Disconnecting the ABS

[metro1998]

I want to disconnect my abs. I have an '03A and on light braking, pulling up to a stop sign or coming up to a turn my abs activates. If I push harder it goes away, but half the times I come up to a stop sign, easy, I'll have to push the brake harder if I really want to stop. Mercury dealer says I should not have changed the front tires to the same size of the rear. It hasn't been a problem for 40,000 miles. they want me to replace the abs module $1,000. I just want to disconnect the abs. If I pull the fuse it will take out the gauges too. Please help, is it possible?

[marauder21]

Well, shouldn't have changed the size tires up in front...Sooner or later it would've caused a problem..

[metro1998]

Why would it make a problem, I thought all you guys changed the front tires to the same as the rear. It straightened out the balance of the car and the car doesn't feel like it's falling over it's self going around a turn.

[SC Cheesehead]

Uhhhh, you sure you want to do that?

[marauder21]

No. By switching the front tires to be the same size as the rear throws off the ABS. I'm surprised your car took 40,000 miles to notice it. But You do know from factory these cars came with different size from front and rear right? Why? I really don't know just how Ford made it out to be... lol oh well

[Spectragod]

I would imagine it will take more than a module change to make the ABS go away, I would guess it would need to be turned off in the PCM as well at a minimum.

If your car didn't notice the tire size for 40k miles, I would venture to say that there is another issue at hand.

[metro1998]

thanks for the replies... I've driven all my life without ABS and still do "84 SS. I understood the change in size tires up front effects traction control, my car does not have traction control '03A. I don't know, but how would same size tires effect the ABS? Mercury wanted to 'rake' the car to make it look more sporty. You should drive a car with the bigger front tires around a turn, you won't go back, much better handling...you don't see cops with smaller front tires. I just want to know how to disconnect the abs without effecting anything else...hope some else has something, Thanks

[Spectragod]

thanks for the replies... I've driven all my life without ABS and still do "84 SS. I understood the change in size tires up front effects traction control, my car does not have traction control '03A. I don't know, but how would same size tires effect the ABS? Mercury wanted to 'rake' the car to make it look more sporty. You should drive a car with the bigger front tires around a turn, you won't go back, much better handling...you don't see cops with smaller front tires. I just want to know how to disconnect the abs without effecting anything else...hope some else has something, Thanks

The same is true if you put the "staggered" tires from a Marauder on a Crown Vic or Marquis, it will affect the ABS, I know, I had MM wheels/tires on my 05' LX Sport, every great once in a while the ABS would chatter on braking. It has to do with the differences in wheel speed front/rear.

I do know if you turn it off in the tune, your ABS light will stay on, and obviously, the ABS won't work. You would need to change the master cylinder, remove the ABS pump altogether, I think the proportioning valve will need changed too. And turned off in the PCM. The other option, to keep the ABS, change the module on the pump with one from a Vic or a Marquis, I don't think a tune change would be needed if you went that route. I may have a module for an 03' Vic, police car, I would need to look.

Maybe someone who has done this swap can chime in on the tune portion.

As far a the rake goes, I'll keep mine the way it is, it drives fine, not a corner burner, but it will more than make up for it on the straight sections...

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h138/rfrf5500/Marauder%20Cab/IMG_0366.jpg

[Marauderman]

Whats not been said here is --"what size tire did you go from --to--- and where--front or back----?--I have a 300 A as well and no traction control of course--so that is not the issue---nor is the tire size as far as ABS goes ...

Tire size and gear ratio are what affects speed o and ABS if not changed in the program--

Other than that , the ABS may just be loose--like mine was which was causing the same problem--pull off the rear tires and check behind the hub to see if it is still bolted in place tightly---mine were loose thus the blinking on/off problem----a simple fix----tighted and replace missing bolt if it has fallen out/off.

[Curless]

The light should have come on right away, its looking for certain speeds from each wheel speed sensor. The fronts would have a higher speed showing then the rears due to tire diameter. You may be able to get an ABS module from a GM / CV to work though due to the fact that their tires are not staggered...however I do not know if the modules can be switched around without reprogramming anything...

[Blackmobile]

just disconnect the module by unplugging it.


thanks for the replies... I've driven all my life without ABS and still do "84 SS. I understood the change in size tires up front effects traction control, my car does not have traction control '03A. I don't know, but how would same size tires effect the ABS? Mercury wanted to 'rake' the car to make it look more sporty. You should drive a car with the bigger front tires around a turn, you won't go back, much better handling...you don't see cops with smaller front tires. I just want to know how to disconnect the abs without effecting anything else...hope some else has something, Thanks

[Krytin]

I've been running the same size tires front & rear for coming up on 5 years and over 70K miles on my '03 300A w/ NO ABS problem EVER!!

Same size tires is NOT an issue for ABS/non-traction control cars!!!

[metro1998]

Thanks for the same size front and rear 'no problem' 70k, this site 'is' where I got the idea and I'll never go back...enjoy the turns too much. I'll check to see if anything is loose first--this will take some time since I'm still shot from working hurricane sandy (I'm from NJ) for the electric company '16 16hr night shifts' and still patroling circuits checking out of state repair work. The light coming on is just in recent months and both brake and abs came on a number of times while going on a vacation up to New England in sept., never had a problem on a long ride before. I have 60k on the car. It would be nice if I can just unplug the module I'll try it if not..I might like to take you up on that crown vic module..thanks for the input, my ears are still open for anything else.

[justbob]

One of the reasons I bought this car was for its rake. Handle better or not I wouldn't even consider same size tires.


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[Mike M]

One of the reasons I bought this car was for its rake. Handle better or not I wouldn't even consider same size tires.


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Ditto!!!!!!

[MOTOWN]

One of the reasons I bought this car was for its rake. Handle better or not I wouldn't even consider same size tires.


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I :agree:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MyBlackBeasts]

The rake is from the muscle car era. The cars I grew up with & built in teens/20's we set up that way. Was awesome, cool & functional. Big meats in rear for launch traction, small tires in front which gave just enough steering to keep it going straight down the 1/4 mile with as little weight as possible.

Wasn't till late 80's/early 90s that cornering started to become equally important.

The OEM fronts are big enough to make me smile and any gain by matching rears would not be enough for me to lose the awesome look.

Babcock did an awesome job designing the look of the car and combining it with functionality! :bows:

[SC Cheesehead]

The rake is from the muscle car era. The cars I grew up with & built in teens/20's we set up that way. Was awesome, cool & functional. Big meats in rear for launch traction, small tires in front which gave just enough steering to keep it going straight down the 1/4 mile with as little weight as possible.

Wasn't till late 80's/early 90s that cornering started to become equally important.

The OEM fronts are big enough to make me smile and any gain by matching rears would not be enough for me to lose the awesome look.

Babcock did an awesome job designing the look of the car and combining it with functionality! :bows:

Big +1 Bill. (sorry for the hijack, OP...:o)

[burt ragio]

My guess is you have a sensor disconnected at one of the wheels or one has gone bad. They count the rotation. Also check the switch.

[Blackened300a]

It would be nice if I can just unplug the module I'll try it if not..I might like to take you up on that crown vic module..thanks for the input, my ears are still open for anything else.

Keep this in mind, you can't just swap out the module and then go for a drive. It has to be properly bled and the only way to do so is to have the ABS cycled with a computer. The fact that its working and you don't have a constant ABS light on makes me think its a sensor going bad or dirt and road debris is built up in the ABS ring behind a front spindle. Try cleaning that out first and then check your brakes to make sure you didn't lose a caliper bolt or the caliper is hanging up. Generally a ABS module failure is rare.

[Blackmobile]

Not all that rare. I picked up Lemonade (Rich's old Marauder) with a defective module. He had it unplug which put out some lights on the dash but he did fill me in on the history of the one in the car. Just so happened that Rich picked up a spare module from me a while back (From my totalled MM). All I did was remove the bad module and installed the good one, bled the bakes and all was good. the lights on the dash were out and the module was plugged in.