I have been having some brake problems with my '97 Pontiac Sunfire GT. Specifically, whenever I go over a bump and I put on the brakes, it seems that my anti-lock brakes kick in prematurely. Also, my brakes are EXTREMELY SENSITIVE....I barely touch them and they brake, so when I press just a little bit harder, the anti-lock brakes kick in then too....It really makes my brakes wear out prematurely too (i'm really grinding them at the moment...) Any ideas on what might cause the anti-lock brakes to kick in so easily?

The antilock brakes have speed sensors on each wheel. If the wheels rotate at different rates (past a certain limit) when the brakes are applied, the antilock feature will kick in. I have the same thing happen in my two Subarus when I go over a bumpy road and apply the brakes. It is a little unerving because it feels like you have no brakes, just push harder on the brake pedal and all will be fine. Anti lock brakes aren't like regular brakes and like to have the pedal pressed down harder in some cases.

You might want to check for worn rear struts on the car. If your struts are allowing the wheel to bounce, the wheel speed sensor will sense the slowdown and activate the anti-lock. Good struts keep the wheel on the ground.

Mark the strut guy

[This message has been edited by Firefox (edited 09-17-2003).]

they claim that my struts are fine....Is there anyway to check the anti-lock brakes on my own? I heard they hook it up to a computer, but is there some sort of computer reader I can buy? (for my Fiero, I used to have a check engine reader that saved me a ton of money.)