ABS, TRAC, & Check tire pressure lights on??

Hi There everyone ...

Recently while driving my 97 GP GT the Trac, ABS, and check tire pressure lights all came on at once!!
Someone had mentioned to me that sometimes that will happen if there is a bad wheel bearing, or if a sensor is unplugged. Today I took the car in and had 4 tires and an allignment done, and also had them check the wheel bearings & sensors. When I picked up the car they told me that the wheel bearings are fine, and that they unplugged the sensors and plugged them back in ... still the lights are on!!
Any ideas on why this is happening?
When I first start the car the lights aren't on, but as soon as I put the car in gear and move an inch the lights all come on!!

I thank everyone in advance for any help they can give me with this ... I know if I have to take it to the dealer its going to cost me alot of $$$!!

Uder the dash, left side is a button. Push and hold for 10 sec. See if the lights go out. Dealer reset my tire pressure light that way. Never had the others come on. Hope it does it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/kustomkid54/1998PontiacGrandPrixGTP004.jpg

yea, my moms 97 gpse had the same exact light problem, and you know who she calls to help her, her son. so i just held that button, like kid said, and it went off.

Glad to help.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/kustomkid54/1998PontiacGrandPrixGTP001.jpg

Hi Again ...

Ok, I tried the little yellow button under the dash and nothing!! I used that button once before to reset my tire pressure after a flat, I held it for like 10 seconds, the light flashed and then went out. This time I held it even longer ... still nothing!!
I posted about this problem once before, but at that time I also had a steering issue ... making a right turn and the wheel didn't want to come back. A few days after that happened I was making yet another right turn and all of the sudden a whole bunch of little balls came falling out of my steering column ... some kind of bearing busted!! Since then I have had a new column installed ... the steering is perfect!! I believe that had something to do with the fact that my car had been stolen and the ignition popped, they made a hell of a mess out of the steering column!!
Anyway, back to the problem at hand ... The car is having no other issues, just these damn lights that won't go off. No weird sounds, no handling problems or anything like that. Could this just be an electrical issue? If thats possible, where to begin?? Any clues??

Thanks again to anyone with some info!!
~Dee~

I say your garage didn't check the hub bearings good enough. Make sure they checked both front and rear. A bad hub is the only thing that will make all those lights come on, as they are all related to one wheel turning slower than the rest.

check my post....im not saying it will work for you,but i touched on the e brake about 15 mph,felt them engage,then let off.my trac off light and abs light havent come on since!!!(and they both function properly).

OK ...

I have tried everyones suggestions ... took the car to another garage and had them check the hubs and bearings ... they say that that all seem to be good!!
Today when I left my house, I drove approx. 2 blocks and came to a stop sign, when I applied the brakes I heard a really weird noise, like a rumbling type noise. This noise was not coming from any of the wheels, it sounded alot closer that the wheels?!? Anyway, when the noise stopped, the lights went out ... they stayed out for about 15 minutes and then lit back up again!!! My mechanic did not have time to look at the car today ... I think he hates this car ... but he did say that the noise I am describing sounds like an ABS noise??
I know that I must be driving you guys crazy with this, and I appoligise, but I must make these lights go out!!! They are driving me crazy!! I'm sure you've all seen the "can't sleep clowns will eat me ... can't sleep the clowns will eat me" Tee shirts?? Well mine is going to say "can't sleep, lights must go out ... can't sleep, lights must go out!!"
Thanks again for any help, I have learned alot on these forums and appreciate it!!
~Dee~

Pull the fuse. Only kidding. Have a call to a GM Nut friend of mine, and waiting for him to call back. I know what you mean about the CLOWNS. Will get back to you.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/kustomkid54/1998PontiacGrandPrixGTP004.jpg

Just received a call from my friend. He said without the car setting in front of him he wouldn't even guess. He did say that you might want to unhook the battery and let it seat about 5 mins. and see if it resets. I don't like doing that because you never know what happened in the first place.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/kustomkid54/1998PontiacGrandPrixGTP002.jpg

the abs sensors are part of the hub bearing, and can fail without causing the hub to be loose or growl. The other thing to look at is the wiring harnesses to the wheel speed sensors. They can get mucked up with road grime and cause your lights to come on, but my money is on the hubs.

I have a 01 Gt and sometimes when I put the breaks on my abs and traction control light came on. I don’t have a tire pressure sensor. I cleaned my battery terminals and the problem went away. Don’t know if this will work for your car.

I have a 01 Gt and sometimes when I put the breaks on my abs and traction control light came on. I don’t have a tire pressure sensor. I cleaned my battery terminals and the problem went away. Don’t know if this will work for your car.

Dee, the same thing happened on my '97 GT a couple months ago, and by cleaning the ground wire for the ABS module it went away. If you look at the Negative (black) terminal of the battery, there is a small 3 in wire that acts as a ground for the system. It is bolted on to the inside of the wheel well. If you unscrew the bolt and sand the paint away where the ground wire connects, the lights should go off. Mine was rusted a bit, so I sprayed it with some WD40 once i had the bolt back in so it wouldn't rust anymore Hope that helps!

Hi There ...

I can't thank everyone enough for the replys!! As soon as I get the chance I am going to try cleaning the terminals and connections for the battery! It can't hurt right ... LOL!!

Its a good thing that I like this car as much as I do ... or it would be someone elses headache right about now! I have always loved the Grand Prixs, between my son and myself we have 4 .... it just seems like this 97 GT gives me more trouble than the other 3 put together!! Alot of the problems have been small, petty, do it yourself things, but they add up after awhile!

I now have a mystery oil leak!! LOL!! Its losing about a half a quart a week, and I can't seem to find where its coming from ... the back of the engine somewhere! How embarassing it is tho ... when I park the car somewhere and smoke is pouring out from under the hood ... Its dripping on the exhaust and smells horrible!! And if thats not enough ... I went to put oil in it the other night at the store ... dripped a little on the exhaust manifold ... and **POOF** flames everywhere!! Thank god someone came out of the store and put flour on it and got it out!! It did a job on the plugs and wires, other than that I was lucky!!

I guess I am in for a hell of a bill from my mechanic!! For now I have parked it, and gone back to driving the 92 for awhile.

Well Thanks for listening to me vent ... LOL!! I'm always up for suggestions if anyone has any!!

Thanks again ... Dee

Ok... I had the same problem with my car, and for the lfe of me i couldnt figure it out. Pushin the reset button under the dash and cleaning the terminals didnt help me at all. So i took it to my mechanic to have him check the codes. He said that everything seemed fine at first, there were no bad code. So he then ran the computer on each individual tire and found the problem. My left front tire was not giving off any codes at all. If he wiggled the sensor by the wheel hub the warning lights would sometimes shut off. So i took the car to the dealership, and they replaced the whole hub which fixed the problem. I tried just about everything mentioned in the forum here, but none of it worked for me. I would suggest trying everything mentioned in the forum first though because replacing the wheel hub isn't cheap.

what engine do you have in your Grand Prix? IF it's a 3.1, on the driver's side, it's the oil pump drive shaft seal. There is a stub shaft where the distributor used to be that is still used to operate the oil pump. It is in the center of the V on the drivers side top of the block. You can see it if you remove the air intake tube. To replace it, remove the throttle body for access, and there is a bolt and bracket that hold it down. Remove them and lift the shaft straight up while twisting to unstick the o-ring. Replace the o-ring with fel-pro part #70800 (less than $2) and use fel pro 70194 gasket between teh top of the block and the shaft(for added insurance against future leaks). It's about a 1 hour job total. The throttle body mount gasket is fel-pro part # 60983.

I actually have the same prob right now. When I first had the problem it was because my front brakes were really wore down and the sensor was hitting. Maybe check those first. That fixed mine at first then it came back, and I can't figure it out again. I am going to try cleaning the ground wire though, good idea. I'll get back to ya.

I've had the same problem with my 97' gp and i had a noise in the front end and they replaced the front bearings which also corrected the problem with the three lights mentioned above that came on. Killed two birds with one stone there. Hopefully this will help you.

Yup. Actually just replaced the right front hub assembly. That did it. Thanks everyone for all of the info. Joe Newville

Had the same prob on my 97 gtp. Had to replace the drivers side hub. Took me about 45mins and $130.

That's actually pretty weird that you had to do the drivers side. Usually it's the right side because the right side of roads are the most tore up and cause most of the damage to cars. But, good thing it helped. I also feel bad for everyone this happens to it sucks. Also, did you guys that had this happen to you, when the lights came on, did your steering tighten up at all, cause mine did, and I was just wondering. Thanks. Joe Newville

The sensor the figures out the wheel speed is integrated into the hub. It was 125.00 for the hub at autozone, the dealer wanted 300 for the part and an additional 200 to install! It only take 30-45 minutes to put it in.

I am just starting to get the same problem on my 97 GT. All three lights are on when I hit a bump. I am going to work on it this weekend. How difficult is it to replace a wheel hub? Would a Chiltons book or some other book help? Or is this too dangerous if I mess it up?

I used a Hayes book that I got at Advance Auto. I think the socket you'll need is a 1 1/2 inch. you'll prob have to buy one for 5 bucks. then just follow the directions in the book. Chiltons will do the same.

That's actually pretty weird that you had to do the drivers side. Usually it's the right side because the right side of roads are the most tore up and cause most of the damage to cars. But, good thing it helped. I also feel bad for everyone this happens to it sucks. Also, did you guys that had this happen to you, when the lights came on, did your steering tighten up at all, cause mine did, and I was just wondering. Thanks. Joe Newville

Yes my steering tightens up when the lights come on, i had the bearings replaced and i thought it fixed the problem but this spring the lights came on again. I think now its the hub. How do you know what side to replace, and would a code reader tell you what side the code is comming from? Thanks. Mike

Yes my steering tightens up when the lights come on, i had the bearings replaced and i thought it fixed the problem but this spring the lights came on again. I think now its the hub. How do you know what side to replace, and would a code reader tell you what side the code is comming from? Thanks. Mike


Normally yes, however, you will need a odb-ii scanner/code reader capable of reading GM manufacturer specific DTC error codes. The ABS system is part of the CHASSIS family of codes.These read out as C1XXX. A lot of scanners like the ones at Autozone may only read generic and that will not be helpful. Hope the info helps you. Good luck!

For example : see below.

DTC C1211 ABS Indicator Lamp Circuit Malfunction
DTC C1214 System Relay Contact or Coil Circuit Open
DTC C1217 Pump Motor Shorted to Ground
DTC C1218 Pump Motor Circuit Shorted to Voltage or Motor Ground Open
DTC C1221 LF Wheel Speed Sensor Input Signal is 0
DTC C1222 RF Wheel Speed Sensor Input Signal is 0
DTC C1223 LR Wheel Speed Sensor Input Signal is 0
DTC C1224 RR Wheel Speed Sensor Input Signal is 0
DTC C1225 LF Excessive Wheel Speed Variation
DTC C1226 RF Excessive Wheel Speed Variation
DTC C1227 LR Excessive Wheel Speed Variation
DTC C1228 RR Excessive Wheel Speed Variation
DTC C1232 LF Wheel Speed Circuit Open or Shorted
DTC C1233 RF Wheel Speed Circuit Open or Shorted
DTC C1234 LR Wheel Speed Circuit Open or Shorted
DTC C1235 RR Wheel Speed Circuit Open or Shorted
DTC C1236 Low System Supply Voltage
DTC C1237 High System Supply Voltage
DTC C1238 Brake Thermal Model Exceeded
DTC C1241 Variable Effort Steering Circuit Malfunction
DTC C1242 Pump Motor Circuit Open
DTC C1243 BPMV Pump Motor Stalled
DTC C1246 Brake Lining Wear Circuit Open
DTC C1248 EBCM Turned the Red Brake Warning Indicator On
DTC C1251 RSS Indicated Malfunction
DTC C1252 LF Normal Force Malfunction
DTC C1253 RF Normal Force Malfunction
DTC C1254 Abnormal Shutdown Detected
DTC C1255 EBCM Internal Malfunction
DTC C1256 EBCM Internal Malfunction
DTC C1261 LF Inlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1262 LF Outlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1263 RF Inlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1264 RF Outlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1265 LR Inlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1266 LR Outlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1267 RR Inlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction
DTC C1268 RR Outlet Valve Solenoid Malfunction


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thanks bnaylor! I'll check my connections first. The lights seem to stay off at first when its wet out but comes on about 20sec later. Hopefully its just dirt in the sensors but might be water in the hub. Last resort is to find a obd-ii scanner and find out which side the hub is bad. Thanks. mike