• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

what controls the abs? TC related question

BrApple

No Life But CEG
Moderator
Joined
Dec 23, 2001
Messages
21,731
Location
Gales Ferry, CT
is the abs self controlled or is it controlled by the PCM? I have been looking at the 95 and 99 wiring diagrams and there is no reference to the PCM being connected to the ABS control moduel.


I recall in the past that some have said the TC tables are sometimes in the pcm and sometimes not. I have heard of people just installing the TC switch in a post 98 and the system will work. I tried the TC switch on all 3 of my cars and none would light up the indicator on the switch when pressed.

by the wiring diagram installing the switch should make it work. switch gets power and sends power to the wire to the abs unit. by the wiring diagram the abs module connector has the two wires from the TC switch. the instrument cluster has the bulb for the TC light. however the switch doesn't make it do anything. the odd thing was one of the two power feeds from the fuse panel was from fuse 30, which according to the manual isn't used. My car has a fuse there.

now it does look like there is a difference in the control relay according to teamfordparts.com.
 
The light in the cluster probably goes on when a signal from the relay that engages the TC system is triggered. Try picking up that relay and see if it works then.
 
well teamfordparts listed two relays, one with and one without TC. but at $250 its not something to just try.

also by the wiring diagram it appears that the two feeds to the abs unit from the switch run to the cluster first.
 
well teamfordparts listed two relays, one with and one without TC. but at $250 its not something to just try.

also by the wiring diagram it appears that the two feeds to the abs unit from the switch run to the cluster first.

Oh NVM I didn't realize it was so expensive. Regardless, I'm assuming you have to have the relay for TC to work. Someone who has "plug and played" TC should verify this and see if their wiring is different than yours.
 
well thats the thing. it appears that all post 98 cars have the wiring. so the difference would be in the abs controller/relay, or so it appears anyway.
 
Light comes on when system is off or disabled. the tc is always operating or on unless you press the switch and turn it off but in doing so you drive around with the light on forever or until it burns out but then that isn't a good thing either. remember mine is a factory installed TC unit that was an option. also when driving and the car gets wheel slip a light flashes indicating the system has been triggered and if it's bad enough you feel a tugging ( I have had it happen in standing puddles of water at highway speed and years ago when during the 1 winter I drove it). I don't remember if the switch itself flashes or it's on the gauge pod but you know it's working. This is why I still am curious if it was truly plug and play on the other cars, the fact that it wont do a burn out isn't proof enough.
 
thats what I wanted to try. I just installed the switch and it doesn't do anything. so there has to be something else to it. in the past it has been said the pcm is specific. but I can not find in a wiring diagram where the abs is connected to the pcm. also the abs has its own diognostic port. so the difference might only be the abs unit. but I am looking for some confirmation.

yes the dash light should flash when the system is active. also when disabled the light should stay on. the 95 system works the same way with the light.
 
Back
Top