[Sam91]

Ok guys so I picked up my 1991 prelude si alb from my grandparent’s house the other day. I got my license last week and I have been driving the lude to school every day. It is a good driver. But my mom and I noticed something super weird. She went somewhere with the prelude and she noticed that the brakes are kind of crappy. But then when The alb light comes on after a mile of driving she noticed the pedal felt a lot better. I have noticed the same thing driving to and from school. Does anyone know what the problem is? Last year I put all new brake fluid in both the alb and the regular brake system. I am pretty sure that the alb isn’t working. If anybody can help that would be great!

Thanks Sam

Here is a pic of my beautiful car!

 

[1funryd]

That is the common issue with alb units.
They are crappy.

The system we have is the same as the NSX system, and even they hate it. They convert to the S2000 unit but it's a kit made for the NSX guys. You would need to modify it to work for the 3GP.

You would be better off if you ditched it and converted to the base brake system.
But since you are still in high school I know that can be an issue. So I suggest saving up and find a parts car and purchase it and do the conversion.

It won't get better over time.

 

[Sam91]

That is the common issue with alb units.
They are crappy.

The system we have is the same as the NSX system, and even they hate it. They convert to the S2000 unit but it's a kit made for the NSX guys. You would need to modify it to work for the 3GP.

You would be better off if you ditched it and converted to the base brake system.
But since you are still in high school I know that can be an issue. So I suggest saving up and find a parts car and purchase it and do the conversion.

It won't get better over time.

Great. What If I get the ALB to work again? Will that make the brakes better? I kind of want to take the pump out and put it in my ultrasonic cleaner and see if that changes anything. I really would like to keep the ALB system since it is pretty cool and unique.

 

[1funryd]

Great. What If I get the ALB to work again? Will that make the brakes better? I kind of want to take the pump out and put it in my ultrasonic cleaner and see if that changes anything. I really would like to keep the ALB system since it is pretty cool and unique.

They fail a lot, so its up to you, but these units suck.
So you can try, and fix it, but it will fail on you again.
This system is a faulty system and for you to keep it makes no sense. Its not like there are replacement parts for this thing.
I just told you even the NSX crowd hate it and spend money to replace it.

 

[Sam91]

They fail a lot, so its up to you, but these units suck.
So you can try, and fix it, but it will fail on you again.
This system is a faulty system and for you to keep it makes no sense. Its not like there are replacement parts for this thing.
I just told you even the NSX crowd hate it and spend money to replace it.

I guess I will keep it for now. I can’t find any cheap parts cars. They are usually kind of expensive or people think they are worth gold.

 

[1funryd]

I guess I will keep it for now. I can’t find any cheap parts cars. They are usually kind of expensive or people think they are worth gold.

That is the car game period. Supply and demand.

 

[FirstCarNostalgic]

Yeah Sean is right regarding this from the research I've done. You could go ahead and try to do some maintenance on the accumulator. You may get lucky and have a open/closed solenoid, and bleeding the system could remedy that. I believe if the light comes on after a while like you are saying, the pump itself should be working. I can't say that for sure but having read through the flow charts that seems to be what it suggests.

If the pump is broken, you can buy a new pump from acura for the 1st gen nsx, but the part is somewhere in the $500 range if I remember correctly. I think the only mod is swapping the connector from the prelude one with the nsx one -- so almost a direct replacement. Even if you got the new pump you would need to do the bleeding procedure.

You can't buy the special tool for bleeding, but there is an nsx site that goes over how to do this if you don't have the tool. If you search on here it will come up, otherwise I can find it.

The computer for the alb system is under your radio (yellow top box). On the passenger side it has a fault light like the ecu does. It would be worth your time recording those codes and going through the manual to see if you can pinpoint something concrete versus just trying to remedy this or that.

The cheapest and longest fix is swapping for the base system as Sean suggests. It involves getting the non alb master cylinder, and the brake line splitter (can't think of its actual name) from a non alb model. The master cyclinder is still available at rock auto and auto parts stores (I think the S2000 master cylinder works too but it is probably more expensive than the prelude one). You'd need to find the splitter from a junkyard. I recall a civic model works as well but I'd have to look that up again. I'm sure it is easy enough to find. A youtube personality, Extreme Daily Driver does the swap, and has a video showing how he did it. You remove the alb system, and reroute the brake lines into the non alb splitter. Swap the master cylinder. This may be difficult with the engine still in the car though, as the brake lines run along the firewall. Seems best to pull the engine, but maybe someone else here has done it with the engine in the car.

 

[Sam91]

Yeah Sean is right regarding this from the research I've done. You could go ahead and try to do some maintenance on the accumulator. You may get lucky and have a open/closed solenoid, and bleeding the system could remedy that. I believe if the light comes on after a while like you are saying, the pump itself should be working. I can't say that for sure but having read through the flow charts that seems to be what it suggests.

If the pump is broken, you can buy a new pump from acura for the 1st gen nsx, but the part is somewhere in the $500 range if I remember correctly. I think the only mod is swapping the connector from the prelude one with the nsx one -- so almost a direct replacement. Even if you got the new pump you would need to do the bleeding procedure.

You can't buy the special tool for bleeding, but there is an nsx site that goes over how to do this if you don't have the tool. If you search on here it will come up, otherwise I can find it.

The computer for the alb system is under your radio (yellow top box). On the passenger side it has a fault light like the ecu does. It would be worth your time recording those codes and going through the manual to see if you can pinpoint something concrete versus just trying to remedy this or that.

The cheapest and longest fix is swapping for the base system as Sean suggests. It involves getting the non alb master cylinder, and the brake line splitter (can't think of its actual name) from a non alb model. The master cyclinder is still available at rock auto and auto parts stores (I think the S2000 master cylinder works too but it is probably more expensive than the prelude one). You'd need to find the splitter from a junkyard. I recall a civic model works as well but I'd have to look that up again. I'm sure it is easy enough to find. A youtube personality, Extreme Daily Driver does the swap, and has a video showing how he did it. You remove the alb system, and reroute the brake lines into the non alb splitter. Swap the master cylinder. This may be difficult with the engine still in the car though, as the brake lines run along the firewall. Seems best to pull the engine, but maybe someone else here has done it with the engine in the car.

I will have to check the codes. Is there a thread on here how to do it or does the service manual tell you how? I think part of my problem could be the system is just bunked up. The brake fluid in it was nasty when I replaced it. Maybe it just needs cleaned out. So is there any way to undo the brake lines at each wheel for the alb system to make sure I got all the old fluid out? I have watched extreme dail drivers for a while. I wish they would keep making prelude videos. I saw their video on the alb but didn’t watch it.

 

[1funryd]

Again, you can flip a coin and try to flush your system and pray and hope that fixes it but 99% of the time, it will not.
But you have that 1% so maybe?

And I think I already told you just pull the search on this forum for the pdf manuals. All the info is all on this site.

 

[Sam91]

Again, you can flip a coin and try to flush your system and pray and hope that fixes it but 99% of the time, it will not.
But you have that 1% so maybe?

And I think I already told you just pull the search on this forum for the pdf manuals. All the info is all on this site.

I have saw the threads on how to bleed the system.

 

[FirstCarNostalgic]

I'll look it up after work today. I have it somewhere.

 

[Sam91]

I'll look it up after work today. I have it somewhere.

Awesome thank you!

 

[FirstCarNostalgic]

Here is the link to the bleeding without the tool

ABS

1991 Acura NSX part codes :

Accumulator : 57060-SL0-A00. $790
Pump Assembly : 57310-SL0-003 $510

If i remember correctly the modulator itself has one less or one more solenoid, so I don’t think it works. However it seems like the part that brakes and can’t be fixed is typically the pump. You could try and rebuild it by finding new brushes and cleaning the copper wire. I know MustardCat tried it at one point without success. He said it worked for a minute then stopped.

Here is the link to a pdf upload of the flowchart and alb codes a member uploaded

ALB Codes/Troubleshooting

ALB Codes/Troubleshooting Manuel I have searched a few times on here about ALB codes, and i always here to figure out whats going on, i need the manuel. i got it and i have no problem with that, but i was thinking it might be easier for some to just have it in thread form to just have as a...

www.preludepower.com

This seems to be a touchy subject on the forum, as many have tried and haven’t had success with fixing the system. But from what I’ve read here and on NSX sites, the main cause of failure is not properly being serviced — mainly because you need special tools and is generally a pain. Again this is all research, I haven’t tackled it myself, but as long as your pump works, it seems possible to refresh the system. The other tool is the ALB checker, which would make this job a lot more straight forward, but that is discontinued as well, so you would need to look for it on eBay. I have kept an eye out for one here and there and haven’t found one. I think a better route might be getting on an NSX forum and seeing if you could buy one there (it doesn’t seem 100% necessary but would be a nice tool to have in the event you are trying to regularly maintain the system).

All the above is just for information. Not telling anyone to do or not to do anything. I agree with you it would be nice to have it working, especially since most 3rd gen preludes don’t have a working system, or have swapped it out for the base one. The most logical option would be to swap. Cheaper, no added maintenance, and you are done. If he NSX crowd is swapping to the S2000 system there is probably a very good reason they are doing so.

 

[Sam91]

.

Awesome thank you!

 

[FirstCarNostalgic]

Awesome thank you!

Congrats on getting your license by the way.

 

[Sam91]

Congrats on getting your license by the way.

Thanks! It is awesome not having to wake up at 5:45 in the morning for the bus. 6;30 is a lot better.