2nd winter never had a problem

 

In my case, how would ice form on the rotors after 4 hours of highway driving? They were wayyy to hot to harbor any ice.

 

crap, and i thought the case was solved. how about this theory then since i've gained a little knowledge on how the ABS works. when you brake and hit ice and slide a little, the abs thinks your wheel is locking up and kicks in at say 50% allowing you to steer clear of your trouble. oppinions?

 

it WAS the abs

 

can you elaborate. my knowledge of the abs system is pretty much limited to the 4 posts on this thread i've read.

 

My car hates the winter. I get the same problem since its gotten cold + my doors wont open, my driver side windows wont go down, I get the loudest sweaking noise from my timing belt once im in first gear for the first 100yards of driving, howling clutch. I think im gonna have to get a winter beater. Would it matter if my car was originally from cali?

 

I'm pretty sure it was the ABS that was freaking out on our EVOs. It probably didn't know what to think when the wheels locked up and just went nuts.

 

ABS basically works like this: There is a ring of teeth on the disk and a magnetic pickup that reacts to each tooth as the ring and disk are spinning. The magnetic pickup sends an electrical pulse to the ECU each time a tooth is sensed. When the pulse frequency gets lower than a certain value for a given condition, that input, along with steering angle, speed, rpm, pedal position, etc determine whether to activate the ABS and with the Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBFD), to which wheel.

Most people drive around happily not using ABS. You actually should activate your ABS once in a while not only to get a feel for it, but to let the fluid circulate through the solenoids to avoid corrosion from built-up moisture trapped in the brake fluid, and to get the moving parts lubricated.

What I am convinced you experienced was in fact the ABS pulsing. It pulses so quickly it sounds like grinding, but it is not. Last winter I noticed the Evo's ABS pulses so quickly that in the snow and ice it doesn't work well at all. The thing that makes it work so well on dry and wet pavement also doesn't let the tires scrape up enough moisture/snow off the ground to pile in front of them and cause enough friction to stop. I pulled the ABS fuse out and it worked a lot better, although I had that ABS warning light staring at me all the time.

BTW if you are driving on snow or ice with the stock Advas, you might as well replace your tires with ice skates. There is no traction at all ever, as your driver's side door sticker explained when you bought it.

 

just wondering, you dont leave your car outside do you?

 

:ff topic:: I figured I would ask this because most of you have experience with this. the weather is really close to becoming ice and snow instead of rain where I live. it's like 34deg F right now and the temp is dropping. I don't have my 4x4 truck anymore. would it be safe to go pick up my girlfriend from work with the factory tires on my Evo. or should I tell here to tuff it out and drive here 04 Nissan sentra spec-v home. My mom's mail delivery (RHD) blazer has studded tires but it doesn't have but one seat so I can't go get her in it because if we had a wreck she could get injured easily. plus it's RHD and it's kinda difficult to drive. especially when your trying to drive in bad conditions. thanks for any help guys.

-Chad-

 

Well put machron1. I've had my evo for over a year, but through 2 winters in Boston. Still on stock Advans, I don't drive it much in the snow, only after it is plowed. You really should know if it is the abs or not by the sound and the feel of the pedal. In bad weather there is lots of grinding, and sometimes sand cakes on the tires and rotors, and when you hit the brakes, cold pads and cold tires, on a bad surface the tires will slide, especially if you're turning. With my aftermarket pads I need to get the brakes warmed up before they bite, else they do slide on the rotors before they heat up enough to bite. And just because you're cruising on the highway doesn't necessarily mean you are on your brakes and they are warm. Try pumping your breaks before you leave, and wait to your car is a bit warm, and then there should be little sticking of any moving parts from the cold. Good luck,

 

no, garaged...but not heated.

 

After reviewing everyone's comments, I would have to say it was the ABS, too. Can you confirm the road wasn't slippery? Our ABS sound like the pads are grinding sand on the rotors. Like I mentioned before, it's pulsating way faster than I've heard in other cars. Also, there's is no feedback from the brake pedal. Whether I press it lightly or hard over a slippery surface, the ABS will kick in.

Simple test, go find an icy patch in an empty parking light. Get to a certain speed and try to stop over the icy patch. If you hear and feel the same thing as you did that morning, then it was the ABS trying to do its job.

 

save up for winter tires. bad idea to drive the advans in snow.

 

Is there snow there? If not you should be fine. If there is snow I would tend to think her car being FWD would do better unless it has wide tires. I know here in ohio my wifes Toyota does better than my evo in the snow. I only have some cheap all seasons on the evo which I am sure is why.

On the ABS Grinding sound. It is the ABS. The couple times I drove my evo in the snow I noticed when the tires should have locked up. It is a really sick sounding grind. And it is almost like a slow motion stop.