does anyone know which wire lights up the abs dummy light, i am going to cut it so it wont stay on,,,there is nothing wrong with the brakes that i can find, so i will just snip the wire, so if you have a wiring schematic i would appreciate it......96 gl

The ABS light illuminates when there is a problem with the ABS system. It does not indicate a problem with the brakes themselves just the antilock portion.

Have you given up on repairing the ABS sytem? Check the fluid level. The ABS enses low fluid before the regular brake system has a problem with it.

If all else fails and you want to just turn off the bulb I would reccomend removing the lightbulb rather than cuttin a wire.

well if getting to the bulb is easier, thats what i'll do, but do i have to pull the instrument panel to do that? seems like all the wires going to it are exposed thats why i was opting for just cutting the wire,,,

I was under the impression the instrument panel was fairly easy to get to.

I was simply suggesting a non destructive method that could easily be diagnosed should the vehicle change hands. I agree that cutting the wire would be easier. I too have the ABS light on. So far I have ignored it but I am thinking of removeing the bulb.

Have it scanned. It most likely is a wheel speed sensor.

does anyone know which wire lights up the abs dummy light, i am going to cut it so it wont stay on,,,there is nothing wrong with the brakes that i can find, so i will just snip the wire, so if you have a wiring schematic i would appreciate it......96 gl



You my want to check the fuze. That's how I fixed my problem.

I had the same problem with my windstar...simply top off the brake fluid, it should go off then

did the top off brake fluid, no work,,,pulled the passenger side speed sensor and sprayed it with wd40 and it cleared the abs light,,,go figure...

I suggest cleaning sensors with contact cleaner or compressed air, not WD40. Just my $.02 though :smile: .

did the top off brake fluid, no work,,,pulled the passenger side speed sensor and sprayed it with wd40 and it cleared the abs light,,,go figure...

The ABS light on my Windstar is coming on and going off at times. I am thinking about doing the same steps you guys are taking. Where is the wheel speed sensor located? Thanks.

easy to see, just take the wheel off, its held on by one screw be hind the rotor (front wheels) has a wire going to it

Where are all the speed sensors located? Thanks!

I am having similar ABS lite problems. The lite goes on after the vehicle is put in motion. After the car is started I jacked up the front wheels and spun each one, no lite. I did the same for the rear wheels, I started the car with the rear end jacked up and manually spun each wheel. The ABS lite went on after spinning a rear wheel and stayed on until the car was turned off. It doesnt matter which rear wheel. Does this mean a front wheel sensor is bad? Does the scanner the Auto-Zone folks use diagnose a wheel sensor problem?

You have made some interesting observations by spinning the wheels and noting the ABS light...I'm not familiar enough with the system to give a good guess. I wonder if the front wheels are only active when the tranny output shaft is spinning?

My local AutoZone can only make OBDll scans...none of the others. But other AutoZone stores may have different scanners. I had to go to the Ford dealer to get ABS/Trac-control scanning done.

Swrling,

I never thought of your test but it is an interesting one. I am curious though- Why did you suspect a front sensor when the light came on after spinning a rear wheel?

I figured if the car thought it was in motion, since I had the engine running, and it detected the rear wheel sensors but not the front then maybe the front sensors are bad? The light did not go on when I manually spun the front wheels as well independently. Each time I spun a wheel only that wheel was off the ground.

I started the vehicle. With it running I jacked up each wheel and spun them independently while the others were grounded. Only the rear wheels spinning triggered the ABS lite. I know the ABS system doesnt activate until the speed of the vehicle is above 6 MPH or so. I also thought that if the computer picks up a signal from the rear but not the front that maybe the front sensor/s could be bad. I also thought that if the front wheels are spun but the sensors are defective and the rear wheels are not spinning to send a signal then the computer has nothing to compare therefore it doesnt know the vehicle is moving and doesnt activate the ABS lite.???!!!

Ingenious bit of troubleshooting there. The only comment I can make is that the car PCM knows whenever the car is moving. I am not sure but it is conceiveable to assume that this information can be (or is) shared to the ABS computer too.

I too have ABS light illuminated. I have checked my fluid and had a good look at my front sensors. I am convinced that my back ones are simply dirty. There is a lot of brake dust in the drums and the backs are known to get dirty and stop working. a simple cleaning of the sensor often corrects the problem. (so I am told). I had trouble removing my drums and I need to back off the shoes in order to remove them but I am wondering if the ABS sensor can be removed with the drums still attached through the backing plate? I have a 99. If so I may simply drive up on ramps and try the cleaning.

DRW
Yes.

In this test I had the vehicle running. I also know the ABS system doesnt "kick in" until the vehicle senses it at or around 7MPH. I thought if the front wheels were spun and no lite came on then the front sensors were not detected. Likewise when the rear wheels were spun the vehicle must have sensed that those sensors were working but couldnt get a read from the front sensors therefore setting off the ABS warning lite.??!!

Just did the rear brakes yesterday , cleaned everything, ABS lite still there. removed and cleaned both front sensors as well. No luck