This is my first year driving in snow and I'm having the hardest time controling my car. I skid out left and right whenever it snows or it's icy, and applying my brakes is a nightmare. Today for instance, I was leaving my apartment complex which goes down a slight hill. I stepped on the brakes easy, like I always do, and my brakes locked up. The pedal wouldn't depress and each time I tried to press it I just get a loud crunching noise! So I kept control of the car but the car just wouldn't stop. Easing off the brakes and trying again gave me the same crunching noise and no brakes. So I flew out into the street where I finally regained the ability to brake. Before anyone asks, I was probably only going like 10 MPH. This was by far the worst it's been yet but even on flat roads, coming to a stop on snow locks up my brakes. Anyone know why? I'm at the point that I don't want to drive my car in the snow anymore because it's dangerous.
I looked up the info on the brakes in the owner's manual and it states the brakes take longer to work in snow and ice and that noise I'm hearing is supposed to be the anti-lock brakes working.....but my brakes totally lock up and when that happens I'm screwed. Any incite or advice would be appreciated.

thanks

 

What tire do you have? My TU2 EL42s worked ok in last winter. Wider tires could perform worse than others. And, I don't experience that issue yet. Was that road icy? If not, you have to report this to your dealer.


It seems to me that you lost the grip on the icy-like downhill... that's why you could stop "... I flew out into the street where I finally regained the ability to brake." IMHO. Maybe I'm wrong here.

 

I'm gonna give the dealer a call tomorrow. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. As far as the road goes, I can't really tell you. It was only snowing for maybe an hour or 2 when this happened so it couldn't have been that bad. Even if it was icy it wouldn't explain why my brakes totally lock and crunch when I try to press down.

 

Sounds like something funky with the brake system. ABS/VSA should have engaged if there was a traction issue.

 

I have never been happy with any ABS system yet. Maybe trying to turn and brake is far better but I feel that it takes longer to stop with it engaged. It also sounds like I’m stepping on a bag of potato chips

 

Yeah, not every ABS system is the same.... The system my SAAB had (Bosch) was excellent, but lots of electrical gremlins.

I wonder if the dealer can change any of the settings or senitivity of the system?

 

Personally, I think the ABS works great on my TL(6MT, navi). If you are having that much difficulty, it's possible something is wrong with your ABS, or the weather was just so bad you shouldn't have been driving in those conditions with the tires you've got on your car. Have your dealer check out the braking system to make sure it's not defective before you have an accident next time out in the snow or ice.

 

I've had a few cars with ABS. All of them made that crunching/grinding sound when engaged. I remember the very first time I heard that, I thought for sure something was wrong with the car. Then I learned what was happening and am prepared for it. When we had our first snow recently, I deliberately slammed on the brakes of my TL (on a side street) to test them out. Sure enough, crunch! But the car stay straight. Being in your car, I am not sure if you can say that your wheels "locked up". You couldn't see them. ABS pumps your brakes for you (much quicker than you ever could by yourself). In snow and wet roads this should help you stop better. But on ice, nothing is going to work.

Everybody should practice driving with the ABS, preferably in a safe spot such as a empty parking lot. IMO

 

To take advantage of the ABS, DO NOT press gently on the brake pedal--step on it as hard as you can. If the ABS kicks in, you will feel the pedal vibrate and you will likely hear a funny noise that sounds almost, but not quite, like the sound of popcorn popping in the microwave. (That's the best comparison I can find for the sound...anyone else have any ideas?) This is the sound of the ABS system pumping the brakes really fast. When this happens, DO NOT let up on the brakes--if you do, you are defeating the purpose of ABS.

From the original post I suspect that the problem here is not stepping hard on the brakes. I have several colleagues who made the same mistake when they got ABS-equipped vehicles. Just stomp on the pedal and see if that solves the problem.

 

Sidenote... Great ones...

 

I found the original tires to be marginal in the winter, so if you have any mileage on them, they are even worse. I got a set of snow tires from tirerack. They were all mounted and balanced and came with a set of lugs as well.

Much better... less kick in of antilock system and better stability. Yet they are not speed rated to 150 or more, so your driving habits have to change in the winter. The tires grip very well (than original rubber) in snow and ice but on dry pavement you can easily wear them out but stomping on the gas too hard.

 

I would like to note that I too had a weird occurrence with the ABS kicking in yesterday. Not sure if it's a problem or not??

I was traveling like 45mph and the car in front of me decides to brake hard for no apparent reason?? So anyways, I hit the brakes, hard enough to stop momentum, yet not that hard, and it seems like it immediately triggered the ABS to turn on. I wasn't really expecting ABS to turn on with a quick pump of the brakes. Do you think this is normal?

 

While braking hard and quickly, as well as you don't do this often, the Brake Assist would kick in, too. It would make your brake "sink" effortlessly and easily, which means the better and faster respondence from the brake system.


Btw, if anyone feels our ABS is strange and werid, you may try some old GM vehilces with the early-version ABS. I'd call that "sensational".


I think what Dvus555 and 1995hoo have posted above would be helpful... https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...6&postcount=10




Bonus thread... https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90263

 

also note, no matter how good your ABS brakes are and your tires are, if you're going too fast, and you try to brake in snow or ice, the car is gonna slide, you may think your brakes are locked up, but if you're hearing the crunching noise, its your brakes working against the sliding motion.

 

I'd also like to add that no matter what tires you have, ice and icy snow have just about no traction and it can be very difficult to stop the car.

Others have already mentioned it but with ABS - press on the pedal hard for maximum effect.

I also notice you have high performance tires, maybe they aren't that great in snow? I admit that I'm not a tire expert nor do I have experience with those.

 

Thank you rets! That was it, brake assist kicked in. Very interesting!

 

Learning to drive in winter takes time and practice. If you've never done it before it requires a total change in habits than what you're used to.

But that fact aside, there is the issue of physics. The simple fact is that no ABS or traction control can overcome a lack of friction between the tires and the road when it's covered with ice and or packed snow.

Some tires are better than others in providing traction on ice and snow but the vehicle is still going to take longer to stop because the grip isn't there. And the ABS will kick in early because of that. Also ABS keeps the wheels from locking, but if you're turning on a slippery surface the car is very likely to go wide because of a lack of traction, ABS or no ABS. It may seem like the wheels are locked up, but they aren't. There's just nothing for the tires to get a bite on.

 

sometimes, on the accidented road, if i step on the break little bit harder, i feels like

the break pedal is stucked~ and so many freaky noise...(I'm sure that is not abs sound)

just wondering if anyone got same experience~

 

better tires are required if you want the car to drive better. you need to get some dedicated snow tires, chains or something to increase traction... your tires could very well be locking up.... the reason? the tires dont have enough traction to get them rolling again after the brakes lock them up.... abs pulses the brakes quickly to prevent the wheel from locking up.

example: the brakes apply, begin to lock up, pressure is released, tire begins to regain traction, brakes reapply. its a constant cycle directed by wheel sensors, yaw sensors and many other factors. but if you tires have basically no grip, even after the brakes release, the tires dont bite the pavement and maintain traction. they basically stay stopped as if the brakes were still applied, even if they are not. thats why cars can slide down a hill side ways in the winter, the tires dont have any traction and the cars weight (momentum) is being used against it.... without traction theres nothing to stop it...

no matter what system is at work, if theres not traction to make them work it dont matter. tcs, abs, ebd, brake assist, reduced power.... all these system work by traction from the tires. tires lock up under braking? abs pulsates to make the most from traction, take a corner to hot? tcs brakes one wheel to keep the car on its intended course. hard stop with lost of weight? if the tires have no traction all the electronic gizmos in the world wont help

buy a dedicated pair of snow snoes for your ride

 

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. Maybe I wasn't clear enough explaining my problem in my first post. If I'm on snow or ice and I apply the brakes THE PEDAL WILL NOT GO DOWN AND I HEAR A CRUNCHING NOISE. When I say it won't go down, there's litterally NO movement of the pedal. The roads are all clear today and the car was braking fine. As soon as I hit my friends driveway (which had snow and slush all over it) my brakes did the same thing. The pedal woudn't go down at all and I get that crunch noise. I really have no braking ability. I've drivin in snow before and have never had a problem with regular brakes, but with the anti-lock brakes I have almost no braking ability. Seems like my car slows down just slightly, if at all. Hope this was more clear. Next time it snows I'll find an empty parking lot and practice stepping on the brakes hard to see if anything changes.

 

i experienced the same problem before in my dad's camry when it was parked in a lot all day and it was really cold outside. there was a huge snow storm and when i was backing out there was no brake pedal movement. the car would not stop, i continued to stomp on it until it gave way. i figure that something must have gotten frozen while it was out there all day.

 

samething happened to me~ i explained my problem above...

 

crunch is the ABS working

 

Here i'll try to imitate all the ABS's cars i've been in.

Fords will make a Crunch, beep vroom, bleep, gunk, chunk, zzzeee, zzz, CAR STOPS type noise.

I think it's a standard braking noise if the car senses it can't stop or notices slippage.

 

As the thread is over 2 1/2 years old, I certainly hope they found the cause of the problem.

 

Funny I have been trying to describe this in this thread.
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/buzz-sound-brakes-tires-when-stopping-hitting-bump-water-873207/

I'm trying to find someone who can look at the abs sensor for me.

 

where are all these dead threads coming from. is there anyway to lock threads from more then 5 years ago?

 

Why? this is what happens when people actually search!