# How can I tell if I have ABS?



## nismo b14se-r (Jun 7, 2005)

I just bought my b14 SE-R not long ago. Whats the easiest way to tell if I have ABS or not. I bought it from a car lot and they didn't know shit about the car. Should I just get it up to speed and lock up the brakes?


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## Twiz (Aug 24, 2004)

You could look at the driveaxles. One of them should be setup for anti-lock. The passenger's side drive axle will look diff comparing with the driver's side.


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## MagicPie (Jun 23, 2004)

or look at the brake master cylinder and if follow the brake lines to see if there is another device they are going into under the hood if the lines are just leading to under the car then you have no ABS


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## Katana200sx (May 13, 2002)

look at the in# plate on your dash.


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## 98Midnight (Apr 23, 2004)

Turn your key to on but don't start the car. All the dash warning/caution lights will illuminate. If you have ABS there will be a light for it.


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## jpap2369 (Jun 22, 2005)

i didn't know either and i never thought about looking for an abs light, so i just brought it up to like 50m/h and slammed the brakes and they never locked up. that's how i found out about my abs.


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## wes (Apr 30, 2002)

jpap2369 said:


> i didn't know either and i never thought about looking for an abs light, so i just brought it up to like 50m/h and slammed the brakes and they never locked up. that's how i found out about my abs.


Do you have rear drum brakes?


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## DonaldHays (Jul 22, 2004)

Ok quick question now that I am thinking about the ABS subject, my car is a 99GXE limited crap. I have no ABS light and now I really doubt the car has abs (I have rear drum BTW) 

now this makes me wonder as my car eats the SHI* out of front pads since July 15th 2004 it's had umm 5 set's and has been only about 61k miles for 6 set's of pad's. 

First ones was installed by the dealership when i got the car from them, and its always dont matter which brakes you get the cheap or good ones there is always a ton of brake dust from the front pads for some reason. 

Could this fact that they alway say my car has abs and give me the pad's be doing this? 

I would think the pad's are the same size most likely but maybe designed diffrently so they wear quicker on a non abs car, also my ins comapny gives me a ABS discount also shich is fine with me! 

Any ideals as we have looked at the rotors and brake parts and allis fine


Thanks

Donnie H.


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## wes (Apr 30, 2002)

Have you touched the rear drums? If they are gone and/or out of adjustment then the front brakes are doing most of everything.


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## DonaldHays (Jul 22, 2004)

Hey there,

Thanks for the ideal, I know they most likely need to be adjusted as the parking brake dont hold half as good as it used to. I will check that out today Thanks again for the help


Donnie H.


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## AznBoiBryant (Dec 29, 2004)

Crap! i thought I had abs but from what you guys said I guess I don't.... Umm I put in some brake fluid that was met for a abs car... do I need to drain it now? Of course this was more then a year ago....


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## DonaldHays (Jul 22, 2004)

Hey AZ boy, I dont think the abs fluid will hurt your car, as most people with abs brakes use everyday brake fluid, I could be wrong if so i am sure someone will tell us so we will know for sure after a bit!


Donnie H.


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## nismo b14se-r (Jun 7, 2005)

No I don't have rear drums. I am asking because I need to replace my pass side CV axle and all the parts stores keep asking if I have ABS. Although now I am not sure it is my CV joint. After a short trip out of town the knocking got real bad and when I got out of the car I noticed I snapped two wheel studs right next to each other. Could this be causing the knocking I thought was the CV? Or could the bad CV have caused this?


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## DonaldHays (Jul 22, 2004)

I had a weird sound coming from the rear of my car after we had rotated the tire’s. We had done it earlier that day and that eve around 8pm we left Tucson for Phoenix and we noticed that once the car hit over 50MPH the car would start making a sound from the rear sort of like a faint machine gun sound. The faster the car was driven the louder the sound would get. We pulled over and looked at the car as best we could at night and was thinking maybe it was the fact that the tires might have wore different and might just need to be driven awhile before they stopped making the sound, drove the rest of the way to Phoenix and upon getting up in the morning to return to Tucson we thought about checking the lug nuts on the rear, of course the driver side rear was finger loose, we grabbed the wrench and fixed it and the sound went away, just glad that they didn’t come off was luck 115 plus miles with loose lug nuts!


Donnie H.


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## nismo b14se-r (Jun 7, 2005)

wow, I feel lucky and I only traveled 50 miles or so. Although I don't know how long the studs had been snapped for. I need to figure out if it is my CV or not tho. Also sometimes the clicking that I thought was the CV will sometimes go away for a second, during braking or at the right RPM


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## Galimba1 (Aug 16, 2002)

I think if you have ABS, there is a tapped hole on the spindle meant for the ABS sensor. No hole, no ABS.


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