ABS Light - Should I be worried?

[spta97]

Well, my X had a new one this weekend...the ABS light. It was POURING rain and so I decided to give it some gas as I was going through a dip in the road under a bridge to try out my AWD . I would say the water was no more than a foot or less but about 1/2 mile after that the ABS light went on and stayed on. I tried the brakes to see if they were still working and the rears locked up on me.

Sure enough, the next day when it dried the light went off. I tried to lock them up but the roads were dry at this point so the anit-lock didn't kick in anyway.

I searched and found that it could be dirty ABS sensors, but why would the light go on then off after it got wet (if that's infact why it happened)? The last thing I need to to loose my anti-lock brakes everytime I go through a big puddle...that's when I need them most!

Good thing it happened when it did. About 20 minutes before some dumb-a$$ in front of me stoppped 1/2 way through the light and I amost rear ended him...would have if it weren't for the ABS.

 

[bluevolume]

The ABS light will come on whenever the system gets confused, doesn't necessarily mean that a component has gone bad.

If you got a bunch of water up around the sensors, they could have sent some bad readings to the computer. That would account for the light coming on. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens again during normal driving.

Blue

 

[spta97]

Thanks Blue! I'll keep my eye on it and see if it goes on again. However, I've driven thorugh puddles with other vehicles and never had an ABS light go on.

 

[mrboyle]

The ABS system resets itself every time you turn the key off. If there is a continuous problem, the ABS light will return as soon as the fault is noticed by the ABS computer. If the light doesn't come back I wouldn't worry about it. If it does return, get the ABS codes scanned and fix the problem. When the ABS light comes on the ABS system is overridden and will not function. You will however not loose the standard brake function, only ABS.