Abs

[Guest Andrea]

i've noticed the abs going off in my c1 about 4 times, and all on country roads when i have to dive into a hedge to get out of the way of (usually) massive 4x4s ruling the road (or so they wish). on every occasion the abs has gone off, i've been travelling very slowly but still necessary to use the brakes....is this normal?? ie driving quite slowly, and braking.....sounds pretty daft but not it should be going off like this? thanks!

[techbod]

ABS is a funny thing and and mixed with traction control its a total pain because when you loose traction with one wheel like dirt tracking :blink: the light comes on but its not a problem because its doing its job same as the ABS so as long as the light goes off there is no problem :o

[Guest Andrea]

ABS is a funny thing and and mixed with traction control its a total pain because when you loose traction with one wheel like dirt tracking ;) the light comes on but its not a problem because its doing its job same as the ABS so as long as the light goes off there is no problem ;)

 

didnt even notice any lights, too busy trying not to end up in ditches! i think in most cases when its gone off i've been steering in as well so think that's probably the main factor....just found it very strange that it went off and i was probably doing less than 10mph! definitely glad to have it tho

[techbod]

ABS doesn't work below 25mph and useless in the snow so don't get over confident with it as it can be dangerous if you don't understand how this works, I've seen people get caught out by that ;) not to put you off though as it is very good in the right conditions ;)

[downsman]

ABS brakes do have some drawbacks, but 99% of the time they are safer. I think the 1% is when there's deep snow, and a locked wheel is slowed faster by the snow plough effect, not often of use in most of the UK ;)

 

ABS does work below 25mph, and mine has activated at quite slow speed during an emergency stop on a rough wet country road.

 

I suspect that when you have pulled into the side of the road, one or both your nearside wheels have gone onto mud or something more slippery than the tarmac in the middle of the road. The brake force is too high for the wheels on mud so they slow more than those on the drivers side. The ABS computer realizes this and activates even though you were in no danger and would have stopped normally in a car without ABS, because you were sensible and were traveling at a slow speed ;)

[ColinC1]

I have not had many ABS or CSC 'cornering stability control as Citroen call it' operations in two year of driving, so I did not know the light goes on in operation. (cant see this in the handbook, except it saying if it stays on then you have problems ?)

 

But my last car, a Smart Fortwo was forever giving it stability control light flashing, and that happened on Mud slips, gravel, puddles and icy surfaces. But these wee cars were somewhat unstable due to the ultra short wheelbase. I still loved it for all its quirkyness, but I need four seats nowadays.

[techbod]

ABS brakes do have some drawbacks, but 99% of the time they are safer. I think the 1% is when there's deep snow, and a locked wheel is slowed faster by the snow plough effect, not often of use in most of the UK ;)

 

ABS does work below 25mph, and mine has activated at quite slow speed during an emergency stop on a rough wet country road.

 

I suspect that when you have pulled into the side of the road, one or both your nearside wheels have gone onto mud or something more slippery than the tarmac in the middle of the road. The brake force is too high for the wheels on mud so they slow more than those on the drivers side. The ABS computer realizes this and activates even though you were in no danger and would have stopped normally in a car without ABS, because you were sensible and were traveling at a slow speed ;)

 

 

The ECU is programmed to disregard differences in wheel rotative speed below a critical threshold, because when the car is turning, the two wheels towards the center of the curve turn slower than the outer two. For this same reason, a differential is used in virtually all roadgoing vehicles.

 

If a fault develops in any part of the ABS, a warning light will usually be illuminated on the vehicle instrument panel, and the ABS will be disabled until the fault is rectified.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system

[Guest Andrea]

thanks for all of that, seems everything must be fairly normal then (and grateful for it, living in the country there are plenty of hedges to have to drive in to at times)....sounds like the only thing i have to worry about is that abs light, havent noticed it yet though ;)