ABS Light on HELP!!!!

[awdpwr71]

Hi, I have a big problem. I have a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer V8 AWD and my ABS light is on. Okay the brake pedal starts off normal pedal feel but the longer the drive the harder the brake pedal stiffens. I also started smelling cooked brake pads on all four wheels. I've already taken the vehicle for a complete brake flush in hopes of remedying the problem but to no avail. My brother and I attempted to install 4 brand new cross drilled and slotted rotors but was only able to replace the rear driver side. The rest were so rusted that we couldn't take the rotor off. I also tried bleeding the ABS and all 4 calipers but it is still doing the same thing. Any suggestions on what might the problem be? The vehicle has 92K miles on it and it has been great so far. Also, the ABS light came on and stayed on way before the complete brake flush. I need to take care of this but funds are really low since I lost my job and this is the vehicle that I take my 4yr old daughter to day care with. Any suggestions or Help will be greatly and immensely appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Rhett]

First of all, when your ABS light comes on, it's not a fatal error. It just means the ABS has detected a fault and has deactivated the system. The brake system will operate fine without ABS.

Smelling cooked pads sometimes means your calipers are worn out...sticking or not compressing enough. You might get visual clues about whether or not your calipers are sticking by the visual appearance of your pads and rotors. They might be pretty glazed. Have you replaced the calipers? if I were instaling new rotors I would also replace the calipers, just since calipers are cheap and I was in there, and also because I would have to bleed the system anyway. Might as well change the cal's.

If you drive with sticking calipers, they'll warp out your brand new rotors pretty quickly.

What causes the ABS light to come on?
1) dirty fluid
2) air in system
3) sloshing fluid at the master cyl
4) bad sensor at the master cyl
5) bad sensor at the rotors
5a) bad sensor in the rear differential
6) 1st gens have 1 rear ABS sensor in the rear differential. You may have 1 on each wheel if you have rear discs, but I don't know how the 4-wheel disc 2nd gen setup is.

Also, the ABS is in my opin hard to bleed properly. If any air gets into the ABS it will cause the light to come on.

 

[cisurfer]

well how bout this one. I was offraoding and recently whenever my back tires spin the abs light comes on. Then i turn the car off and turn it back on and it goes off. I have a 99 sport.

 

[Rhett]

well how bout this one. I was offraoding and recently whenever my back tires spin the abs light comes on.

Could be the rear abs sensor. The sensor detects the passage of a rotating ring in the rear diff. and so spinning the tires will affect it's readings.

Then i turn the car off and turn it back on and it goes off. I have a 99 sport.

That's pretty normal behavior for the ABS light.

If your problem doesn't persist, I wouldn't worry about it at all. The ABS light can turn on if you do no more than take a turn hard, due to brake fluid sloshing around in the master cylinder.