ABS Actuator - How often is too often?

What you're describing still sounds to me well within the range of normal.

There's a really large range of normal. The accumulator stores enough pressurized fluid to give you twenty or more brake strokes if the power fails, but when the power hasn't failed, it tries to stay filled up near the top of that all the time. It's not as if it lets you go ten or fifteen strokes and then pumps it all back up again. Every, well, maybe few, maybe several, not very many, uses of the brake is when it will run.

That's rough and vague and wide because it depends on how much fluid is used up every time you use the brakes. That depends on how hard you brake. It depends on the condition of the rear brake adjusters and how springy the front caliper rubber seals are. It depends on how flat the rotors are. It just depends ... on a lot of things.

The rear brakes adjust click by click. You're using a little more fluid per brake stroke if the shoes are worn almost to the next click. A week from now, that click may happen, and then you might be thinking "gee, wasn't my brake pump running more often than this?"

Only probably not, because people tend to obsess over the brake pump only in one direction. If you start thinking you're hearing it more often, then you start noticing it all the times you weren't noticing it before, and then it seems like you're hearing it waay more often. But I've never seen a "hmm, is my pump running often enough?" thread.

I wouldn't worry about what you're describing here. If it ever develops a problem, you will have one or more of: warning lights, an annoying high beeeep, or really, really obvious overactivity of the pump.

 

On my Gen2 cars, I notice the actuator come on after every 2 brake presses. I think it becomes a problem when it comes on CONTINUOUSLY without you pressing the brake.

 

This can be checked and monitored using techstream. Accumulator pressure is measured as a voltage. If I remember correctly, the pump runs until it reaches 4.8v. Once pressure drops to around 3.3v the pump starts. I may be off a bit on the voltages, it's been several weeks since I've looked at it.

A good condition unit will have no leakage, but pressure will drop a bit every time the brakes are used. If you see voltage creeping down, with no brake usage, then the accumulator has some leakage. I don't have a hard set amount of time that qualifies as "bad", but at least you can quantify whether it's getting worse. I've seen some where the pump almost never turns off.

 

I'm hoping that after the ABS is blead properly with a scan tool ...
that the motor on for every pedal actuation will disapear...