Air Brake Antilock Problems of Subaru Impreza Wrx

If I try to brake over rough or slippery pavement in my 2002 Subaru Impreza Wrx, the abs system shuts off the brakes. Potholes, manhole covers, frost heaves, icy patches, any of these cause this behavior. Also, in November 2004, while driving downhill at about 30 to 35 mph on dry and mostly clean pavement, a truck driving in front of me braked gradually. I hit my brakes to maintain a distance, but it was a section of rippled pavement and the abs system shut off the brakes so completely for about 10 seconds. My car was actually picking up speed due to the downhill. I am sure than in any other car I've had, I wouldn't have had any trouble slowing down. I avoided rear-ending the truck by slowing the car with aggressive engine braking. I also steered towards the other side of the road, where there was no traffic at that moment and the pavement was cleaner, so I could slow down. Another time I rear-ended a vehicle that stopped in front of a pothole, although damage was minor. I've also had a large number of scary near - misses with rear-ending other vehicles, and on a few occasions slid out into intersections with frost heaves leading up to a stop sign or stop light, because my braking space estimate was far less than I actually needed. I recently replaced all brake pads and discs. The rear pads fit in the calipers so tightly I had to pound them out with a hammer and punch. Both pads and rotors were worn very unevenly. Replacement rear pads fit in the same way. Then I realized something was wrong with the fit, so I ground down the tabs to get a good snug fit rather than an interference fit and jamming, so they slipped into place normally. After making this change to my brakes, they work very well. I nearly sold the car due to this issue, but instead drove it for a while with the abs system disabled. My local Subaru dealer told me this is how abs systems are supposed to work, even though there is clearly a big problem.

See all problems of the 2002 Subaru Impreza Wrx 🔎.

Gas periodic gas smell in car. Cold cluch jitter. Oor braking preessure, over active abs.

Antilock braking system engages on dry pavement when it encounters bumps, pedal goes almost to the floor and braking force is severely reduced. I have driven many cars with abs and nothing like this has ever happened to me. I have sort of learned to "drive around" the problem, but on a couple of occasions where emergency braking was called for it has nearly caused me to get into an accident - once forcing me to drive up onto and over a curb and into a ditch. Destroying one of my wheels in the process. Someone ran a red light and I couldnt stop from 30 mph in what would have been plenty of room with a normal braking system. Problem has been there since car was new, when I inquired about it with my dealer I was informed that "all wrxs do that, its normal" but after talking with several other owners of the same car I can tell you that although we all might experience it, its not normal at all and quite scary. As an experiment I found a parking lot with some bumps on it that would cause the abs to go nutty, I then pulled the abs fuse and went over the same part of the parking lot at the same speed and I could get tons more braking force without locking up the wheels than I could with the abs on, something is definitely screwy here.

Overwhelming fuel smell inside vehicle to the point of my eye's tearing due to the strong smell of fuel and pull the car over to get out and breathe fresh air. Strong even with the hood closed you can smell the fuel standing by the car. Cannot drive vehicle or have children in car. Anti-lock braking system engages prematurely when not needed, causing vehicle to travel over a longer distance than needed.

When braking over uneven surfaces or bumps on dry pavement, the abs kicked in and the brake pedal went to the floor leaving me with absolutely no brakes for a second until I lifted my foot off the pedal and reapplied pressure. This caused me to almost crash into the car in front of me which was stopped at the stoplight. I had to change into the right turn lane to avoid an accident.

I own a 2002 Subaru wrx and wanted to add to the list of abs complaints. I have had several instances that when the brakes are applied at the same time a bump is hit the brakes fail to respond regardless of speed. I almost hit a pedestrian in a sidewalk once traveling 20 mph where I just happened to hit a bump at the same time I tried to stop. I had to let go of the brakes and reapply to get them to work. This has happened on several occasions, the exact dates are unknown.

On multiple occasions I have had the problem where the abs system on my 2002 Subaru wrx acts in an unpredicatable manner. The problem occurs when braking on a uneven surface. Basically it feels like the abs engages to prevent wheel lock-up going over the bumps, yet pedal pressure decreases and the stopping distance increases. Luckily I am from the time before abs and my instict when the brakes aren't reacting properly is to release and then reapply the brakes. Without this instinct I would have likely been involved in an accident by now. I believe there is a flaw in the abs on this vehicle because I have never had this type of experience on any other abs equipped vehicles I have driven.

My model year 2002 Subaru Impreza Wrx wagon has had a slight reoccuring problem with what seems to be a faulty abs braking sensor. The car suffers from a drop in pressure of brake pedal feel and brake performance over uneven or bumpy roads. When braking under normal driving conditions if a bumpy or uneven surface is encountered while braking the abs kicks in and there is a loss in control via the brake pedal of the braking force. This condition happens every time the conditions are present as described, and can be quite disconcerting. It is obvious that under panic situations, coupled with less than ideal road surfaces, this condition could prove very dangerous, as the braking distance of the car increases dramatically during this action.

Over rough surfaces (potholes in pavement, rough pavement, railroad crossings, uneven pavement) the abs will kick on at a low speed and it seems, if only for a few moments, that the car is not braking. This happens regularly and I need to drive the vehicle in such a way as to avoid braking on these types of roads by braking early and rolling through the rough areas without the brake pedal depressed.

I own a 2002 Subaru wrx. The abs on this car is extremely sensitive. It's so sensitive that it actually is instrusive. It comes in way to early and sometimes even where there shouldn't be any problem braking. During routine braking, the abs will engage resulting in a loss of brake power and thus a longer braking distance. I have driven many cars with abs and this car's system is not normal. I believe this is a "normal" problem with wrxs and the problem needs to be fixed.

Bumpy roads cause anti-lock brakes to engage. When this happens, brake pressure decreases and vehicle does not decellerate.

Abs kicks in and does not return to normal braking even after regaining contact with the road. Attempted to replicate the problem on my own but could never do so consistently. Seems to happen over bumpy roads, the abs kicks in, wheel(s) appear to lose traction, but when traction should be regained, the brake pedal practically goes to the floor, the car does not slow down at an acceptable rate, and only after "pumping" the brake pedal does the car then go back to normal (hard) abs braking. While it has never caused an accident, I am concerned about this behavior were it to ever happen in a panic situaiton.

When this car hits a bump under braking on dry pavement. The abs system can kick in on what feels like all 4 tires. It stays on after the bump until the driver releases the brake pedal and reapplies the brakes. During the time the abs is active the braking system does not slow the car down much. This has almost lead to two rear end accidents reported to dealer. They would not reproduce. This has happened many times during ownership with multiple types of tires and rims. Dt.