Hi all.

When I got my Disco in very rough shape, one of the wires upstream of the abs sensor connector was cut/ripped off, and I've never gotten around to repairing it, so for the time I've had the truck the abs and cruise control haven't worked.

I'm currently planning to upgrade to the larger defender front calipers and my plan is to also install the matching defender master cylinder to avoid the long, soft brake pedal. I'll be upgrading the brakes to compensate for 35" tires in the near future aals well as the extra gear I already carry and towing a small camper trailer.

My question is, is it worth it to repair the ABS system now or in the future as i assume its a rather rudimentary aystem, or would I be just as well off to get a non abs master cylinder and bypass/remove the pump?

If I remove the pump could I still use cruis control ifni were to repair the wheel speed sensor wire?

I can obviously tell the wheel speed sensor wire isn't a typical copper wire that can just be easily spliced and soldered, what would the proper repair entail?

 

Here's my point of view: I disabled ABS on both trucks (removed pump fuse). Known issue with ABS activating when you don't want it to at slow speed (think parking lots and edge of cliffs). Has been know to cause way more excitement than needed when the truck stops stopping. Lots of info in the Forum.

Prior, I would get the ABS light to clear for a while by reseating the front sensors, but that wouldn't last long. My theory is the magnets have gotten weak over time, so pulses at low speed disappear (looks like locked up condition). Finally decided I could pump my own brakes, when needed. Much less excitement now.

CC does not use the ABS pump. The wheel speed sensor wire shows in the RAVE as a simple copper pair for my '96, so can be spliced/soldered together. RAVE shows a signal from the speedometer, not from a wheel speed sensor for my trucks. The vacuum pump that controls CC is up ahead of the air filter box, under the jack area. The rubber vacuum tubes and plastic tee fitting are known to disintegrate over time, so repair kits are available. To repair, I pulled the pump out, so now it sits where the jack goes. I had to resurrect CC on both trucks by reflowing solder on the CC control circuit boards. Known weakness of soldering those boards from factory, causes tell-tale tiny black rings where solders fail. CC on the '94 went out a while back, and I miss it, so it's on my list to repair.

Hope this helps.

 

The ABS on my 96 Disco gave out last week and just sucked, I lost brake function in a packed parking garage going down. Somehow I managed to not slam into any cars but scared the crap out of me. It isn't my daily driver, so I parked it until I researched the problem enough then decided to go the route of pulling the ABS pump fuse. My brakes feel so much better now, and the slight panic I had from the mushy brakes is gone. I even locked them up on a gravel road just to see what happens, and it still stopped faster than it would have when my ABS was enabled and working. Funny thing is I bought a Disco new in 95 and called the dealership the first week of ownership because the ABS was so bad that I was convinced it was broken. Had I known then what I know now, I would have probably pulled the fuse on my new one back then.
I'm also old enough that I learned to drive on pre-ABS cars, so it doesn't seem as crazy and alien as people made it out to be when I was researching it.