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Dreaded ABS, VSA, TSA dashboard lights

PumpkinHead

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Location
Ireland
Car
Honda Accord Tourer
XMas is approaching soon so my Accord has decided to put up its own set of XMas lights in the shape of the ABS, VSA and TSA warnings going on and off in the dashboard.

I'm talking figuratively here 'cos these things go down slightly better with a bit of humour.

Well, dropped the car to two garages and the same diagnostics is coming back: Code 521 ABS Pump not working. One of the garages is Honda dealer and they are asking for €2500, what a lovely XMas present.

Afraid I can't afford that bit of money right now. I'm wondering of someone else has experienced this problem before and see if there are other options apart from getting the new part which right now is a no-no. I do have some false hope with the fact that something else might be causing this as it is an intermittent problem.

Any thoughts on that? :)
 
sticking solenoids, pump wear, faulty pressure sensor, sticking valves or valves unable to seat
the latter 2-3 can be alleviated by not having nasty brake fluid. copper lined tubes, cast iron calipers, aluminium distributor blocks are all dissimilar metals in a fluid and acts kind of like a battery, so when old fluid fails to inhibit corrosion, the copper lets loose from the lines and electroplates onto bits it shouldn't be on, like valves
 
i would reset with hds and calibrate before anything else
 
dissimilar metals in a fluid and acts kind of like a battery, so when old fluid fails to inhibit corrosion, the copper lets loose from the lines and electroplates onto bits it shouldn't be on, like valves
Reading this left me worried about not knowing the age of my brake fluid, so I changed mine today.
 
Should be changed every two years I think.
Not a hard job just tedious but very beneficial.
 
Hey, I figured I could reply back to give this thread some sort of closure.

I got a pump from ECU Testing which I took to a local garage and they got it replaced. I was told the problem was mechanical, not electronic (I would take the word of this mechanic for good). And one guy from Honda told me that not having the brake fluid replaced might have caused this.

I do not own the car from new so this was a lesson learnt for me.

Thanks once again.
 
Should be changed every two years I think.
Not a hard job just tedious but very beneficial.
I was going to construct a pressure bleeder, but ended up just pedal pumping it. The new fluid was a different colour from what was in the car, so it was relatively easy to see when each line was refreshed. In fact I would have had no idea how much to pump through if it had been the same colour.
 
You used to be able to buy coloured brake fluid from ATE, Super Blue, it made brake fluid changes very easy, just use blue this time and yellow the next.
It was discontinued for road use some years ago after it was found that the DOT (US) regulations specified a straw colour liquid not blue.
After it has been in use for a while it is easy to see new from old though.
 
You can still find some non-straw coloured DOT4 fluid here, if you search for it. It won't be any of the big brands though.

Brightly coloured brake fluids are popular in Asian markets, for use in customised mopeds and motorbikes. These are still sold under DOT numbers. Mixing a little bit of this stuff in new fluid will act as a dye to help with fluid replacement.

That said, all brake fluid contains a dye of some sort. You never see the raw product. This online conversation covers this topic, and points out what dyes are used in fuel and other fluids. One would need only the tiniest amount to tint straw coloured brake fluid. Less than 6ppm apparently.
 
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