ABS light came on / loss of odometer / spedometer

[Wade4321]

The other day when I got into my 2000 ford windstar, the ABS light had come on. I drove the van for about two miles and the speedometer, cruise control and odometer stopped working. The van seems to drive and stop fine. I inspected the wiring harnesses and noticed that inside the cruise control servo module, oil filled the bottom of the connector. (other conectors seemed to have the same problem) I checked the engine codes and did not have any codes. I suspected that it was the VSS, but the transmision shifts ok and I did not see any codes. Has anyone had similar problems that might shed some light as to what might be wrong with this van? is it possible that the oil collected in the cruise control conector caused somthing to short out in the instrument cluster? Does anyone know if the VSS was bad, would the transmision be able to shift properly? Last question. Can anyone tell me how to pull the codes from the ABS system? Thank you.

[CoachKarl]

welcome wade4321,

Your connectors are fine. What you see is grease. Grease is used to insulate electrical connections.

Your ABS light is on because something in that circuit has failed. VSS is a good guess, but when that goes bad, the transmission "won't shift up normally and won't shift down normally"

Great description of the problem. We need details about the car:

Model year: 2000? (whats the vin say? (13th byte))
Engine Displacement (3.0 or 3.8L):
Mileage on car:
What have you done to the car already?:
Do YOU want to fix it yourself, or "what"?

We can help.

Karl

[Shane_123066]

Originally Posted by Wade4321

The other day when I got into my 2000 ford windstar, the ABS light had come on. I drove the van for about two miles and the speedometer, cruise control and odometer stopped working. The van seems to drive and stop fine.

My problem exactly! I went to work last night and all was well. I got in it to drive home and notice the above problem. I would imagine this problem has a simple solution. I don't expect the implemenation to be simple, however, is IS a Windstar!

Coach Karl asked:

Model year: ???? (whats the vin say? (13th byte))
Engine Displacement (3.0 or 3.8L):
Mileage on car:
What have you done to the car already?:
Do YOU want to fix it yourself, or "what"?

Mine is a '99 Windstar LX. 13th byte is "1"
Engine is 3.8L
Milesage: approx. 105K
What have I done? Nothing.
I want to fix it myself.

[Wade4321]

On my van I had a blown fuse. I am unsure what fuse because ford has no description of their fuses or locations on the fuse box cover. I beleive that in the manual they have a listing unfortunatly I did not have the manual. I just did a continuity check on each fuse untill I found a bad one. Once I replaced the fuse the problem went away. Good luck with yours!! I hope it is as easy as a blown fuse like mine was.

[Shane_123066]

I checked my fuse. It was blown. I replaced it and started the vehicle. My odometer displayed but I never got a chance to check the speedo. The ABS light flashed, stayed on, and the odometer went back to dashes. I killed it, pulled the fuse cover, and discovered the replacement fuse was also blown. Now, I checked this fuse before inserting it, but I am going to buy some new ones tonight and try again. I'll post the results.

Originally Posted by Wade4321

On my van I had a blown fuse. I am unsure what fuse because ford has no description of their fuses or locations on the fuse box cover. I beleive that in the manual they have a listing unfortunatly I did not have the manual. I just did a continuity check on each fuse untill I found a bad one. Once I replaced the fuse the problem went away. Good luck with yours!! I hope it is as easy as a blown fuse like mine was.

[wiswind]

Check the brake fluid pressure switch, located on the bottom of the master cylinder. They are known to fail, and leak brake fluid. They can also short out and blow the fuse, or even catch fire.

I would unplug the brake pressure switch, and see if that keeps the fuse from blowing. If it does, you will need to buy a brake pressure switch replacement kit from your dealership. It is VERY easy to replace.
I would replace the switch if it is even slightly damp with brake fluid.

[Shane_123066]

1st: My brake fluid level was between min and max so I filled it to the max line.

2nd: I unplugged and inspected the switch. There is no evidence of brake fluid leakage anywhere. Leaving the switch unplugged, I inserted a new fuse and it also blew. I re-inserted the switch and tried another fuse with the sae results.

What next?

Originally Posted by wiswind

Check the brake fluid pressure switch, located on the bottom of the master cylinder. They are known to fail, and leak brake fluid. They can also short out and blow the fuse, or even catch fire.

I would unplug the brake pressure switch, and see if that keeps the fuse from blowing. If it does, you will need to buy a brake pressure switch replacement kit from your dealership. It is VERY easy to replace.
I would replace the switch if it is even slightly damp with brake fluid.

[bigem]

Originally Posted by Shane_123066

1st: My brake fluid level was between min and max so I filled it to the max line.

2nd: I unplugged and inspected the switch. There is no evidence of brake fluid leakage anywhere. Leaving the switch unplugged, I inserted a new fuse and it also blew. I re-inserted the switch and tried another fuse with the sae results.

What next?

did you ever figure out what was causing the fuse to blow? My vans abs control module leaked fluid into the connector and shorted it out.

[Wade4321]

I seem to have the same problem my fuse just blew again and I noticed that the connectors that I cleaned out earlier had filled with brake fluid or oil again. I will be looking at this again this weekend and will let you know what I find. Thanks. I am curious if the other guy/gal figured out their problem.

[1badstang]

Originally Posted by Wade4321

The other day when I got into my 2000 ford windstar, the ABS light had come on. I drove the van for about two miles and the speedometer, cruise control and odometer stopped working. The van seems to drive and stop fine. I inspected the wiring harnesses and noticed that inside the cruise control servo module, oil filled the bottom of the connector. (other conectors seemed to have the same problem) I checked the engine codes and did not have any codes. I suspected that it was the VSS, but the transmision shifts ok and I did not see any codes. Has anyone had similar problems that might shed some light as to what might be wrong with this van? is it possible that the oil collected in the cruise control conector caused somthing to short out in the instrument cluster? Does anyone know if the VSS was bad, would the transmision be able to shift properly? Last question. Can anyone tell me how to pull the codes from the ABS system? Thank you.

your problem is your speed/cruse control sensor located under the aircleaner tube,remove air filter tube and it is the little box under it.unplugg it and check your #10 fuse(10 amp) it is a ford recall,and it can and will catch fire...........1badstang

[aehegney]

Yes, I had this problem for 2 years, never bothered to fix. My husband replaced the brakes and then everything worked again.

[CoachKarl]

This ABS light of yours. When you throw the key, it should blink for a while, then stay on steady. The blinking is a code, repeated 3 times (IE Blink twice, pause blink five time pause, blink twice pause, blink five times etc = Code 25)
This would most certainly give us another clue.

Karl

Thirteenth byte = 1? This means 2001 model year! 2001's were manufactured from August 1 2000 thru July 2001. Whats the date on the Engine Decal?

[buddy0310]

looking at buying a 2000 ford windstar from a garage I trust but the speedometer doesnt work right at aprox 50mph it reads 30mph. the tach and odometer are both working fine any ideas? Also the OD off light came on and started flashing at me

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by buddy0310

looking at buying a 2000 ford windstar from a garage I trust but the speedometer doesnt work right at aprox 50mph it reads 30mph. the tach and odometer are both working fine any ideas? Also the OD off light came on and started flashing at me

Welcome to AF,

Here is a link to another thread that may interst you:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...light+flashing

Towards the upper right side of this forum is a search feature, click on it and enter "od flashing light", you should get a number of threads pertaing to the issue.

On the speedometer I would suggest checking out the VSS and on the OD light flashing I would recommend get the tranny codes read. THe shop with whom you are dealing with should be able to check tranny codes and engine codes. It requires two seperate scanning tools. I assume it is the 3.8 engine.

[so2315]

I had the exact same problem. ABS light on, speedometer acting up. It ended up being a wheel sensor. Easy fix.