What the inside of a bad ABS unit looks like

Bigbore4

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Oct 20, 2010
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Andover Minnesota USA
What sort of plating do the pistons need? There is a guy over on ADVR that restores vintage bikes. He has a home canned plating rig he does zinc plating with. Might be worth a look and conversation to see if what he is doing might help? User Name is Fast Idle. Currently building a '67 Bridgestone.
 

MikeinNZ

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Sep 27, 2018
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NZ
Update: one of the guys at work machined me up some new plungers with a ground finish last week. I fitted them 3 days ago and everything is working as it should. EA1C44B4-C8AF-4D01-8969-18D2B5C0B804.jpeg
The new one on the left obviously.
I have been happily riding it with both brakes bypassed but with winter around the corner I decided to give it another nudge.
Pretty stoked.
 

Mzee

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Mar 17, 2013
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Johannesburg
My S10 is first generation. Many years ago, I checked the ABS housing and found mud and some water there. I drilled one hole in the housing and that was really a wise thing to do then. This is consistent with MikeinZD's post. After reading this post, I went to check and found it dry, very dry like it has been baked in an oven.
 

MikeinNZ

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Sep 27, 2018
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So I received a question on my first post about mushy brakes so I thought I would update this thread now it’s been 8 months.
The ABS unit repair worked but after 2 months of riding to work and back found the rear brake pedal got slightly worse. I was still using the rear brake first to avoid UBS much of the time.
I went on a big ride with a bunch of guys from work so decided to bypass both front and rear to avoid any issues, most of the ride was on gravel and I prefer no ABS.
That’s how it has stayed.. bypassed.
The machinist at work made the pistons diameter 0.0005” undersized. It doesn’t sound like much but I believe the worn seals need a finished size bigger than original. He has the old pistons and has agreed to make some 0.002” oversized. I will polish as required to get free movement. That was 6 months ago so I might need to shout him some beers and remind him.
For anyone wanting to have a go at fixing the ABS unit my advice would be to buy a new one. Brakes are important, the roller bearing that works the pistons is unobtainable and in my case corroded and worn. This over time will wear away the piston tops and eventually not give the desired throw the pistons need. We ride these machines because we love it and anything that takes away from the experience should be fixed.
In my case $2200 NZD is a fair chunk of money to find, I ride a lot of gravel and that’s why it is still bypassed.
 

MikeinNZ

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Sep 27, 2018
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NZ
Hi all,
I received a good second hand ABS unit today and thought I would share my findings when I pulled the old one out after a year of riding or 20,000ks. Out of that I would say I have done about 1000ks on dusty gravel roads.
Firstly the unit was covered in dirt and dust. The electrical plug was the usual nightmare to disconnect and the plastic bucket as I call it was full of dirt again.
I was slightly reluctant to drop my new unit into this environment having seen that dirt and moisture ingress through its internals had wrecked my previous unit.
Then I took the electronic side off the ABS unit and found dirt back inside after I assembled it spotlessly clean.61FE2E06-FCB0-4C99-ACBE-B5CC70D80B41.jpeg
This unit hasn’t even been operating for the last 8 months so I think we have a problem...

I started to look at ways of sealing the housing the unit sits in but this isn’t feasible with the ridged lines that go forward.

I have decided to make a clean air manifold for the vents at the bottom of the new unit using clear tube and plumbing it forward into a cleaner environment.
Here is a picture looking down on the internals of the 4 vents. I shon a torch to show the 4 vents. 22E75160-7AE9-455F-ACBC-54C4E89326CA.jpeg
Clearly it doesn’t need 4 drains in the event of an internal leak so I sealed up the highest 2 leaving the middle and lowest 2 open.
I sealed the perimeter of the plastic ecu to the valve body as there is no seal between the two. I am using Dow Corning 730 silicon based sealant that is resistant to fuels and oils.
I sliced about half off some clear 1/4 hose the length of the remaining 2 vents and super glued this over the 2 vents then edge sealed this and plugged the open end with DC730.
FC21DE77-D0F4-43DF-935C-77838F7D7F4F.jpeg
I know it’s ugly but at $1000NZD I just want it to last and plus you can’t see it when it’s installed.
I am going to drill a hole in the right hand side of the mounting box for the drain/vent hose to come out of and then run this forward to some clean air. I’ll update this when the sealant dries.
 

MikeinNZ

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Sep 27, 2018
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NZ
image.jpg
The hose held mouth pressure this morning so thats all good. Here’s the finished install. Clear hose running forward and under the tank. I’ve put some filter foam on the end of the hose to keep the dust out. It shouldn’t matter what happens inside the plastic housing now as the whole unit is sealed.
Now to ride it and hopefully never have to go here again.
 

marciodorisbor

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Joined
Feb 12, 2022
Messages
2
Location
Brazil
Hello MikenNZ, I'm of Brazil i have an ST 1200 2015 35k miles, i have a problem ABS. I need help, only questions? 1 - Cleaner ABS Unit is Effetivual? 2 - You subs ABS Unit? 3 - Unmount ABS Unit, is simple? 4 - Mount ABS Unit, is garantid you function? Sorry my english, any parts is google translate.
I'm grateful for you help.
 

Jlq1969

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
1,749
Location
Argentina
Hello MikenNZ, I'm of Brazil i have an ST 1200 2015 35k miles, i have a problem ABS. I need help, only questions? 1 - Cleaner ABS Unit is Effetivual? 2 - You subs ABS Unit? 3 - Unmount ABS Unit, is simple? 4 - Mount ABS Unit, is garantid you function? Sorry my english, any parts is google translate.
I'm grateful for you help.
but, what malfunction are you having?….
 
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