ABS fueses

[eage8]

So i was looking at my fuse box the other day and noticed there are two different ABS fuses. one that just says ABS and cuise control (which I assume is the ABS computer). and the other says ABS solenoid. I pull the cruise control one to disable it, but I was just wondering if the solenoid fuse would disable it too and what the differences were.

I plan on installing an ABS switch eventually, would either allow me to switch back and forth with the car on?

[409industries]

removing either will disable ABS. If i had to choose, removing the ABS solenoid one would be the way to go.

[97ScoobyL]

It all matters if you like cruise or not. lol. But honestly the plain ABS one is the best due to it only killing power to the solenoid.

[spaz_attack]

If you want I can help with installing the switch.

[LPPrelude]

If this is to disable the ABS using an electronic switch I did a "write-up" for the GC8...



After becoming really annoyed with the ABS system in my Impreza I decided I wanted to remove it. Reality set in and I decided to go another route. Instead of completely removing all the components and dealing with the headaches that would follow I decided that I would just like to disable it when I wanted it off and then leave it be for normal daily driving. Best of both worlds if you will.

First off:

Q) Why would you want to disable your ABS?
A) ABS sucks when you are trying to get the car into a slide, it thinks something is going wrong and won't allow you to lock up the tires. When driving in dirt and trying to make a quick turn this makes it difficult and I am forced to result in excessive use of my E-Brake. My Impreza's ABS system is terrible, when the ABS tries to stop the brakes from locking up, the whole car shakes and sounds like metal grinding noises, let alone that I generally will at this point loose control because I can't get the car to slide.

Q) Will this hurt my car?
A) No it won't. I got a lesson from the idiot at Checker Auto about how this will be a bad mod. "It will mess up your computer, it's not good." Sometimes people have no idea what they are talking about. Essentially all I am doing is making the car think that the ABS fuse has blown, therefore while it is "blown" the ABS system will be disabled. Something to note is that if you lock up the tires and are not using the gas at the same time, you can stall out the motor. Know what you are doing before you do it, also if you have never drove a car without ABS I recommend that you practice off of the street. I will not be held responsible for someone getting in an accident.

Again, *I will not be held responsible for anyone doing this to their car. If you drive without ABS and lose control of your car, that is your own driver error. If you don't know what you are doing, then please do not mess with your brake system as it is the only thing that keeps you from killing yourself or others around you.*

Alright now on to the fun.

What you need:
Switch
Wire
Fuse
Male and Female connecting ends (You can buy a pack of assorted electrical parts)
I recommend soldering, never use those wire nuts
Electrical Tape

I used two different colors of wire to satisfy my OCD.

Let's start.
Find the fuse that controls the ABS. It will be under the dash, consult your manual then double check on the car that it is the right one. To do this, simply pull the fuse out and look on the dash board. It should now have the idiot light on indicating the ABS is not working. Your "brake" idiot light may also come on depending on the year of your car.

Next step, figure out where you want to put your switch at. I used a blank spot on the dash, it took some time to cut out the hole in order for my switch to fit. I bought a larger switch because it had a blue light in it. (Which after installing I became very annoyed with it and disconnected the ground wire making the light not turn on.)

Here is a picture of my switch installed in the dash:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/AladogRut/2010-09-26_22-03-35_311.jpg

Now it is time to make your circuit.
Measure from the fuse box to the back of the switch in the route that you wish to wire this up. (You will need to remove the bottom dash panel, also a sewing tape measure works best as it is made of fabric and can bend)

Cut two wires according to your measurements.
Splice (solder) the in-line fuse holder into one side of the wire, remember to cut the extra wire out to keep the two lengths of wire the same. (route to the switch and route back)

Connect the wires to your switch with the female connectors, solder/crimp whatever you desire.

Ideally you should have something that looks like this (my descriptions are bad I know):
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/AladogRut/2010-09-26_21-01-20_295.jpg

Go ahead and use the male end connectors at the end of each wire one the opposite side of the switch. These will plug into the fuse panel where you removed the ABS fuse from.
The fuse you pulled out, put it in your fuse holder in your wire.

Install the switch and route the wires to the fuse box.

Here is a picture of the wires going into my fuse box:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/AladogRut/2010-09-26_22-02-28_691.jpg

Check to make sure your switch works. Depending on model, you may need to restart the car in order for it to realize that the ABS is working again.

Here are pictures, notice the position of the switch and the ABS light on or off.

ABS On/Working/Idiot Light Off
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/AladogRut/2010-09-26_22-03-35_311.jpg
ABS Off/Not working/Idiot Light On
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/AladogRut/2010-09-26_22-03-59_265.jpg

[SubaCool]

Nice write up :thumbsup: I just went the easy route and yanked the fuse. After a while, I've pulled out the "idiot" ABS light bulb too. No problems since. I prefer to have full control of the car rather than rely on some stupid electronics that "might" work on one surface but not the other :thumbsup: Autocross and rallycross are great for honing your skills so you don't need the "old fart" gadgets :tongue:

[Lincx]

I also removed fuse...
Might remove abs light soon...
Anyway i really want to remove all abs system and make custom brake lines.... :headbang:

[LPPrelude]

Nice write up :thumbsup: I just went the easy route and yanked the fuse. After a while, I've pulled out the "idiot" ABS light bulb too. No problems since. I prefer to have full control of the car rather than rely on some stupid electronics that "might" work on one surface but not the other :thumbsup: Autocross and rallycross are great for honing your skills so you don't need the "old fart" gadgets :tongue:

That works too lol
For some reason I decided to go this route instead of just pulling the fuse. To be honest if I had the time I would remove the entire system but I am not concerned with it yet.