WTB: BX Complete ABS wiring loom

m_2975 · Post by **m_2975** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:24 pm

G'day Gentlemen.

As you may or may not know, I seem to be buying most things up on ebay, to "stockpile" my parts while I still can. Therefore, I'm no stranger to paying for items and postage from the UK and very willing to pay at the right price.

Hence this I'm seeking a complete ABS wiring loom for my BX. It currently doesn't have ABS fitted but is a piece of cake to install as the system is really quite simple.

I have the computer, I have the control unit, I have the ABS sensors but i'm just missing the wiring loom. I know it's a bit of a stumbling block but that's the way it goes.

Anyone with a spare that isn't corroded or broken is encouraged to come forward.

Thanks.

Michael

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:35 pm

Why cheat and get it ready made - far more fun to start with a few reels of wire and some terminals and tape!

Seriously you will probably have to request that someone removes it from a breaker for you. Few people will bother to install it - indeed some will think the car is preferable without it (I've mixed feelings having nearly got a cat and a car door that I would have been no-where near without it) either for operational reasons or simply as there is less to go wrong.

To be fair to the car I drove mine for about 6 months without it before I could get it to work and must say that of all the cars I've driven it seemed to need it least. Mine is an estate so the weight distribution may affect things but the back cylinders are larger which will lower the back break pressure to compensate.

As few are interested in installing it most owners are only interested in replacement parts and have a loom already.

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:56 pm

So do you have the rear arms, front hubs and driveshafts etc,etc?

I know my mate is breaking a BX but I'm almost certain it doesn't have ABS.

If I here tell of one, I'll certainly keep you in mind.

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:26 am

I cant understand why you'd want to install ABS at all?
The brakes are fine without, frankley ABS is just another device that makes drivers lazy and think they are indestructable.
If I could get an MOT on the valver without the ABS I'd rip the lot out.

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:35 am

Having done the conversion on a BX I feel it is well worth the effort.

If someone feels safer with ABS fitted and wants to go to the trouble of fitting it then I think it is a good idea. It has saved me from a few prangs through the years on greasy icy roads.

It is not a quick job though. It involves a fair bit of new pipe work - one of the front to rears and both the front brake pipes. You also need the metal T on the rear suspension/brake setup and the front hub cable holders. The electrics are an easy instal.

In fact you could go ahead and start the installation with the bits you already have and finish it off as and when you get your hands on a harness.

m_2975 · Post by **m_2975** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:18 pm

ken newbold wrote:So do you have the rear arms, front hubs and driveshafts etc,etc?

I sure do Ken. Like new rear arms and front hubs. The drive shafts fitted to my car are already the ABS type as that's all you can get here now.

To me the system looks very simple. Yes there's a little pipe work involved but not a huge amount.

Jaba,

I may start to install things as required but i'm not really in a rush.

I have had a look on the Citroën service pages to see the differences between the ABS and non ANS setup.
I can't understand why there is a different brake hose for the ABS and not.
Haven't looked at the front hub yet though.

Michael

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:17 pm

The hose is different because non-abs cars have a 3.5mm pipe, and abs cars have 4.5mm pipes.

Maybe it's just me then, but I've never needed abs. If you drive in a style so that you can stop in the distance you can see ahead, and make allowances for weather and other idiots on the road then it just seems like another thing to go wrong to me.

I'm of the school that air bags and abs should be outlawed and a bloody big metal spike should stick straight out of the stering wheel.
That's make people think.

m_2975 · Post by **m_2975** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:20 pm

HAHAHA....Well I just want my AUS GTI to have ABS. It didn't from the factory and I want it there cause it was supposed to be there.

Michael

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:46 pm

ABS = Another Bloody Safety-feature.

Many many years ago I was taught how to cadence brake. It means I can take my own ABS from car to car, regardless of the model.

IMO ABS is yet another "dumbing down" of driving. Real men don't drive with ABS: Find me a TVR with it fitted and you can have a cookie.

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:04 pm

ABS - One more thing to go wrong.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:46 pm

I suspect the best cadence braking in the world wouldnt be as good as todays latest abs systems, so i'd rather it was there than not.

I've had cars with both, i actually quite like the fact that in wintery conditions when i test how much grip there is, the abs pre-warns me in a safer manner.

I do accept though that the bx abs is a world apart from more modern systems & has caused a degree of unreliability, still think its safer to have it than not, but thats just me.

m_2975 · Post by **m_2975** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:07 am

MULLEY wrote:I suspect the best cadence braking in the world wouldnt be as good as todays latest abs systems, so i'd rather it was there than not.

I've had cars with both, I actually quite like the fact that in wintery conditions when I test how much grip there is, the abs pre-warns me in a safer manner.

I do accept though that the bx abs is a world apart from more modern systems & has caused a degree of unreliability, still think its safer to have it than not, but thats just me.

I'm with you on this one Mulley.

I know that it's not in the same league as the modern stuf but I believe that it's still safer to have than not. You never know what's going to happen in an instant.

Yes, I do accept that it's something else to go wrong but that could be argued to the hill with things like electric windows, power steering and even the hydraulic suspension.

Here in Australia, the small amount of BX's with ABS (16V's only) don't have any real problems with it. We don't have the same electrical corrosion problems as in the UK.

In short though, I don't care if it's something else to go wrong, in fact I look at it as it's something else to keep working. This philosophy means that I keep myself busy doing what I love; working on my BX's.

Michael