ABS Light Woes

[KingTriEye]

So here's my issue. Saturday night my ABS light came on. Thought that maybe it had something to do with the front pads since there was about 40,000 miles on them and the fluid was low. On monday as I was leaving work the ABS light didn't stay on. However, after coming to a complete stop, it came back on.

Anyway, longer story short, replaced the front pads tonight, just got back from a test drive and the light is still on. Will it take some mileage before it goes away? I really don't want to pay Ford the money just for diagnostics (nor can i afford it right now) and i need to get an inspection sticker as it's already past due 20 days. Any thoughts? Rear pads were replaced last summer. Roughly 20,000 miles.

 

[ThatGuy1982]

try taking the battery wire off for a few minutes to clear the computer see if that helps???

 

[RomeovilleIL]

Your cannot reset the ABS light. The system runs a check every time you start the vehicle. If it finds a problem, the light stays on meaning the ABS is disabled. As soon as your ABS is fixed the light will turn itself off on the next engine start. There are 3 sensors. 1 on both front hubs and 1 on the rear differential. Trying to figure it out without an advanced diagnostic tester is basically a crap shoot of throwing parts at stuff. However since yours has been intermittent, you might be lucky and just have gunk built up on the sensors. They are fairly easy to access and clean. If you have an electronic meter you can run continuity tests on each one to rule out a faulty sensor. If anything, it will help avoid a false reading later by a shop if the light does not turn off.

 

[KingTriEye]

I'm hoping it is a simple cleaning on the sensors. I know where it is on the front hubs, but where is it on the rear differential? When accessign them to clean what's the best way to do it. I'd much rather not have to take apart the front end this weekend.

 

[redefine420]

This probably wont help, just found it interesting. I have three ford work trucks and each one had an ABS light come on at different times over the last year. I have a code reader and every one had a faulty passenger side front sensor. So if it were my truck, I would suspect the front passenger side sensor first. Maybe its the way my employees drive them, I don't know.

 

[JCat]

My ABS light would shine intermittently.

I replaced both front hubs/bearings that come with new sensors, and I replaced the sensor in the rear differential.

The ABS light would still shine intermittently.

I called all the local brake shops until I found one (JUST BRAKES) that would plug in their code reader for free. It said right front sensor.

I unplugged the right front sensor and tried to check the resistance, but I did not satisfy myself that I knew what I was doing (tight plug, hard to attach probes). Then I put it all together.

ABS light shines constantly now.

Would not disconnecting the battery (keys were not in the ignition) have caused the sensor or something else to fail ? A guy at Just Brakes said ALWAYS disconnect the battery when working on the ABS system.

I'm concerned that I might have screwed-up the right front ABS sensor plug.....so I ordered a new hub/bearing. It was cheaper than the wire harness alone. I suspect it now causes the ABS light to shine non-stop.

Once I install the new hub and sensor, if the ABS light is still on, I'll be stumped.
.
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[KingTriEye]

So does anyone have a location as to the rear abs sensor?

 

[KingTriEye]

Well with a little searching and a stumble to a pic of the rear abs senson I found it. Drove over to Autozone and picked a new one up for 13.99 on a whim. Fixed the problem. However, while there I noticed you can now just buy the front abs sensor. However that'll cost you $139.00. You're better off just replacing the whole assembly.

Cheers!

 

[crunchie_frog]

Well with a little searching and a stumble to a pic of the rear abs senson I found it. Drove over to Autozone and picked a new one up for 13.99 on a whim. Fixed the problem. However, while there I noticed you can now just buy the front abs sensor. However that'll cost you $139.00. You're better off just replacing the whole assembly.

Cheers!

I got two of them a the junk yard for $1.00 each. I have had to replace the rear on one of the fronts. Vehicle has 155K miles and lots of salt corrosion.