'01-ABS & Brake dash lights

[jgattian]

Hello,

2001 Windstar
112,000 Miles

Both the ABS & Brake idiot lights on the dash come on for no apparent reason. It sometimes happens while backing out of the driveway and sometimes not until after several minutes of driving. If I turn off the car and restart the lights will clear but then will come back on at some point.

At first it was only the Brake indicator light that was doing this. I checked and filled the brake fulid as indicated on this forum.

The ABS functions with both dash lights on.

The brake fluid level has been checked and filled to the full level.

What/where do I check next?

[12Ounce]

If you want to save money ... go to each wheel and check and clean the ABS sensor. Clean off the very tip-end as they sometimes get road crud that has a bit of metal in it ... will confuse the sensor. Also check the wiring.

If you want to save time ... go to dealer and get the brake system scanned. He will be able to give you a print out that pretty well will lead you exactly to the problem ... and it may be something other than the sensors.

[mtcm]

I have the same problem with the same vehicle (108k miles) and was coming here to post a question. I brought my van into a mechanic and had a diagnostics run. This is what they found. C1236 Left Rear ABS Speed Sensor no Input. I was going to ask the question in the forum if this meant that the sensor was bad or could it be something else. I see that one person posted a response here to clean the sensor in case there is dirt or grime. I will check into that this weekend. The shop that I brought it to wants about $150 to repair. They also want to flush and bleed the system and adjust the rear brakes...a total of $250 worth of work. Is this rear sensor pressed into place or is it held on by a screw or bolt? Is the flush system nothing more then bleeding at the wheel cylinders and calipers until the fluid is clean? Is the adjustment nothing more then adjusting the shoes until there is a slight drag? Any help with that and also information about this ABS code and the dash lights would be appreciated.
I find it strange that the code indicates the Left Rear and when I go to a parts place, that is the only ABS wheel sensor on my vehicle that I MUST buy from Ford. If you guys know of an chain autoparts place that carries this part, I would like to know who they are.