Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting why did my abs light come on?

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.

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