March 13, 2013 - Some folks may not think about the intricacies involved in vehicular safety, but it’s a good thing that others do. Over the last several decades, engineers and researchers attached to the automotive industry have consistently worked to improve your vehicle safety. One of those outcomes has been the steady improvement of the anti-lock braking system (ABS).
This system has only a few parts, but they are vitally important to your vehicle’s ability to keep you safe when it’s time to hit the brakes. We all just instinctually hit the brakes when we need to slow down or stop, just imagine if they didn’t work! It’s critical to keep your ABS properly working so your car wheels will hold traction on the road all the time.
We’ve covered “the boss” (ABS sensors) in another article, so today we want to address the importance of the ABS pump. Just imagine you are almost finished with a spray painting masterpiece and your air pump quits. You don’t have the ability to re-pressurize your tools and complete the work. Your masterpiece could be ruined. Any situation where your ABS pump was not able to re-pressurize would likely be much more critical than even a masterpiece because someone’s life is likely in danger.
This handy pump just hangs out and waits for a signal that it needs to do something. When the valves in the ABS system release pressure it’s the pump’s job to re-pressurize in order to keep the ABS running efficiently. If this re-pressurization does not occur, the brakes will fail.
So…how do you make sure the pump is in good working order? If you are not skilled in automotive brake work, you may want to trust this to someone who is. Your brakes are critical to your safety and you only want someone skilled working on this critical vehicle safety component.
Brake maintenance may vary from vehicle to vehicle, but it’s always included somewhere. This is just one more reason that it’s critical you follow your manufacturers or mechanic’s regularly scheduled maintenance program.
Just like your cardio pump that keeps your body primed for life, your ABS pump keeps your braking system primed for keeping you safe.