ABS removal

1990 laredo 4.0 ABS controller went out.
I've read alot of threads about removing Bendix ABS. Most say that the accumulator holds an ungodly amount of pressure, but none really say how to remove it safely.

So how do I remove it safely?

I'm swapping to a 98 booster/mc which is covered alot but I haven't red about going from ABS.
Do I need to swap my proportioning valve and brake lines out too?
I'm also swapping in a D44 from an MJ will that change anything?
Thanks
-Brian

AIbandit said:

1990 laredo 4.0 ABS controller went out.
I've read alot of threads about removing Bendix ABS. Most say that the accumulator holds an ungodly amount of pressure, but none really say how to remove it safely.

So how do I remove it safely?

I'm swapping to a 98 booster/mc which is covered alot but I haven't red about going from ABS.
Do I need to swap my proportioning valve and brake lines out too?
I'm also swapping in a D44 from an MJ will that change anything?
Thanks
-Brian

Click to expand...

With the car off, pump the brake pedal at least 50 times to let off the pressure. You can then safely undo lines. After that, just remove the stuff, its simple as that.

95/96 booster is a good swap, as well as a WJ booster. Unless you are talking about a '98 ZJ booster, a 98 XJ booster won't work unless you cut and reweld the rod, which really isn't worth the hassle. Write ups for booster swaps that you read are the same even though you have ABS.

I just did this swap last weekend, and the pin that the rod attaches to on the brake pedal was too high. I removed it, and swaped in a pedal from a '99 I had from a Jeep I just parted out, to save me the time of drilling a new hole, and pressing the pin out, then into the new hole.

I would say it isn't a bad thing to do all new brake lines when doing this swap. I replaced every line, including the soft lines when I did it. The passenger front hard line is routed a little differently with the ABS, but all you need to do is make a new bend or two and cut it down in length some.

If I swap the pedal I wont need to swap the rod right?

Will I need to swap the lines?

Thank you.

AIbandit said:

If I swap the pedal I wont need to swap the rod right?

Click to expand...

?
The rod is part of the brake booster assembly. So when you get a booster from a 95/96 XJ, a WJ, (or ZJ I believe) you will have the a booster with the correct length rod. '97-'01 XJ Boosters aren't usable, unless you do fab work and cut the rod down to the correct length.


With that said, I swapped the brake pedal because the pin was too high on my old pedal. It made it pretty much impossible to get the rod from the dual diaphragm booster onto it, and even if I did, the operating angle would have been too extreme for the booster rod.

AIbandit said:

Will I need to swap the lines?

Thank you.

Click to expand...

Which lines? I replaced all the brake lines in my Jeep.

just take the pedal assembly from the same 95/96 you get the booster/master from. thats what i did for my 89 and it all was total bolt on. no cutting, trimming, or fabricating. junk the renix ABS and be happy and much safer. oh and the brake light switch from the 95 pedal assembly just needs the pink and light blue wire spliced in to work properly. once you get into it youll understand.

Just a quick question as to the splicing part (since I may be doing this sometime soon) what about cruise control? I read that if you have cruise control, there's another wire or two down there... I like cruise, so I'd hate to lose it.

So as a temporary thing I pulled both the ABS fuses, and the pump is still going.

Kinda weird I ended up unplugging the pump.

AIbandit said:

So as a temporary thing I pulled both the ABS fuses, and the pump is still going.

Kinda weird I ended up unplugging the pump.

Click to expand...

WAY BAD IDEA!

You can do that on the later ABS but you are a rolling accident looking for a place to happen right now!

joe_peters said:

WAY BAD IDEA!

You can do that on the later ABS but you are a rolling accident looking for a place to happen right now!

Click to expand...

Good to know I planned on only driving it to get smogged but I guess I wont. I've read both that it's fine and I've read that it's bad. Didn't know which to believe.
Thanks

yeah, that's a great way to end up a part of the landscape...

http://www.naxja.org/html/techarticles/uninstall_OEM_ABS.htm - why you don't want to do what you just did :shocked: (and what to do instead)
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=924285 - what you want to do (no cutting and welding involved, no pedal swap, just a little drilling and grinding)
You can also use a 95/96 but it'll require more mods or swapping the pedal assembly as well like 2stix did. I have a 96 pedal/booster/MC I was going to use but I hated getting to those two bolts at the front of the pedal bracket at the JY and there is an all you can carry coming up so I am getting a WJ booster/MC and craigslisting the 96 setup (or selling it on here, not sure yet.)

kastein said:

yeah, that's a great way to end up a part of the landscape...

http://www.naxja.org/html/techarticles/uninstall_OEM_ABS.htm - why you don't want to do what you just did :shocked: (and what to do instead)
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=924285 - what you want to do (no cutting and welding involved, no pedal swap, just a little drilling and grinding)
You can also use a 95/96 but it'll require more mods or swapping the pedal assembly as well like 2stix did. I have a 96 pedal/booster/MC I was going to use but I hated getting to those two bolts at the front of the pedal bracket at the JY and there is an all you can carry coming up so I am getting a WJ booster/MC and craigslisting the 96 setup (or selling it on here, not sure yet.)

Click to expand...

I'm going to assume you didnt read the thread.

Huh.

I read some of it, apparently I skimmed the first few posts too quickly :dunce: read the post where you removed the fuses and forgot everything else.

The first link I gave does include bendix ABS removal instructions though, and some info about how he tried a 99 XJ booster (same as the 98 one you have, I think) so it should be fairly relevant either way.

Yeah I read that thread before which made me wonder.
Why did we stop updating this? and are these tech articles not worthy of the Faq?
http://www.naxja.org/html/techarticles/techarticlesindex.htm