Wild Weasel

My '96 Grand was involved in a traffic accident several weeks ago. My
car struck another car from behind at about 15 mph. The front bumper,
the metal cross piece behind the bumper and the charcoal canister had to
be replaced and the front end alignment was seriously out of whack. The
car was drivable but shimmied.

Several days after the accident my ABS light came on and stayed on. I
mentioned this to the jeep dealer (Wissler in Mt. Joy PA) when I dropped
it off for service and said I thought it might be related to the
accident. Today they called to say that the HCU was bad and needed to be
replaced. They tried to reset it several times and "switched some valves
around" to try to get it to work but the ABS light always came back on.
My brakes work but without anti-lock.

My insurance company is declining to replace the HCU saying it is not
related to the accident. While it could be unrelated, the timing seems
curious. My dealer wants $2500.00 + labor to replace the HCU. What I
would like to know is:

1) Does it seem that the accident and the HCU problem are unrelated or
is it plausable that the impact buggered the HCU? If so could anyone
suggest how my accident could cause the problem. I don't know if my
insurance company is trying to go "cheap" on me or if thier position is
reasonable.

2) If I can't get my insurance company to replace the unit what options
do I have that will get my ABS back without dishing out $2500.00?


Thanks and Best Regards,

Marcel

steelwheel

Wild Weasel <wildweasel@comcast.net> wrote in message
<Xns93B9DE2B4F8B4wildweaselcomcastnet@206.127.4.25 >,

>My '96 Grand was involved in a traffic accident several weeks ago. My
>car struck another car from behind at about 15 mph. The front bumper,
>the metal cross piece behind the bumper and the charcoal canister had to
>be replaced and the front end alignment was seriously out of whack. The
>car was drivable but shimmied.
>
>Several days after the accident my ABS light came on and stayed on. I
>mentioned this to the jeep dealer (Wissler in Mt. Joy PA) when I dropped
>it off for service and said I thought it might be related to the
>accident. Today they called to say that the HCU was bad and needed to be
>replaced. They tried to reset it several times and "switched some valves
>around" to try to get it to work but the ABS light always came back on.
>My brakes work but without anti-lock.
>
>My insurance company is declining to replace the HCU saying it is not
>related to the accident. While it could be unrelated, the timing seems
>curious. My dealer wants $2500.00 + labor to replace the HCU. What I
>would like to know is:
>
>1) Does it seem that the accident and the HCU problem are unrelated or
>is it plausable that the impact buggered the HCU? If so could anyone
>suggest how my accident could cause the problem. I don't know if my
>insurance company is trying to go "cheap" on me or if thier position is
>reasonable.

Anything is possible. Without knowing what's actually wrong with your
HCU, I can only guess that the accident dislodged some crud in the
hydraulic system which then made it's way into the HCU valves. This
would certainly be enough to cause ABS problems.

>
>2) If I can't get my insurance company to replace the unit what options
>do I have that will get my ABS back without dishing out $2500.00?

Buy a used HCU from a salvage yard.

>
>
>Thanks and Best Regards,
>
>Marcel