Subject: (fwd) Re: Anti-Lock Brake Failures

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From: noskralc@aol.com (Noskralc)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.chrysler
Subject: Re: Anti-Lock Brake Failures
Date: 5 Jan 1996 02:41:56 -0500
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For a '92 Dodge Dynasty with Bendix-10 system:

First sympton, at a little over two-years of age, unusual force required
to stop car.
Second sympton - pump of pump and motor assembly ran continuously.
Dealer diagnosis:  replace hydraulic assembly at estimated cost of $2,800.

Out of disbelief I went to another dealer.  Diagnosis, replace pump and
motor assembly at a cost of $800.  After two pump and motor assemblies the
car was pronounced OK, yet the pump and motor assembly still ran
continuously.  Conclusion, the diagnostics are as unreliable as the
Bendix-10 system itself.

A few weeks later, the antilock warning lights came on permanently, which
told me the car was unsafe to drive.  I had to park it for several months
because I couldn't risk driving the car and I couldn't afford the repair. 
When I did take it in for repair, I learned that Chrysler had cut parts
prices substantially so that the $1,800 hydraulic assembly was now less
than $400 (an obvious ploy to diffuse the collective ire of Chrysler
customers), although one dealer continued to quote $1,800 nevertheless. 
In the end it cost about $800 before the dealer was done.

Just a few weeks later I had to apply the brakes hard in an emergency
during a rainstorm.  The wheels locked but the antilock system didn't do a
thing, which left me sliding down the road with a useless antilock system.

The net result is that I have shelled out close to $2,000 (including
parts, labor, and diagnostic charges) and I am left with a system that
doesn't work properly.  My conclusion is that the diagnostic system is as
flawed as the brake system.  Meanwhile, Chrysler as been shamelessly and
completely non-responsive to my complaints to their so-called 'customer
relations' department.