Audi A6 False Anti-lock brake activation

I had a problem with my 2000 Audi A6 2.7T Quattro. When I came to a slow stop, like to a stoplight or stop sign, as the car's speed dropped below 5 miles per hour, the anti-lock brakes came on at the front wheels. The car would lurch slightly from the front end as the brakes were modulated at the wheel. There was also the typical ABS grinding noise as the pump motor worked. This was a frustrating problem.

My online research revealed a condition called "False ABS activation at low speeds." Though this article pertains to Chevy, Ford, and GM 4x4's, this sounded like my problem.

http://www.mightyautoparts.com/pdf/articles/gb0804.pdf

The gist of the article is that corrosion around the wheel speed sensors can interfere with an accurate reading of the wheel's speed. This, is turn, can trick the ABS computer into thinking one of the wheels is slipping; it thinks the front wheels are turning at different rates. The ABS module is probably not faulty; its doing its job properly.

The wheel speed sensors are basically electro-magnets which are mounted close to a notched metal ring near the wheel bearings. The notches in the ring cause the electrical current passing through the sensor to vary proportional to the speed of the wheel (in accordance with the Hall effect.)

Lacking an oscilloscope, I took the experimental approach. I pulled off a front wheel to see how hard the sensor is to reach. Luckily, the wheel sensor is located on the forward side of the rear of the wheel spindle. It has a 90 degree elbow electrical connector attached to it. I looked all around for a nut or something holding it in but found none. Trying to wiggle it, I discovered the sensor is "pressed" in or friction-fit. Wiggling it some more, I found out I could remove it by pulling and wiggling gently. It popped out and I couldn't wait to visually inspect it for corrosion.

Sure enough, the sides of the sensor body were coated with a light layer of orange. The tip of the sensor was hairy with what appeared to be corrosion as well as some metal flakes. I'm not sure what the flakes were from but I've read that residue from a brake job (turning and grinding the rotors specifically) can sometimes fall into the bearing area. I'm not sure about that but there were a few flakes on the sensor tip.

I cleaned the sensor barrel and copper sleeve with some brasso, blew out the hole with some compressed air, and re-inserted the sensor. Much to my delight, a quick test drive showed that the condition was gone. Now I can take passengers around without scaring them that my brakes are on the fritz.

Now that I know what I'm doing, I could do that repair without pulling a wheel in a matter of minutes.

Who should play Lance Armstrong in the biopic?

There is a rumor, reinforced by Lance himself, that Matt Damon will play him in a biopic.

Matt Damon To Do Lance Armstrong? (July 22nd, 2005) - Dark Horizons

I don't think Matt is the right choice for the role. Not only because of his physique, but because he doesn't capture the essence of Lance. Lance is lean, scrappy, cocky.

Someone else has suggested Ioan Gruffud from the Fantastic Four (Reed Richards.) I've seen photos of him where he looks a lot like Lance. I don't know if he has the personality though.

Also, on the new Battlestar Galactica series the guy that plays Apollo looks like Lance, but is too bulky.

Do you know about Google Mobile?

I travel frequently for work and currently use my laptop on T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. Thus, I have to find Starbucks coffee shops all over the place. Even though you think you see them everywhere, when you are in a strange city you can't seem to find one when you need one.

With Google mobile, you can locate anything via a short text message. Here's how:
Create a new message to number 46645 (which spells googl.) Type a mesage in the following format: "starbucks cityname state." In a few seconds you'll get one or two responses with the nearest Starbucks locations.

Isn't that cool?

Wanda Sykes on Jay Leno's show

On why most refugees refused to board the cruise ships the government brought in as shelters.

"We made that mistake once before. They didn't want to go to sleep in New Orleans and wake up back in Africa."

Wireless Broadband?

I've been thinking about canceling my Verizon PDA data plan that I use on my Samsung i600 smartphone. The reason is that the 1X data is only useful for emails and not much else. Since I travel with a laptop 100% of the time, it would make more sense to get an EV-DO card and the broadband data service ($59.99 per month.) I've heard the Kyocera KPC-650 card has the best reliability and throughput...this from a Verizon Wireless System Performance Engineer (aka Test Man.)

Believe it or not, I actually still call Verizon Wireless customer service every now and then. I've found on my monthly calls to them several comforting certainties:
1. I'll be put on hold a minimum of 5 minutes after navigating their unclear voice prompts and end up hitting 0 anyway.
2. The rep won't have a clue about wireless data. In fact, I explained the difference between EV-DO and 1XRTT just the other day to someone who thanked me with an "Oh" of dismissal.
3. There will be a new rate plan they'll be happy to sign me up for, in exchange for a 2 year contract extension.

The only thing worse than their phone support is their store support as this guy recently found.

A Poverty of Thought

I thought this column A Poverty of Thought by George Will highlighted some glaringly obvious hypocrisies from both sides regarding Hurricane Katrina's impact in New Orleans.

Dinner on the beach

We had a wonderful dinner on the beach last night at our hotel restaurant. The meal included five courses and was served by our own private waitress (Virginia, from Jamaica.) The food and sunset were so awesome we finished two bottles of wine then went walking along the beach, hoping to see some sea turtles hatch (but no luck.)