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ocean_blue
29-11-2006, 02:14 PM
Hi People as you can see I am only new to this forum but not the world of HONDA.

I have see and read many a forum on Legends infamous GEN 1 ABS. which a very good system, alot of people have HUGE DRAMA with these.

We have had a GEN 1 from NEW! , which is still a very nice, riding, handling vehicle, Grand Tourer.

HOWEVER there are a few issues with these beauties.

Listed are some common experiences with them (from myself and my brother who is the head mechanic for a HONDA and Other make Dealership.

1) ABS Light is on.

No you will have all undoubtably read acura-legend website back to front about this, however this is something that is common to make the LITTLE YELLOW LIGHT GO ON!!!

a sight bleed in the Master Cylinder..... since the ABS is not a independant system, may a dealer will replace the ABS if something goes wrong.... but what they dont tell you 90% of the time to fix the problem is to REBUILT the Master Cylinder... and if you have looked inside on of these it is no ordinary system... actual quite interesting.

We had the same fault just happen in the last 6month, with a full check, flush, etc of the ABS the problem still occured UNTIL... we rebuilt the ABS now NO MORE...

the Kits is available and if you need one we do have these available.

2) the other major drama is the Value Stem Seals which if you are using oil and are blowing a little smoke after idling for a few minute well 9 out of 10 it is these little buggers.... an if you are doing a head rebuilt DONT forget to PREORDER a COMPLETE gasket Kit... though be warned... REPCO / HONDA etc are about $900.00 for the complete set..... YES YOU READ RIGHT>....$550.00 for the VRG set. Though you will find that the complete set is better as you will need to replace your sump gasket... as it will be ROCK HARD and leaking all over the place... ... you can get a complete ORIGINAL HONDA gasket SET for about $330.00 if you know where to source one from.

JUST A note of the above..... you will NEED TO REPLACE your timing BELT -$95.00 genuine and Water PUMP $215.00 genuine. Also by using the complete gasket kit you will solve the OIL drip on the RIGHT HAND Side of the ENGINE from underneath the DISSY as it is hard to spot.... the Value SIDE covers... and the IMPROVE the Fuel economy from the new spacers, "O" rings and gromets on the EFI system --- about $120.00 from HONDA - Trade alone for these bits....

PLEASE NOTE ------ REPLACE THE WOODRIFT KEY... you will have to get one machined it is 4.5 X 4.5 and 37mm long approx.. as they do get fatiged.... I did not and then after 3000km it let go..... no compression... it had spun the timing out by 40degrees BTC. no wonder it would no fire.

Because of the design of the woodrift key it is not your normal half moon --- and HONDA list a PART though there are NONE in the Country... $9.14 trade... a machined one should be about $25.00 or so.

The Cranshaft bolt and washer only bolt up to the crank pully and not the woodrift key.. which is about 30mm further back... it is only held in place by the tight fit to the crank timing cog and about half of the Pully.... mine let go where they meet, due to a fatuige fature... luckly it was on a roadabout... not high revs... the funny thing is it has the same issues as the Main RELAY box playing up...

Even checking the camshaft pullys and timing belt through the inspection port seen them going around.... next fuel... spark.... and finially compression none... it was sucking inwards ... now that is weird but the cams were still operating..... very strange... only to get it back to the workshop rip the front cam cover off. find TDC on the Crank to see the Timing mark on the Front cam was off by 40 degrees...... no WHY???

The woodrift key piece that had broke in pulley side moved forward into the bolt head JAMMING the bolt in place..... 30mins with a rattle gun to remove...

Because the Pulley is only located on the woodrift key and the Crank bolt does not actually touch the woodrift key to lock it in place... it is only the press fit from the Timing cog on the crank, it allowed the remaining woodrift key to sightly move in and out of the woodrift passage on the crank... engaging and disengaging the timing cog on the crank... hence the Timing was out to buggery/////


PS..... engine flush at each oil change is advisable as when we had the heads rebuilt, there were large carbon deposits on the right rear and front left passages near the "o" passages in the block.... and it was always serviced by HONDA at the interval.

Also FYI.... the BOTTOM end was also inspected throughly....... it was LIKE BRAND NEW...... so that go to show how good these engines are with 260,000km on them.


Anyway... though it may help some people out..... if they did not already know so...

aaronng
29-11-2006, 04:11 PM
Got a question. Do you rebuild the ABS system or the master cylinder to fix the ABS light problem?

ocean_blue
29-11-2006, 04:20 PM
We though it was the ABS...like everyone else... even the local honda dealer said it was the pump or solenoid.

So we checked, flushed everything including the solenoids. Replaced the DOT oil. Complete system bleed etc....

9 out of 10 times it will be the Master Cylinder... we rebuilt the master Cylinder and HEY!!!! no more ABS light... the ABS pump did not run on and on like it normally would do.. then cut out and turn the ABS light on.

If you have not burned the pump out from over running all the time.... which the coils will be fine it is normally only a Brush replacement in the unit.

90% of Legends including Gen 2 will respond to the master cylinder being rebuilt... they are a complete unit inside with alot of special pistons and "o" rings though you can get a complete rebuild kit for them.

It fixed mine, and I know of others it is fixed as well... instead of pulling hte fuse and light in the dash.

Funny thing was I left it for awhile after getting it diagnosed... which it was not working etc... pulled the ABS fuse...

The level in the master cylinder did not move... but after 6 weeks it all of a sudden started loss a bit of level in the cylinder... no leaks anywhere to be found from the lines etc.

Because the ABS pump pressurises the system a sight leak and I mean something that would not be apparant... will cause the system not to pressurise and the ABS Pump to run on.... triggering the ABS light inside.

aaronng
29-11-2006, 04:36 PM
Thanks for the info.

ocean_blue
29-11-2006, 04:42 PM
No Drama.

Just the slightest bit of contaminate in the Dot Oil will cause this.... and because most people and even dealers dont change the DOT oil every 12 months the build up and deteriation of the DOT Oil will cause the leakage.

aaronng
29-11-2006, 04:45 PM
Yeah, that's what happened with our 94 Accord. ABS light on for no reason after a while of driving.

aaronng
29-11-2006, 04:58 PM
Hmm, it seems that the brushes must have burnt out already as the ABS pump no longer runs. It used to for a short while until the ABS light came on.

ocean_blue
31-12-2006, 03:53 PM
Hmm, it seems that the brushes must have burnt out already as the ABS pump no longer runs. It used to for a short while until the ABS light came on.

The Brushes are an easy fix.. though you have to take the pump motor assembly out and then take the pump apart.

About a 90 min job

Take one of the brushes to repco or an autoelectrican as they can match the size.

Cheers