I had been having a problem with my ABS and TRACS system for several months. The lights would come on intermittently, and nearly simultaneously (there was some short delay) one or more of the wheel cylinders would be actuated to oppose braking action.
I took the car, a 98 XC with 60K miles, to our selling dealer, and was dismayed to learn that the ABS hydraulic unit/pump would need to be replaced to the tune of $1600! Well, it was sort of a mixed message: the service advisor originally wrote up a failure of the ABS controller (only $500)(!), but when the paperwork came back from the tech, it was changed per the above.
It seemed to me that the heat-related malfunction was probably the controller, so I looked for second opinions. A local garage offered to rediagnose, probably several hours.
I then went to the internet and arrived here. All I read continued to convince me that it was most likely a controller failure, and I found Victor Rocha’s rebuild services highly recommended.
I figured it would be cheaper to have him repair the controller than to bother with an additional diagnosis, so I used his clear and accurate instructions to remove it and send it to him.
Now, 500 miles later, in all sorts of traffic conditions, with high underhood temperatures, I have not seen the ABS/TRACS lights at all, other than during the 2 second test when starting.
The way I see it, he has saved me somewhere between $300 and $1500. He was a pleasure to deal with, and the turnaround time, coast to coast and back was a week, with the car driveable (no speedometer or cruise control) during this time. http://home.earthlink.net/~vicrocha/Volvo_Parts/Volvo_V70_ABS.htm
Now, if I could only convince him to move to Cape Cod…..