abs on/off switch

[wangmauler]

Hey everyone, I'm new here to these forums and also to off-roading in general. I've had a 1998 explorer sport for about 7 months now, and I'm just starting to get into off-roading.

Anyways, I have a technical question.

I re-wired my abs fuse (15a fuse) to a switch for abs on/off situations for off-roading and winter and/or wet pavement use (stupid abs sometimes not working right).

It works fine, but when i disengage the abs, my speedometer stops working (jumps to 0mph). When I reactivate it, it jumps up (only if i'm driving) to about 50mph then down to my current speed (I have only tried it going about 30mph and below).

Any ideas on if I did something I should reverse immedeatly? or any ideas on if this matters or anything?

Thanks for the help all, looking forward to checking out these forums more.

 

[Blee1099]

Welcome to the site.. In the 98-01 Explorer there are speed sensors/abs sensors in the rear axle.. More than likely what is occuring is the abs/speed sensors being kicked on while the rig is moving. You could do things like completely disable the abs system while wheeling.. You don't need a speedometer regardless when wheeling.. For winter/wet road conditions, I'd rather have the ABS help control the braking in slippery conditions. If your looking to disable the auto 4wd option, considering doing the brown wire mod. Basically it shuts the power off to the ToD (Torque on Demand) Clutch..

 

[hunterdan]

The fuse you bypassed also controls the speedometer/odometer. If you want to keep that setup, your best bet would be to splice into one of the ABS wheel sensors. One of the front ones would be easiest. Or you could just pull the plug for it, which would take all of about 45 seconds to do, this would keep your speedometer working correctly, and transmission shifting correctly. I've been running with it unplugged for about a year and a half now. I just plug it back in for inspection, then unplug when I'm done. But since I have quite a few switches laying around and a good bit of wire, I may splice into the wiring so I switch on the fly. I had no problems stopping in the snow or rain with this setup either. Hope this helps

Dan

 

[gijoecam]

On a 98, the ABS module processes the signal from the wheel speed sensors and outputs the vehicle speed signal to the dash (among other things, including the stereo, overhead console, ECU, PCM, GEM module, and cruise control). When you cut the power to the ABS module, you obviously cut the power to those systems. Not a great idea IMHO.

If the system isn't functioning properly, fix the problem. Keep in mind that there are only two cases where ABS will sometimes fail to stop you sooner (deep snow, and loose or soft gravel or sand). In every other instance, wet, dry, slushy, snowy, or sunny, an ABS-equipped vehicle will stop faster, and you will retain the ability to steer around the object instead of skidding into it.

-Joe

 

[wangmauler]

Thanks for your replies eveyone. Theres nothing wrong with my abs, works fine, but I do a lot of off roading, on loose sand, gravel, and such, so I just need a nice quick way of turning abs off. Think I will keep my current setup, as it doesnt seem to be dangerous