The ABS sensor, or rather, the
anti-lock braking system, is a device that can save your life while you are driving your favorite car. It is it that allows the driver to control his four-wheeled friend during heavy braking, so as not to crash into the obstacles that arise in the way of your stop.
The whole system includes ABS sensors themselves (wheel speed sensors), a control module (it carries out processes for monitoring and coordinating processes in active and passive modes), brake calipers, pressure relief valves and hydraulic actuators.
The ABS sensor works, as well as the entire system, as follows. When the driver presses the brake pedal, pressure builds up in the hydraulic
brake system . It makes the pads pressed against the discs with
brake calipers, and it is this process that helps to stop the machine. If the ABS sensor suddenly detects that one of the wheels decelerates faster than the others, the brake effect is automatically reduced on this wheel. This is due to the opening of the pressure relief valve in the hydraulic system. The ABS sensor, and the whole system as a whole, responds to the situation very quickly, and can work 6-20 times per second. The reaction can extend either to the front or to all four wheels: it all depends on the model of your car.
The main advantage of ABS is not that it allows you to reduce the
braking distance, although this is undoubtedly a huge plus (however, there are exceptions when the braking distance, on the contrary, increases on ice and with spikes).
The beauty of this system is that it allows you to continue driving while you are desperate to brake. If you do not have this system, then during heavy braking the car’s wheels will lock up, and even with the slightest turn of the steering wheel you will spin in a top at great speed. And this is not a pleasant prospect. The ABS system will not allow the wheels to lock, and you can avoid losing control and quite safely go around the obstacle.
However, such a system is not eternal, and sooner or later you will need to repair the ABS sensor. You can do this at any car service. Or you, of course, can make repairs yourself. But do not take this matter if you have absolutely no experience in car repair. If you, of course, at least a little cherish your four-wheeled friend. After all, different cars have everything arranged differently, and what your friend or neighbor does when repairing your car may not suit you at all. Although, perhaps for you it is very simple and not difficult. Well, it's up to you. And the car too. You decide how to deal with it.
It does not hurt to periodically diagnose all the systems of the machine, not just the ABS, so that you do not have surprises along the way. It would be better to spend some time checking the work of all the "organs" of your car than to later reproach yourself for taking the time and not doing something that would help to avoid unpleasant, and sometimes even sad situations.