features.<P>Get a 2nd opinion, and definitely get that ABS fixed or MAKE SURE it is really out of the loop. I'm not even sure that's possible. Others on this board can tell you much better than I can.<BR>

[Guest]

Well, all I know is this: The machanic said that I do not NEED the part, and that if I do NOT get it, I will just not have ABS brakes. Since I don't want to pay $800 for a part I don't need, I'm going to keep it how it is. It breaks fine, but the ABS light is still on. I have not checked the relays yet, I plan to soon.<P>

[Guest wally888]

I would much rather drive the car with no antilock(disabled) than drive it with an antilock that seems to work but has an interrmittant valve block problem. That seems to be the situation that is the most dangerous,a surprise lock up on one side!<BR> I'm not 100 % sure about this, but, the valve block determines when to apply or reduce pressure to individual wheels during anti lock operation.( I think because of the single line supplying fluid to the 2 rear wheels, that, pressure is applied and released to both, no matter which is triggering the signal?) The vavle block operation is controlled by the wheel sensors, the Ebcm, the Bcm and in a round about way the, amount of pressure available in the system.<BR> Any malfunction of the above should disable the antilock features but, should it not be disabled, then receive an erroneous signal from any of these sources, you could encounter a front wheel lockup.<BR>Clarify! Does the mechanic say you need a new valve block or a new ECBM(Electronic Brake Control Module-in trunk) or a new BCM?<BR> I would replace the Main Relay 1st and go from there.<BR> Also why not cut and paste the posts here and add to you original post or maybe the administrators can do so. I think a lot of readers may be interested in this problem and would like all the info.