O/T 93 suburban Seizing caliper causing ABS to quit?

[frankiee]

My fathers 93 Suburban had the ABS brake lite come on and the ABS does not work now.
It pulls to one side.
I pulled the wheels off and found that the left caliper was tight on the brake rotor.
I am putting both new calipers and pads on the car on Friday.
The brake performance was also way down.
Stand on the brakes and it would stop but not lock up like it should even at slow speed.
My question is: Do you think that the ABS quit working because of the seizing brake caliper or is this just the start of a long list of things I am going to have to do to get the brakes up to par again?

 

[labman]

Any chance it got topped up with power steering fluid or something? If so, $$$$$$$$$$$$. All the rubber parts will need replaced.

 

[beanoil]

I think you are on the right track. The ABS in my old Mercury Villager did the same thing when a rear shoe came loose from the backing plate. The ABS monitors rotation through the sensors. The mechanic told me it monitors full time, not just when brakes are applied. If one wheel is goofy, it will disable the ABS, and throw a light to indicate you need to look into it. Good luck.

 

[Boomer58]

"Stand on the brakes and it would stop but not lock up like it should even at slow speed."

Thats how ABS works.

 

[cousincletus]

I would suspect you have a bad flexible rubber brake hose. Replace that first and see if the caliper releases before replacing any more parts.

 

[frankiee]

"Stand on the brakes and it would stop but not lock up like it should even at slow speed"
Boomer 58- What I mean is that the ABS light is on and the ABS system is not operating at all right now.
So it is now just a regular system with power brakes and no Anti- lock.
So I figure if we drove at 30 miles per hour on semi crushed gravel on ashphalt and jumped hard on the brakes the brakes should lock or at least stop the truck in a hurry. It does not.
I got father to slam on the brakes to see if they work after adjusting the rear shoes and the stop was quite slow.
I tested the power booster and it seems to have enough vacuum.
All I can find faulty is the seizeing left front caliper.
I have had seizeing calipers before and the remaining brakes had lots of power to stop the vehicle.
I am wondering if the seizing caliper caused the ABS to stop working of if the caliper was tight for a while and the symptoms covered up by the ABS
OR
if there is a problem with the ABS and that is why it quit working and that is why there is so little brakeing force from the hydraulic system.
I personally think that it is the ABS but I have to fix the system anyhow for safety reasons so it is a place to start.
Any advice??

 

[Jimbo]

"I would suspect you have a bad flexible rubber brake hose. Replace that first and see if the caliper releases before replacing any more parts."

That was the problem with the siezed caliper in mom's Dodge. We replaced the calipers and even the proportioning valve before discovering that the hose was plugged with rust, allowing fluid to flow only under pressure from the master, but not back, so the caliper piston could not retract on its own.

US and Japanese car makers do not recommend regular brake fluid flushes, the Germans do. They are right about that one.