ZX ABS Retrofit

rossnunn · Post by **rossnunn** » 15 Apr 2006, 23:10

I looked into this today & it doesn't seem to bad.
My plan? To remove the ABS from a 1.9D & retrofit it to my 1.4I.
The only headache that I can see is the driveshafts. Providing you have ABS equipped hubs, but even thats not the end of the would - its all transferable.
The wiring is just a addon, it piggybacks off the underbonnet fuse box, connects to the red connector in the ub fusebox & earths at the local point. The rest goes off to each ABS sensor - under the car - rather than in it.
The plumbing looks easy to, the pipes go through a multivavle on the nearside of the firewall, undo these & replace them with the ones for the ABS.
Even the cradle that holds the ABS unit in just bolts into place.

Now come on its French it can't be this easy can it??

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 16 Apr 2006, 09:15

The question I have to ask though: Why on earth would you bother? ABS is just another electronic "nanny" which allows people who can't cadence brake to brake safely.

It would be an awful lot faster to simply learn how to brake properly, and not bother with yet another subsystem in the car which may well go wrong.

Plus... in certain situations, ABS is seriously bad news. Ever tried driving on Snow or Ice with ABS? you cannot stop! Even just mud on the road can seriously affect the ABS system so that braking distances are actually INCREASED!

Even though my current daily driver has ABS, my next car will not.

PowerLee · Post by **PowerLee** » 16 Apr 2006, 10:28

fastandfurryous wrote:Plus... in certain situations, ABS is seriously bad news. Ever tried driving on Snow or Ice with ABS? you cannot stop! Even just mud on the road can seriously affect the ABS system so that braking distances are actually INCREASED!

True with the older ABS system like the ZX had but......

The newer generation of ABS systems like fitted to my 206 WORK fine in the snow, mud etc.

Yes you heard me correct, ABS that WORKS on snow

The Bosch 2E ABS system as fitted to my old 1995 405 wouldnt work in the snow & I always disconnected when there was snow on the ground, The system on the 206 ( know idea who makes it, aint looked yet ) didnt care there was snow on the ground, worked perfectly everytime.

rossnunn · Post by **rossnunn** » 16 Apr 2006, 12:54

Having done several skid pan training days I know all about ABS/Non ABS the pro's & con's of the system.
As long as you don't rely on it to stop you in all situations its fine. For example you can still cadence brake with ABS & IMO if you are at a point in the snow where you need to stamp on the brake hard you going to fast for the conditions, the same applys for the rain/mud/gravel.
I'm not saying I'm a saint or a driving god but if ABS was dangerous manufactorers simply wouldn't spend the money to develop these sytems.
I don't think you can actually buy a new car now without ABS or at least as a option, so they must be doing something right??

Anyway the whole point is not if the project is worth doing, simply that it can be done, without alot of ball ache or it seems time or effort. The only hurdle I can see is with driveshafts, but I'll be investigating that later on.

PowerLee · Post by **PowerLee** » 16 Apr 2006, 13:13

You would need front driveshafts, Rear hubs.

ABS ECU, All the pipes & electrical loom, sensors, brackets etc.

ABS must be fitted by EU law to all cars that the manufacturer sells over 500 of in a year, So you can have a 1 litre Corsa with standard ABS & then a couple of hundred BHP TVR with no ABS what so ever

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 16 Apr 2006, 13:39

PowerLee wrote:So you can have a 1 litre Corsa with standard ABS & then a couple of hundred BHP TVR with no ABS what so ever

Which makes sense.

The chances are that the driver of the 1.0 corsa knows nothing about brakes, friction of tyres on the road, etc.etc.etc, and simply presses the brake pedal to slow down, regardless of the conditions.

The driver of the 400HP TVR (Hopefully) has a much better idea of what's going on, and can actually drive for the conditions, knows how to cadence brake, etc.etc.etc.

It's good to hear that ABS systems have developed to the point that they are no longer a hinderance in adverse conditions. I wonder if they're any more reliable these days?

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 16 Apr 2006, 13:42

rossnunn wrote:As long as you don't rely on it to stop you in all situations its fine.

The problem is that people do exactly that.

rossnunn wrote:Anyway the whole point is not if the project is worth doing, simply that it can be done, without alot of ball ache or it seems time or effort. The only hurdle I can see is with driveshafts, but I'll be investigating that later on.

Anything's possible if you have enough time and inclination to do it!

PowerLee · Post by **PowerLee** » 16 Apr 2006, 13:45

Its not the ABS system that's unreliable, Its the poor wiring & installation the car manufacturer does that lets it down.

Heres a tip, The Bosch 2E ABS system on the June 1995 onwards 405s & the early 306s is so user friendly it supports dash warning light flash codes

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 16 Apr 2006, 14:20

rossnunn wrote: Anything's possible if you have enough time and inclination to do it!

I was thinking the same thing. Why not while you're at [being hung for a sheep as a lamb] go the whole hog and get the 'lid' off one of those swanky wannabe cool coupes and convert the roof of the ZX...

Andrew

rossnunn · Post by **rossnunn** » 16 Apr 2006, 14:40

because compared to fitting ABS system cutting the roof is a major & costly modification & for the same reason I haven't gone down the V6 route, the insurers would kill me.
But in a ideal world would I have a go? ZX's are ten a penny so yeh why not & I'll be more interested to see yours when its done

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 16 Apr 2006, 21:41

Just a couple of thoughts I've had, I'm not sure whether either is a real issue or not, since I don't own a ZX...

Are the ZX hubs the same sort of hub and bearing setup that the Xantia has? If they are, you won't be able to remove them from one car and fit them to another, the bearing is integral with the hub and pulling it off damages the bearing. If so, you'll need a pair of rear hubs and bearings, the Xantia ones are about £40+VAT each...

I suppose you could swap the swing arms over or even the whole rear axle, perhaps you could upgrade the brakes while you were on. Do you have discs or drums? I could be wrong about this but I think that only ZXs with rear discs can have ABS. You'll have to make sure that the master cylinders are the same if you're swapping discs and drums.

rossnunn · Post by **rossnunn** » 16 Apr 2006, 23:03

fastest way is to upgrade so complete rear beam (discs) & front hubs.