Todd and fellow listers,

This seems to be a problem with the ABS system on Subarus. I have seen two
fail in this way and the dealer seemed to be extraordinarily "familiar"
with the problem.  My mother-in-law had hers fixed, and the final bill was
well over $1000.  If you think Vanagon parts are pricey, wait until you
see what the dealer-only parts for Japanese cars cost!

When you disconnect or disable the compressor, the braking reverts to
standard brakes.  Anti-Lock brakes are a conventional hydraulic braking
system which has a pump plumbed into the system, and wheel sensors on each
wheel of the car.  When a the signals from the wheel sensors stray from a
pattern which the computer recognizes, the pump rapidly releases and
restores hydraulic pressure to the wheel in question.  When you disconnect
the pump (and controller) you have returned the car to conventional-only
brakes as you have disabled the mechanism which relieves brake pressure in
pulses, creating the "anti-lock" braking.

Pull the plastic cover off of the ABS compressor (behind the right
headlight) and you will find a pair of relays.  Our dealership says that
one or both of these are know to fail and will cause compressor "run-on".
From looking at the relay, I would guess that you can take the case off of
the relay and see if it's
repairable.

We've been pretty unhappy with the ABS on our Outback, and have chosen to
leave it disabled.  We found that the car is much easier to control on ice
and gravel with the ABS disabled.

Vanagon Content:  Vanagon's don't have ABS, which is, IMHO, good.

Jon