Hoping someone could help with my 2001 Windstar. With no cause/warning my van will indicate a problem with traction control, the dash will say "trac off, the abs light and the brake light will illuminate. I don't notice anything "wrong" with the steering/handling/braking... it pretty much drives as normal. If I shut the vehicle off and restart the error messages go away. Any ideas where I should begin here?

palfer
Probably a problem with 1 of the wheel speed sensors (also known as abs sensors) There is awheel speed sensor on each wheel. And what looks like a gear on the 2 front half shafts. As the wheels turn it sends sinals back to the pcm to let it know if a wheel is locked up or spinning and to apply the abs or traction control. Sometimes the gear looking objects break or are damaged or dirty with dirt or debris and need cleaning. Sometimes the sensor goes bad. There are also 2 in the back depending on if you have disc brakes or drum determines how easy they are to get to. They to can get metal fileings in between the sensor and the pickup. First do a inspection of the front sensors and the exciter rings. Some how my sensor ended up being ground away by the exciter ring. Check for electrical connections broken wires. Then look at the rear. You can test the sensor too with an ohm meter. Do a search of abs sensors and read the posts. Autozone has a explanation of the readings also. Post back.