ABS (Just turn it off?)

Hi
My ABS seems to work OK but it feels a bit medieval for want of a better term, ans I swear that it puts me in danger, when it should just stop dead.
I took the ABS fuse out and it was wonderful, but of course there was an error light and buzz

My question is, is there a proper way to disable the ABS, and would this invalidate insurance?

You'll not like this ... but ABS shouldn't kick in unless you're braking pretty damn hard. If you think it feels medieval then I'd guess there's something wrong with it and fixing it might be a better solution. However, have you ever felt ABS before?

ABS doesn't stop dead, it vibrates, sometimes roughly, and works almost like cadence braking, but to a more measured extent. What it does allow you to do is try to brake at it's absolute maximum force in a straight line. Without ABS it's likely that if you have to manouvre quickly, you'll spin out or just carry on with a locked wheel ABS should allow some steering movement without locking a wheel up.

Yes it only comes on if im braking hard or if im going down an incline, but I really hate it (especially down an incline toward a junction when im not going that fast)

The only way I can think of to completely disable the ABS is to strip out the entire braking system and start again. Once you do that you'll have to notify your insurance company of a modification which alters the published fit and specifications.
Plus, I don't think that they'd be best pleased if you did make a claim and they found that the fuse to the system had been pulled.
Without the ABS system on the Disco 2 being active, the hill descent system won't work, neither will the electronic traction control, both of which use the ABS system in different ways.
The ABS on mine does kick in occasionally, but only on the approach to one particular roundabout where there's a bit of a bump left over from when somebody dug up the round to lay a cable or pipe. Live with it, you're better off having the system than not, but check your tyres to make sure that any differences which there might be aren't the cause of the trouble.

Cheers Brian. I will have to lump it. Cant hurt to ask tho

BTW its a Disco 1 so doesnt seem to have traction control and downhill assist etc

Fingle said:

Cheers Brian. I will have to lump it. Cant hurt to ask tho

BTW its a Disco 1 so doesnt seem to have traction control and downhill assist etc

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You definitely won't have them

Fingle said:

BTW its a Disco 1 so doesnt seem to have traction control and downhill assist etc

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That's why I qualified my statement by saying "Without the ABS system on the Disco 2 being active". I'm not fully conversant with what's on the D1 other than what I've read and been corrected about.

The ABS is helping you and will brake better than you can. If it's kicking in maybe your tires are locking. They got a good tread on? Leaving it as it is will be a MOT failure.

If you want to disable it & have it pass an MoT you must remove pretty much the whole of the system.
If an ABS or ESC system has been intentionally rendered inoperative,the whole system must be removed. However, this does not apply to sensor rings or other ABS components which are an integral part of another component e.g. brake disc or drive shaft
Reasons for rejection
2. An ABS or ESC system component obviously missing or excessively damaged.
4. An ABS or ESC system component inappropriately repaired or modified.
https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/m4s03000401.htm

Whether your insurers will like it or decline to continue cover may depend on whether the fit was standard or optional for your vehicle & whether they understand Land Rovers & modifications. Probably best to ask before taking it off.

ETA. Worst case scenario, in the event of an accident where braking is seen as a factor & the vehicle being subject to examination I wonder if your pulling the fuse disabling the ABS might come back to bite you.

Definitely not going to pull the fuse. I think the case has been well made for it being kept (and anyway the alert noise prevents the fuse being pulled). ABS on my modern car is fine. This just feels more "agricultural"

I've got to say after having two very close calls in my D1 with faulty ABS, I think I feel safer with it disabled. The first time was coming up to a junction on a dry road in the summer, going fairly slow, plenty of braking space and one wheel went over a very small patch of gravel - small as in 10-20 pea sized stones - and this caused the ABS to activate, which was fine, except it then didn't deactivate and it caused me to slowly drift right up the edge of the main road junction with minimal braking.

The second time was when I was pulling into the car park at work, which is slightly down hill and the spaces end with a kerbstone and a 5ft drop over the wall. As I turned into the spot there was some gravel again and one front wheel skidded slightly, as I was braking and on full steering lock, downhill. Again the ABS came on and stayed on and I nearly ended up going over the wall except I was a bit on edge about the ABS so I grabbed the handbrake just before I hit the kerb.
In between the two incidents I replaced two faulty wheel sensors, reseated the other two, cleared all the error codes stored in the ecu (after fixing the faults one by one) and had several test runs, trying to reproduce any faults and seemingly not finding any. The ecu was clear until the car park issue, at which point the ecu was faulty.
I bought a s/h replacement, but after fitting it and finding other error codes even after clearing and troubleshooting, I just have no confidence in the old LR/Wabco system anymore, as when it fails it just seems to fail with the brakes open. And given the age of the thing, there is an ever increasing likelihood the parts will fail as the vehicle ages.

What I totally fail to understand is why the failure mode of the system doesn't just disable the ABS, instead of the most critical safety system of the car.

Fingle said:

My question is, is there a proper way to disable the ABS,

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If you are bereft of reason enough to disable the ABS it's simple but i dont recommend that, better try to figure out what's wrong with it untill then unplug the modulator and then it will not kick in again