2007 ABS kicking on not touching brakes, cant move

[Nick-IA]

I have a 2007 explorer. All of the sudden my abs light came on and my abs kicks in without touching the brake. I can idle and move but as soon as I try to accelerate my abs kicks in and I come to a halt. Took me a long time to idle home the other day lol. I removed two ivd module fuses from under the hood and I am now able to drive. However this lights up many other lights on my dash. My local mechanic seemed baffled.

Anyone have any idea what I could replace to get this fixed?
Thanks
Nick

 

[Explorer_PL]

You need to read the ABS codes, there must be some stored. It happened to me where I could not move, one of my front ABS sensors in the hub bearing was bad, had to replace the whole hub. Another possibility is the rear tone ring on the half-shaft.

 

[Nick-IA]

If I take it to a dealer, will they read the codes and troubleshoot the problem for me? Any idea what the cost would be on something like that, just a ballpark so I dont get screwed. I am not the best mechanic but it looks like I could replace it if I knew where the problem was.

 

[Explorer_PL]

They usually charge an hour minimum to read the codes so that's about $ 109 here in NY/NJ, it really takes them 5 minutes. See if local Autozone can do it, they do not charge for that.

The front hubs are doable, just remove the wheel, brakes, 3 bolts behind the knuckle and you need to drive/knock the whole hub out of the seat, it is glued there from the factory.

The rears are more complex as you need to gain access to the axle shaft or remove it completely.

 

[Nick-IA]

I was searching around and see the OBD-II scanners are actually fairly cheap. Does anyone recommend a cheap one that can read ABS codes? I also have another vehicle that I would benefit from having one.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I am using Innova 3160, be careful, not all of them read ABS codes.

 

[boominXplorer]

You need to be able to see wheel speed sensor inputs. My cheap Launch CR134 scan tool will read them individually and give codes. The codes you will get is from you pulling the fuse, I can almost guarantee its a front hub giving a bad reading.

 

[Nick-IA]

I checked the Innova website and they show abs support for each reader, but it only has ford explorer W/O traction control. I am not sure it will work with mine. That makes me question any of the other readers that say they do have abs support. Cant seem to find a list of supported vehicles on other sites.

 

[Nick-IA]

I went ahead and ordered the bluedriver bluetooth adapter. It works for both of my cars so if it can fix one issue it will pay for it self.

 

[boominXplorer]

For the time being I suggest jacking up the front wheels and checking the front wheel bearings for play. If your truck is 2wd then you could actually loose a tire going down the road if the wheel bearing separated.

 

[matsavol]

You could also buy cheap ELM327 OBD-II Bluetooth adapter and pair it with a PC loaded with free forscan software. It does recognize ABS module among many others. You might search my other thread I made yesterday about this for more information...

 

[Nick-IA]

I received my bluedriver but wont have time to mess with it until tomorrow. I think the issue is my front hub. It sounds louder than normal on front driver side. Almost like double the road noise. Does the speed sensor come with the hub? If not do you think the hub going bad would cause the speed sensor to need replacing also?

Thanks
Nick

 

[Explorer_PL]

Hub and the sensor is one unit. Yes, bad hub will trigger the sensor. No way to replace just the sensor. And don't bother with aftermarket hubs, get this:

https://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-H...?ie=UTF8&qid=1469833357&sr=8-1&keywords=hub67

 

[Erik Norin]

Sounds like you have a front hub going bad and it will lock the brakes on. There is a abs sensor in the hub assembly that can crack or the sensor is bad. You can disconnect the sensor to get the car off the road but do not drive it as the hub could lock up. This is a very scary thing when it happens and I strongly disagree with ford on this fail safe mode. My wife was driving down the hi way when it locked up the brakes and she couldn't get it off the road.