Costs of Ownership of the ABC System
This is a costly system to repair. Most of the components in the system have a useful life of around 70,000 miles or so. Purchasing a car with 70,000 miles and owning it to 120,000 miles will be a costly proposition. You can realistically expect to have to replace the following during this period of the car's life:
[TABLE]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Item
[/TD]
[TD]Parts
[/TD]
[TD]Labor
[/TD]
[TD]Cost
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pump
[/TD]
[TD]1500
[/TD]
[TD]1000
[/TD]
[TD] $2,500
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Valve Block
[/TD]
[TD]1250
[/TD]
[TD]1000
[/TD]
[TD] $2,250
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rear Valve Block
[/TD]
[TD]1250
[/TD]
[TD]1000
[/TD]
[TD] $2,250
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Block Accumulator
[/TD]
[TD]150
[/TD]
[TD]1000
[/TD]
[TD] $1,150
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rear Block Accumulator
[/TD]
[TD]150
[/TD]
[TD]350
[/TD]
[TD] $500
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Return Accumulator
[/TD]
[TD]150
[/TD]
[TD]1000
[/TD]
[TD] $1,150
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pulsation Dampener +
Check Valve +
Pressure Sensor Block
[/TD]
[TD]1,000
[/TD]
[TD]500
[/TD]
[TD] $1,500
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Struts X 4 (in all likelihood at least 2 will either leak or the travel sensor inside will fail)
[/TD]
[TD]1,250
[/TD]
[TD]750
[/TD]
[TD] $2,000ea
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Total Costs (dealer pricing, all done separately)
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD] $15,300
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
I must be exaggerating, right? I wish I were. If you spend some time on the on-line forums reading discussion threads on ABC problems, you will see that I am not.
But there is some good news. With the exception of the pump, the other components of the ABC system (the valve blocks, accumulators, and struts) are in easy to access locations, and replacing them requires only basic mechanical skills. There are do it yourself write-ups and videos on the web, and support forums where other owners can provide advice.
So if you are the adventurous type that doesn't mind getting his hands dirty, then you have lots of options to cut down your repair costs. And you really don't have much to lose other than a tow bill and eating a little humble pie. If you don't succeed, just put things back the way they were and get the car to a good Indy shop and have them do the repair with your supplied part.
[TABLE]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]Item
[/TD]
[TD]How to Save Money
[/TD]
[TD]Savings
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]ABC Fluid
[/TD]
[TD]It is important to keep this fluid clean and fresh. As time
goes by, the hoses, accumulator membranes, struts, and
other rubber components shed microscopic debris into
the fluid. This debris shortens the life of the components
in the system, especially the valve blocks. This gunk tends to
deposit on the valve seats preventing a good seal.
So flush the fluid every 2-3 years. There is a DIY writeup on the net.
Also, when accumulators fail, they shed significant size chunks
of rubber membrane into the system. It is important to be
proactive about replacing these before they fail, and if one
does fail be sure to flush the fluid to get out as much debris
as you can. Same goes for a pump failure.
[/TD]
[TD]Hard to quantify,
but a significant
savings
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pump
[/TD]
[TD]You can replace the pump as a DIY project, and write-ups are online. It is a little more challenging than the other components. Unless you have some experience replacing power steering, water, and other pumps on engines, it is probably best left to the workshop to do.
[/TD]
[TD]$0
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Valve Block
[/TD]
[TD]There are DIY guides to pull and clean these blocks
[/TD]
[TD]$2,250
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rear Valve Block
[/TD]
[TD]There are DIY guides to pull and clean these blocks
[/TD]
[TD]$2,250
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Front Accumulator
[/TD]
[TD]You can proactively replace this accumulator any
time the valve block is cleaned or replaced, saving the
labor cost.
[/TD]
[TD]$1,000
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rear Accumulator
[/TD]
[TD]This is a fairly simple DIY project
[/TD]
[TD]$1,000
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Return Accumulator
[/TD]
[TD]You can proactively replace this accumulator any
time the rear valve block is cleaned or replaced, saving the
labor costs.
[/TD]
[TD]$350
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pulsation Dampener
Check Valve
Pressure Sensor
[/TD]
[TD]You can't replace these components separately, only
the complete assembly. Replacing it is a fairly simple DIY
project
[/TD]
[TD]$500
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Struts
[/TD]
[TD]There is an alternate supplier (Arnott) that sells replacement
struts for about $500 each. If you are a capable DIY person
you can replace them yourself, or spend about $300 for a
competent repair shop to install them
[/TD]
[TD]$1,250 ea
assuming two
will fail
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]SAVINGS
[/TD]
[TD]$10,000 +
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]