Well, I knew it would happen some day and sure enough, when I went to drive my car up on my low-profile wood ramps, I saw:

SERVICE ACTIVE HANDLING

SERVICE ABS

SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL

Hey, what did I do to deserve this???

Anyway, thanks to this forum, I already knew that I could simply remove the EBCM and send it to ABS FIXER (Brandon). Ah, but is it hard to do, you may ask? Well, follow along as I show you.....

http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/Ele...l%20Module.pdf

Within a week and a half and $150 later, my Mag Red baby is back on the streets - no codes and no worries. My hat goes off to ABS FIXER for doing a great job at a reasonable price.

And speaking of hats, has anyone ever tried the Craftsman twin-LED cap? I highly recommend it, as it places the light right where you need it.

Dave

Addendum: I need to add this to the procedure, but it helps things if you first remove the airbridge. My pictures show it off, but I should've mentioned it.

 

Hi Dave!! Great write up. I saved it and hope I never have to use it. I've been away for awhile, well lurking I guess, nice to see your post and hope that everything is good with you.

 

Very nice write-up and thanks for taking the time & effort to post this for others to follow. I have a 98-coupe and I always wonder what my options will be when mine goes out

 

Thanks for the write up Dave! I'm gonna have to do this one of these days.

 

Great write up Dave

Thanks for posting

 

Thanks for the write up. I think I'll be doing this soon so I'm sure this will help.

-Shawn

 

Excellent write up
Unfortunately, I did this last week

Came out like a charm, sent to ABSfixer (pre-pay on his site then just ups it out there).

The hardest thing was reassembling it (no friken room in there). It litaraly took me three hours to get all six screws installed.
Yup, the middle ones were the hardest. As you try to squeeze your hand in there to start the screw, it would (several times) find its way into the space between the upper and lower parts of the ebcm (there is a slot right next to the tap it has to screw into, and since you're doing all this by feel, it feels like its going in but then it slides into the slot and cant be seen from above or below. you can get it to drop out of the slot by running a wire through there). The first time this happened I thought I had to have dropped it into the frame somewhere. Much otherwise productive time wasted trying to find the screw.
A royal pain.
Wish I would have read your suggestion about inserting the middle ones first and then bringing the two halves together

Once they were all in and tightened (nope, didnt torque em, I had enough trouble just getting my fingers in there much less a torque wrench), connected the plug's, started it up, DIC showed "Service Traction Control, Service Active Handeling, And a bunch of other codes, more than I originally had when I pulled it)

Cleared the codes, started it up, everything clean and green.

ABS, Traction Control, all working like new.

This is a perfect example of something that if you know what to do (and have a resource like this forum, and the members who donate their time and expertise, for the good of us all) you can a) fix it yourself with the attendant pride and sense of accomplishment and b) save a wonking hunk of money

Believe it or not, I found it easier to get to most of the screws from the bottom. More room to swing the stubby ratchet. Im about average (6' 220 lbs) but it would really help to have someone with small hands to start the screws when you go back to put it together. Aside from that, its not a hard project.

One more thing : it's probably a good idea to wrap up the exposed part of the proportional brake valve (the other half of the big silver box that remains in the car when you remove the ebcm) with something to keep it clean if you are going to drive the car while the ebcm is out being repaired. I just used strips of duct tape and built a layer covering all the exposed parts. You can cover the large cable end also (I also wire tied it into a space in the fan housing that it fits right into).
ABS Fixer's turnaround is quick. I dont think it took a week to get mine back. But in case you are wondering, you can use the car without the ebcm. You just wont have ABS (the brakes work fine, you just loose the abs function and the proportional (or is it differential?) braking. The brakes will work like the brakes worked in every car prior to the advent of abs.

 

so can some one give me website or # to this guy. My ebcm is putting my car into reduced engine power mode and throwing all those signs.

 

Thanks for the write-up and pics Dave

Chuck

 

Saved that one too thanks. Mine goes off when in tight spots such as parking when the wheel is turned back and fourth for some reason then goes away the next time I switch on the key. Any Idea what they do to repair them?

 

Kevin- Your steering wheel position sensor (SWPS) may be heading south. Typical symptoms are errors when turning the wheel, and it gets worse as it warms up. The part is $50 plus it's a bit tricky to install.

I just replaced mine, after my less than brilliant mechanic replaced just about every other sensor in the TCS. All is well now.

 

Their contact info is in my writeup, but here's the link:

http://www.absfixer.com/

Thanks, everyone for the kudos and a special thanks to Jistari for his insightful followup of his own experience.

Stockman, you WILL need to do this, sooner or later. My car has only 32,000 miles on her!

Dave

 

I think they are under passenger fender well on 97 and 98 models.

 

As usual Dave, great write up Luckily when my EBCM bit the dust, my 01 was still under OEM warranty and they took care of it..but if not

 

Do they have a swap program? My vette is my daily driver. I can't just take out the computer and wait a week or two for the return. I need to get this done though.

 

I'm just glad I bought aftermarket warranty. Mine went out after about four months of owning the car, and I just paid the $100 deductible for the POS last October or Nobember. Now my car is good again.

 

Great write up. Thanks - I'll keep this for future reference.

 

Well done, very concise and the illustrations are excellent.
Thanks!

 

You should be able to drive it while the EBCM is out for repair. The only thing you should do is tape up the main opening and the connectors, especially if you drive in the rain. I don't think that ABSFIXER has a loaner program, although they do sell repaired units for $300.

 

That's good to know for those who have pre-99s - thanks!