Ok, So i picked up a pretty clean 90 Trofeo for dirt cheap.

However, The brakes are acting up.

10% of the time , they work fine.. The other 90% of the time, if i step on the pedal, it is rock hard, i can hear the accumulator come on, and the abs light comes on...


Any ideas what to look for first?

Uh oh, if that has the Teves ABS and it is bad, sad to say you are very screwed as the parts for the Teves are outrageously expensive.

Well, theres a trofeo at the pick and pull here, and the abs system is complete, but i'd rather not pull the whole thing lol.

It turned out to be a bad diapraghm in the accumulator, paid 3 dollars at pick and pull for another accumulator, problem solved lol.

*rant*
as a teves equipped car owner, id just like to point out to everyone that parts are NOT outrageously expensive for the system, and are very available at junkyards for them. im tired of hearing people **** and moan about a system that they dont even own. the teves system is a good braking system, and when it brakes go to the junkyard and get the part that broke, theyre not expensive.

Sorry I'm a bit late into this thread...

Most mechanics frankly don't know [anything] about the Teves system. As we have 3 Reattas, all with Teves', I'm pretty good with them. Rarely does the Teves master cylinder have to be replaced. If you do have to replace it, Prior remans them with new pumps and pressure switches for $600.

The Reatta board users push for Teves owners to flush/bleed the system every 2 years. Initially, you'll want to either drain the resevoir from the hose in the back of it or suck it out a couple times to get the old crud out. The fluid circulates inside.

http://reatta.net/brakes/brakes_troubleshooting.html

Above is a link to Reatta.net Teves brake tests. This is able to pinpoint most any Teves issue, except with the wheel sensors or possibly a bad ABS computer. There'* more about the system at Reatta.net under "Brakes" as well.

A Reatta owner was recently quoted by a dealer $6k for Teves brake work