Thread: braking problem

So heres my dilema, when i slam on the brakes to make a hard stop, the pedal goes down further than it should, there is a lite pulsing in the pedal and i hear a lite grinding sound.... i first noticed this back in September as I was leaving downtown Chicago on the expressway someone whipped in front of me and i had to slam on the brakes...(they didn't seem to lock up)
haven't had to stop that hard since then, until the other morning when the roads were covered in ice, and then i know the wheels were locked up, at least the fronts...same symptoms....
Is my abs failing??? the fact they locked up would suggest so... when this does occur the pedal feels as though the car is turned off and i'm stopping manually...
otherwise during normal braking everything is fine... the car stops nice and smoothly.
and yes the rotors and pads are all good
Any suggestions???

The pulsing in the pedal is the ABS working, the grinding sound Im not sure. But I know mine sound wickedly strange when the ABS is engaged but the pulsing is the computer pulsing the brakes themselves, engaging and disengaging the brakes rapidly.

If you are not into brake work, then the best bet is to have someone that is qualified take a look at your car.

If you have done brake work before and are confident that you know what you are doing, I would start by bleeding the brakes with new fluid. You might have air or water in the fluid that is causing problems somewhere. Otherwise, just look over the entire braking system to check for parts that are seized or not functioning correctly.