ABS light and OBDII scanner?

[yglide123]

Hi all,

I just purchased an OBDII scanner off of amazon (equus 3030) to check the ABS light since autozone no longer rents them out... but no codes are present. I was under the impression from other threads that a code should be present if the ABS light is on... it doesn't ever flash, but is just always on.

Should a scanner be able to read the ABS light code? if not how do I find out what's going on short of going to the dealer?

The light went on and then back off about a year ago when driving in snow up in Tahoe... then on again during a snow storm on a road trip from CA to Colorado Utah in January and hasn't gone off since.

This is for a 2000 Limited AWD with ~110,000 miles on it...

Thanks for your input in advance!

 

[BlackedOutEXPO99]

I am getting my abs problem investigated at the moment but I had similar problems in the snow because the snow packs in the wheel and covers the sensor triggering the light if it is still on and theres no snow could possibly have bent the sensor away from where its suppose to read or in my case it might be a bad wheel bearing because the sensor is in the bearing hub assembly and one bad sensor give the abs the idea your skidding when coming to a stop when your not causing your abs to kick on.

 

[scucci]

The Equus 3030 does'nt read abs codes. The cheapest stand alone reader for ABS is the Actron ABS BrakeScan CP9449. About $169 at Amazon. Autozone has them at list price - $250.00

Scucci

 

[Tbars4]

...The easiest and cheapest way to find the problem would be to pull your wheels and check for debris around the sensors...

...This is very common to get mud, sand, or road salt to cover the sensor and have it not read...

 

[yglide123]

thanks for all of the really quick responses!

Bummer on the scanner though - I didn't realize you would need a different scanner for the ABS system than for everything else!

I'll try cleaning the sensors this weekend... hopefully they're not too hard to find! I read that there's one somewhere on the rear diff and then one on each front wheel. Are they easy to access and clean?

 

[Tbars4]

...On my 95 Ranger, they are easy to find...I have 2 cables running to the back side of the wheel...One is the brake line and the other is the cable for the sensor...When I pull the wheel off you can see a little brass looking bulb unless, it is covered with debris...

...I'm not sure on your brake system but hopefully someone will chime in with more knowledge for your specific year and model...

 

[reserved50]

use a volt moter and set it to ohms and check all the ABS sensors, if one reads different from the other by about 25-50%, change it

 

[yglide123]

Just in case anyone else is ever doing this and curious where the ABS sensor is on the rear diff, I took a picture of that as well:

So thanks again for everyone's input. After doing more research on this topic (and thoroughly reading through this thread: http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196993&highlight=abs+sensor+location) I decided to just go ahead and replace the rear ABS sensor ($28 at Kragen's) hoping that was the issue since I don't have any other special tools and the cost of a volt meter was almost as much as the sensor itself...

I pulled my sensor, which was greasy and appeared to have some metal shards stuck to it:

I first tried cleaning it off and reinstalling it... which didn't work. So I put the new one in, started it up - I got lucky and the light went off! Problem Solved!

But is it normal to have these magnetic shards on the sensor? I know my rear diff has a small/slow leak, but hasn't seemed to be significantly low yet. Any thoughts?

 

[reserved50]

yes, and the sensor is magnetic

 

[BlackedOutEXPO99]

how to check for bad abs sensor without a fancy scan tool

My abs problem turned out to be my bad wheel bearing with a bad sensor and how to find out is to jack the car up put in neutral be safe chock the rear wheels or put up on hoist. Disconnect the abs sensor wire that runs from the hub up to the bumper next to the fog light plug disconnect it there will be two prongs in the connector take a multimeter with the AC setting touch the two points and at the same time have someone spin the wheel the numbers on the volts depending on how fast you spin the wheel will climb and stay in a range anywhere from in the 20's to the 50's if spun fast enough but make sure it is spun consistantly if the numbers climb then the sensor is good if the number go from high to real low and then jump up and down its a bad sensor, this can also be applied for the rear.

 

[ShadowRaven]

All right, guys, here's the scoop. I completed my TT/Shackles/3" BL on Friday and on the way to the tire shop to have my 33's put on, I noticed my ABS light was acting up. It is now either coming on and staying on, flickers momentarily every once in a while, or stays off as it should during normal driving. I'm going to climb underneath hopefully by tomorrow to check the speed sensors and any of the cabling for binding, but anyone have any other thoughts as to what's causing this? It's apparent that the body lift caused the issue, so I definitely need to see about rectifying it ASAP. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jaywalker]

Thanks for the pic - lots of discussion, but this is the first I've actually seen the location.

 

[BrooklynBay]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223600