Should my car have ABS?
 

Because it definitely doesn’t!

Came round a blind corner today and was greeted by a lorry passing a “parked” van. I braked, fairly hard I must say, but it locked up eventually.

Should it have ABS? How would I know?

Thanks!

All P80's from '92 to '05 have ABS.

When you switch your ignition to position II do you see the ABS icon light up in the instrument panel? The module and pump are located next to the NS (left) strut tower. Check the fuse in the engine compartment too.

I shall check and report back, cheers!

Your Volvo definitly has got ABS! And, if the system is faulty, the ABS Icon comes on, always! The only reason, if this is not so, is, that somebody did not get rid of a problem with the ABS and removed the bulb in the cluster, or the bulb is faulty.

Does the speedo work??
Asking as it gets it's signal from the wheel sensor via the abs unit, so if the fuse for the unit has ben removed it won't (or shouldn't) work...
If the ABS light doesn't come on with the ignition probably, as stated the bulb has been removed..an mot failure now

Alright chaps here are my findings:

The ABS light does come on when starting the car, then it goes out after a second like all the others
The Speedo works

I have no idea of it would make any difference but the previous owner fitted bigger front brakes as well as some Tesco value coilovers, is there any chance these are having an impact.

Bigger front brakes wont make any difference to ABS operation. As your ABS light is working and then goes out as it should after it self tests, it would indicate that your ABS is working fine. Pretty much any ABS fault would generate a fault code and cause your ABS dash light to remain on.

You said originally that you locked up under hard braking. With the relatively primitive ABS fitted to 850's and S/V/C 70's, lock up will always occur initially followed by the ABS then reducing brake line pressure in a pulsed manner - so brakes go on-off-on-off-on-off very rapidly which you would usually feel through the pedal and also hear from the tyres as the wheels lock up-free off-lock up-free off-lock up-free off. Are you sure that the ABS wasn't working? You will hear the tyres squealing and chirping whilst this happens.
Modern ABS systems are more sophisticated and modulate the braking in a more controlled and smooth way that is almost indiscernible. Maybe that is what you are used to.

Regards
John

Thanks John.

I’m fairly sure the ABS didn’t do what I would expect it to do, which is what you describe in your post i.e. hard braking perhaps a little lock then sort of pulsing and a horrible judder feeling as the brakes are on and off to find grip.

What actually happened was I jammed the anchors on and initially the tyres gripped but as I got closer to the lorry I guess my sphincter puckered somewhat and I pushed down harder until eventually the grip ran out and the tires locked up. I ended up at a slight angle in the road due to being on a bend and the natural energy of the car turning. The final maybe 10 feet was pure skid and my goodness did we smell the rubber after. I have a dash cam on board so maybe I can pull the footage and share somehow so you can see.

Rael

Ah! the old sphincter syndrome! a well know issue by many drivers but not covered in ABS repairs-- probably
Regards Bob.

Why not find a stretch of quiet, straight flat road and do an emergency brake test. It should be fairly obvious if the ABS is working or not and kinder on your sphincter.