warning lights illuminated last night while driving

Hello - I drive a 1999 Oldsmobile intrigue with only 107,000 miles on it and
last night when I was driving home, it was raining and when I came up to a stop sign my antilock brakes engaged for a brief moment. Everything was just fine, however about a 1/4 mile down the road after that, my anti-lock brake warning light illuminated on my dash, along with my service engine soon light and my trac off light as well.... I thought that it was kind of strange though that they didn't all illuminate right away after the anti lock brakes had come on, so when I got home (this was a trip across town (5 miles max) I turned my car completely off and when I turned it back on a short time after, none of the lights came back on and everything seemed normal. Now today I drove to work and nothing came on as well so I was just wondering if I should be at all alarmed or worried that there might be something wrong?

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate the help!

Service ENGINE Soon or Service VEHICLE Soon?

If its the SES light, you can get the codes read at any major auto parts store. They might shed some light on the issue.

If its the SVS light, it can only be read by the dealer, or a high-end mechanic, both of which will probably charge you for doing so.

For the time being, check the wiring at all 4 wheel-speed sensors, which are essentially the only wiring that goes to the wheel on the backside, check the connections and make sure the harnesses are clipped properly to their mounting locations. You might even disconnect and reconnect the connections, use some connection cleaner if you have some even.

dont worry about it the lights came on propably becouse one front wheel went faster then the other one. wich is very common in the rain its the same if u were peeling out the lights would also come on. if i were you i would disconect the battery for a couple of minutes to clear the codes. even though the lights are off there are still codes stored in the computer and next time your in a shop someone will try to screw you over by trying to fix a problem that isnt there. trust me i work on cars everyday we see that happen everytime it rains since most of our costumers are old ladys. hope it helped you out.

dont worry about it the lights came on propably becouse one front wheel went faster then the other one. wich is very common in the rain its the same if u were peeling out the lights would also come on. if i were you i would disconect the battery for a couple of minutes to clear the codes. even though the lights are off there are still codes stored in the computer and next time your in a shop someone will try to screw you over by trying to fix a problem that isnt there. trust me i work on cars everyday we see that happen everytime it rains since most of our costumers are old ladys. hope it helped you out.


I would have to respectfully disagree with just about everything said there. If there is a loss of traction, such as from peeling out, the "Low Trac" light will come on for a short time and then go off once things have returned to normal.

Im guessing it was the Service Vehicle Soon light and not the service engine soon light that came on. If the lights keep coming on while driving, you have a problem somewhere in the system, wheel speed sensor failures are common in these cars. They will exhibit symptoms similar to what youre describing, they will seemingly be working fine with no lights on, then if you hit the brakes hard, or sometimes not even that hard the ABS will kick in for no reason, then a little ways down the road all the lights will kick on. I say you have a bad wheel speed sensor. Moisture in the air also seems to affect the problem. If it doesnt do it anymore, toss it up as a fluke, but if the problem continues, I assure you, there is a problem.

My money is on the wiring to the wheel speed sensors. The brackets deteriorate and the wires seperate. Happened to me. Spliced the wires back together, taped well (used shrink wrap), used wire ties to attach the wires to a sound portion of the brackets and problem solved.

Yes, even the wiring harnesses falling off the brackets they attach too can cause a problem.

Getting the car scanned at the dealership or a higher end mechanic typically costs around 50 bucks. Which is steep, but unless you know someone with a scantool capable of reading ABS codes, its the only way to find your problem.

I dont know about you, but I had several dangerous situations caused by a bad wheel speed sensor, the ABS would back the brakes off when it didnt need to. I nearly hit other cars on several occasions at low speeds because I would hit the brakes, then the ABS would engage when I wasnt even braking that hard. I also nailed a parking curb because of it once. They can be almost dangerous from time to time.

My question is when was the last time the brake fluid was flushed? Needs to be done every 5 to 6 years.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the warning lights began acting up again so I brought the car into my mechanic and sure enough, it was a front drivers side speed sensor that had gone bad and needed to be replaced!

Thank you guy's very much for all the help!