why did my abs light come on?

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

so i'm making a right turn that i make everday and a fews seconds later my abs light comes on. it wasnt a hard turn. its never come on except when dynoing. not even in winter or hard braking (i've never had to slam on my brakes). finished changing tranny fluid. had to disconnect the o2 sensor to move it out of the way. after the dyno the light went away when all the wheels were moving. its not a cel.???

i got home (a minute later) and hit the brakes hard to test it (they worked) then pulled into driveway, turned car off and back on again. abs light was still on.

sounds like something my mystique has done a few times. the abs/TC light will turn on for no reason. the TC goes but the abs still worked. after awhile it went away, but it has happened a few time since. might be something with a sensor since I often noticed this in the winter, and after washing the car, or last spring when there was alot of water on the road

it was the weirdest thing. first time its ever happened. hopefully it'll go away.

Mine went away when Ford changed out the wiring harness.

Originally posted by 2X95SEs:
Mine went away when Ford changed out the wiring harness.

very possible for a 95

Hugo which car were you driving? if it was the 95 it should go away

Just remember, when the ABS light comes on, your brakes are NOT affected.

However, when the ABS light is on, that means your ABS system is "Offline". That means you are back to conventional brakes without the computer's assistance in braking under less than ideal conditions.

If your ABS light remains on after engine start, that means that the ABS system failed its self-test. The most common reason for this is either an open circuit to one of the sensors (or the sensor) or an open circuit in one of the pump's valve solenoids. The only way to find out exactly where to focus diagnostic efforts is to extract the ABS failure codes.

Steve

the light came on again when i left work and stayed on. where are all the abs circuits and wiring? i had also removed my intake which i've done several times b4. i have my obd2 scanner to test. havent even downloaded the software yet. will it give me some insight. i cant even find the scanner port. i looked where others said to.

brian, its was the svt.

Most OBDII scanners will not pull the ABS codes.

The test port is under that dash within a foot or so of the steering column. On my 98 SE, it is on the left side of the column. You need to stick your head on the floormat and look up to see it.

Sorry.

Steve

oh i saw a port on the apillar side in footwell. i was looking for a loose port from a wire. its like 2 inches wide?

The port to which I was referring is the OBDII port (Also named the DLC - Data Link Connector).

Depending on the year and model, the ABS test data is extracted either via the same DLC or from a special ABS-only DLC located in the right footwell.

Steve

Originally posted by hmouta:
so i'm making a right turn that i make everday and a fews seconds later my abs light comes on. it wasnt a hard turn. its never come on except when dynoing. not even in winter or hard braking (i've never had to slam on my brakes). finished changing tranny fluid. had to disconnect the o2 sensor to move it out of the way. after the dyno the light went away when all the wheels were moving. its not a cel.??? i got home (a minute later) and hit the brakes hard to test it (they worked) then pulled into driveway, turned car off and back on again. abs light was still on.

It just means there is a problem with your ABS system. As long as your brake light isnt on it is fine to drive. Just remember dont slam hard on the brakes they could lock up and skid just like cars on the 1970-early 1980s did.

other link

now this problem is appearing. i determined it does not happen when the abs light is on. only when its off (at least my testing supports this). once the light goes off the studdering at very low speeds appears when using the brakes. and i'm not slamming them either. could it be the abs kicking in alot but why? wouldnt the light come on to show it was activated. its a very uncomfortable feeling. i'm gonna have to get to the bottom it.

i can understand if i did some brake work recently. but for this to show up suddenly i dont like. any suggestions of stuff i can check (things that may have somehow come undone or something).

I dunno what the problem is, but I have it too. Its not a problem though.. I've had it come on dozens of times, it always ends up going away after driving the car for a little bit, and the brakes seem to work fine while the light is on. Purely a nuisance I think.

do u get the shudder when applying the brakes?

the brakes themselves work as explained up above but apparently the abs system wont kick in when the light is on. with winter coming up, last thing i need is lack of abs in an emergency situation.

For my 2 cents worth.....

The ABS light will not come on when the ABS is actively working. It purely is a light to show any errors that the ABS computer has detected, and when you first turn the key on to check the bulb operation.

If your car feels like the ABS is turning on during normal or light braking, but the road conditions arn't bad, and there is not reason for wheel skid, then my suggestion would be to check and see if all the wheel sensors are mounted securely. Also, since you have each wheel off looking at the sensors, now is a good time to make sure there isn't anything stuck inbetween the teeth in the ABS sensor ring(looks like a gear, mounted on the Driveshaft), AND that the ring is NOT cracked.

This is a problem on Ford Windstars which causes the ABS computer to think that one wheel is starting to lock, in turn causeing the ABS activate.

Hope any of this helps! and good luck!
PS - If its any consulation, my ABS is messed up too, if i jam on the brakes on gravel or loose dirt, my wheels will lock up, but if i am driving on wet pavement, or even dry pavement, and hit the brakes, the ABS works for a few seconds and then just locks all the wheels up. Occasionally i will get a ABS light, but never really looked into it. If anyone has experienced this before, or has any ideas...let me know

reading the haynes manual, i'm going to check the wheel sensors. i notice when the abs light is on, i dont have a problem (but the abs then isnt working). the haynes manual says the abs module saves three dtc's (diagnostic trouble codes). hope to do this this weekend.

i havent gotten a chance to check anything yet. but it seems to be happening almost everytime i brake around 17mph and as i slow down. i get the studdering and grindtype noise. can i be doing damage if it seems to be happening frequently. after doing it a bit, the abs light will come on (likely cuz the abs testing failed) and the problem appears to be completely gone (no noise, studder)

so i dont think its my pads or rotors. would a bad a-arm, subframe do this?

i'm trying to figure out why it started up. i changed tranny fluid then a day or two later this starts. i jacked up the car and placed a jack just in front of the back subframe bolt on each side. i'm pretty sure i didnt bend anything. the subframe is supposed to be able to easily handle this, right? could i have knocked out the multiplug abs sensor? i dont know where its located under the engine. i'll find the wheel sensor at each wheel and test it with my haynes manual and dmm. the two rear multiplugs under the rear seat i checked to make sure they r connected and i didnt undo them somehow when running my audio wiring.

i didnt search yet (forgive me). was there a wiring harness recall for post 98s? would this be affecting the abs.

The wiring harness recall is for " Certain 1995-1997 Contour and Mystique vehicles - OWNER NOTIFICATION PROGRAM !! This program provides extended coverage on certain under hood wire harnesses through 10 years or 100,000 miles which ever occurs first, from the original warranty start date. Many owners have posted that this recall solved their ABS light problem. My ABS/TC light intermittenly will light during the cold/wet months after an extended x-way drive. Then, of course the system is inoperative until I shut down and restart. Your problem/symptoms appear different. Check obvious connections/grounds/wheel sensor/exciter ring( I love that word)! Do a search under 99MO3 and you can read up.

on my 95 the light would come on mostly when it was wet or snowing but it was on more often than not. my mechanic simply blew out the abs sensors behind the wheels with compressed air. [they look like small gears] a lot of road dirt & grease gets on them. its been over 7 months and i havent seen the light since

hmm, in the past few days the shuddering and noise hasnt really been happening but the light will still occasionally pop up. i'm still gonna check the sensores. i was thinking there might've been some crud there and might've gotten knocked out from driving

My ABS light also comes on while driving in wet conditions, during the winter months and after getting the under-side cleaned in the drive through car wash. If the light turns off while in these conditions (my light does go out without shutting the car off sometimes) and I turn on the AC or the Defroster the light kicks on again. I don't see why the AC system would be tied to the ABS system. I told my mechanic buddy about this and he thought I was crazy until he saw it for himself. We were driving down the road, no ABS light. I turned knob to AC and about 1 second later the light is on. Other than wires being shorted together he had no explination for what might be causing it.

Any one else see this one before?

1996 Mystique GS 4cyl.
148,000 mi.

i know it sounds funny man, but check the 3 large, yellow fuses in ur fuse box under teh hood, just check em out, dont ask why. this would help me too if it is.

i've been trying to figure out which fuse is for the abs

ABS light coming on in wet conditions sounds like CLASSIC wiring harness deterioration to me......

Originally posted by a95dohcLS:
The wiring harness recall is for " Certain 1995-1997 Contour and Mystique vehicles - OWNER NOTIFICATION PROGRAM

Certain? The only thing I'm certain of is that ALL 1995-1997 Contour and Mystique vehicles are affected by this problem. PVC insulation doesn't hold up to underhood temperatures.

Hopefully that Ford engineer got the memo about that