Dodge Ram Odometer problems

[FMSmith]

A weird thing happened yesterday. I have a '99 Dodge Ram 1500 and the mileage is 41,372.
1. After a couple of days of none use I cranked up my truck and pulled out of the driveway an headed down the street when I noticed two lights burning on my odometer panel. A red light stated "brake" and the other an amber light which read "ABS." I checked the emergency brakes (which I never use) and saw they weren't set. I drove several more blocks down the street to see if the light would go out but no luck, although the brakes worked fine. I went back home and checked the master cylinder. It was full. I tried setting and releasing the emergency brake several times to see if something might have stuck in a particular position, but no luck. The light was still burning. If an odometer light comes on it bothers me because it's burning for a reason. One thing I thought about were the brake shoes and pads. I know they need replacing now, but I wasn't sure if there was an emergency light to tell me so. What's your opinion on this?
2. Why is the amber "ABS" light burning? What does this signify?
3. While all of the above is happening the odometer doesn't work, although the "RPM" side does. While I was driving checking the brakes I also noticed the odometer needle wouldn't move until I reached about 30mph, and then the needle was bounced to 30mph. As I increased speed to about 40mph it would hesitate a little and the needle would bounce to 45mph. When I decreased speed the needle would slowly drop until it reached 30mph then the needle would drop to 0mph all of a sudden.
The truck runs fine and the electrical seems fine. The other gauges on the odometer panel (oil, fuel, water, etc.) seem to be working okay. These two lights continue to stay on (either in the "ON" or "CRANKING" position until the engine is turned off.)
This reminds me of the TV commercial where a doctor is talking to a car and asking if it's had symptoms of coughing, sputtering, etc.
Okay Doc! What's wrong with my sick truck?

Francis in Mobile, AL

[rriley]

I had the same problem yesterday the answer to your problem is the RWAL sensor located on the top of the rear axle housing it is another speed sensor after I installed it i cleared the codes the speedometer works odometer works and brake light is out abs out. cost me 44.00 from dodge dealership.

[silverado122775]

ABS is Anti-Lock Braking System.. that is telling you a there is a problem with the ABS system.. it is usually a sensor that is gone bad. the brake light I am not sure.. I would have your brakes checked. there may be a sensor that let;s you know when your brakes are bad.

Hope this helps

[LawOfCreation]

Originally Posted by rriley

I had the same problem yesterday the answer to your problem is the RWAL sensor located on the top of the rear axle housing it is another speed sensor after I installed it i cleared the codes the speedometer works odometer works and brake light is out abs out. cost me 44.00 from dodge dealership.

I had the same problem the other day after I had gone muddin' in my 99 Ram. I had called a friend of mine that does all of the POS automotive computer tuning at HyperTech, and he said that sensor was crap. Anyway, it'll come unplugged very easily. In my case, it had gotten some mud slung up in there.

I just took a toothpick (actually it was a pen cap, but a toothpick would work best) and cleaned out around the sensor, blew it out, and then plugged it back in. It would probably be best to try this before going out and buying a new one.

The best way to reach that sensor is (when facing the tailgate) go to the right side of the truck, lay flat on your belly, scoot under the truck army style, and contort your back and limbs in such a way that you are looking down on top of the rear axle housing. I actually rested my cheek on the driveshaft. I have a 4x4 so it sits higher than some other rams, you may have to jack it up.

Doing this also made my ABS and BRAKE light go off, and my speedometer and odometer work properly. My check engine light also came on while the sensor was unplugged and is still on, but I was also told that it was related to the sensor being unplugged, unless I am just so unlucky that something else went bad at the same time.

[dodge99ram]

To all the guys that posted problems with Dodge Ram speed sensor,ABS & brake lite THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! I have a 99DR that last year started acting up- no speedometer under 60 mph or odometer, ABS & brake light on dash, sometime 'check engine' lites on. I was told that the culprit was the trans speed sensor ,so I replaced it($20 some at dealer), but no change. Then a friend told me to look it up on internet sites, found this one and learned about the differential sensor, took it out to clean as a mechanic friend suggested, didn't work either. Then after reading your postings, bought the rear SS(dealer $37) and presto! it worked! Al lights off, speedo ,odometer working fine. Again, THANK YOU all for the help.