my son's first car I am about to put on the road...96 legacy L 2.2L auto.

The ABS unit "went" 2 years ago....battery was dying and came to find out there was a humming sound coming from the ABS unit (front pass side of engine compartment). So I simply unplugged it.

I thought maybe it's best for him to have ABS being he is a brand new driver...would a 97 outback unit fit? and what is involved in replacing it (i am hoping the electronic part comes out and no brake lines need removing)

thanks guys

 

And...what happened to the board for nine days???

early Subaru ABS issues were often the result of a bad relay i believe, might be as simple as that. do some searching here, it's fairly common and specifics aren't coming to me at the moment.

 

if it is the unit then you'll need to break open some brake lines to swap it out as fluid flows through it.

 

it's been awhile but i don't think there's lots of differences in the hydraulic unit itself. i feel like there's two styles...but kind of fuzzy. take the unit or picture with you and read the label - manufacturer and compare. check the junk yard cross listing as well, that should point you in the right direction.

I did a complete auto>5 speed conversion in my OBW this winter and the abs unit was one of the things that had to be swapped. This is what I found

OBWs and legacys have different front abs sensors. the OBW computer/module would work with the legacy sensors but the legacy computer/module wouldn't work with the OBW.

So the OBW abs module is the better choice.

The style I was working with was a BOSCH unit. You can undo the two 12mm nuts and pull the whole abs module up at an angle exposing the 6 torx screws that hold the abs module to the pump. remove all screws and replace with a new one and you are on your way. no breaking into the fluids.

When you turn the key to the on position the abs light will turn off after 10 seconds. This means all is well in ABS land. If you start driving and it comes on you might have a bad wheel sensor.

Subarus are real easy to pull the ABS codes from. Do a search and you should find it. Nipper posted a link that took me to it.