Does my 1987 Volvo 740 GLE have ABS (Antilock Brakes)?

I have only had the car a couple weeks and hardly driven it. I have no
idea. I am looking at brakes online and it matters if the car has ABS.

Thanks!

 

Have a look under the trunk floor on right hand side. If it contains an ABS
modulator unit and a few hydraulic pipes then it has ABS. However on your
car it may well be under the hood, either side of the compartment near strut
tower(s). If it has none of these things it does not have ABS.

All the best, Peter.

700/900/90 Register Keeper,
Volvo Owners Club (UK).

 

My '87 Turbo does, but it was a fairly rare option on the 740s. You can
look for the ABS modulator under a wood cover under the carpet in the
side of the trunk, but it's easier to just get out on an empty road,
preferably wet, get it up to about 25 mph and slam on the brakes. If it
has ABS you'll hear it chatter and feel in the pedal.

 

If your car is fitted with ABS there should be a warning light for ABS
malfunction, this should be on when ignition key is turned prior to starting
just like all the other warning lamps.

Regards

Per Hauge

 

Isn't this light fitted anyway ? My '89 UK 740 estate has the light
but no ABS. There's no exhaust cat either, but I have that warning
light too !

 

I haven't been able to test it yet, but I think he means when you turn
the key, if you have it the light should come on for a few seconds as a
system check. If you don't, the light will not illuminate.

Just my guess...

 

This is interesting. The ABS warning lamp is lit when grounded via the ABS
control module, and positive feed from ignition key switch. If you have ABS
light, I would have hard to believe you don't have ABS, and if light goes
out when engine is started, I would say even a working ABS.
What does the light look like, color and text?

The check engine light is not related to the exhaust cat, but is lit when
either igniton or fuel injection module has detected an error.

Regards

Per Hauge

 

Not sure if you've gotten your answer, but there is a very simple test
if you live in Northern Climates.

Find a large parking lot or sidestreet without cars or other obstacles
around, with a layer of slippery snow or light ice. Drive up to about
30kmh and hit the brakes HARD!

If you get a shuddering through the pedals as you go sliding along, the
odds are that you've got ABS.

If there's no shuddering, no ABS.

Local newspaper covered ABS and described the driving technicque needed
is not pumping the brake pedals, but "stomp and steer".

 

Thanks, yes that would surely do it. My issue is that I bought the car
a couple weeks ago and don't have the car with me. It's been at the
mechanics and I was trying to find out how to tell without actually
having the car with me.

I thought perhaps all 1987 740 GLE models either had them, or they did
not.

 

It was an expensive option, available but certainly not all of them had it.

 

Just curious, what is the name of that large drum-like object between
the master cylinder and the firewall? It's been driving me nuts. I
always thought THAT was the master cylinder, but it turns out it is not.

 

Vacuum brake booster. The master cylinder is the gizmo with pipes
attached that bolts to the front of it.

Bob

 

That's the vacuum booster, often just called a "brake booster." You've heard
of "power brakes" - that's the part that makes them power.

Mike

 

Which reminds me, if you ever go to rope tow the car, or your engine
conks out while moving at high speed or down a hill, prepare for the
braking effort to be MUCH heavier as soon as you run out of vacuum in
the booster. It'll feel like there's a block of wood stuck under the
brake pedal.

 

Both red, with lettering "ABS" and the catalyst symbol.

I think they were options at the time (UK, '89) but mine has never had
either fitted.

 

Or "brake servo" here in the UK.

That's for most cars. On my Volvo (740) it's not MUCH heavier it's
INCREDIBLY heavier. I've never known a car with such heavy brakes,
unassisted (except possibly my Citroen )

Half of my other cars are old enough they don't have brake servoes
anyway.