Windstar Brake, ABS, and Trac Off Warning Light

[zugzug21]

Hello Everyone,

About a year ago my 2001 Windstar began to show a weird problem that others don't seem to be talking about. Intermittently my van with turn on the Brake, ABS, and Trac Off warning lights after driving it for about 5 minutes. I would say that it happens once in every ten trips. What is odd is that when the lights are on I get no OBD-II Codes. It's as if the warning lights are not even on.

I checked if the ABS and Traction Control were actually disabled and they are (skid when slammed on brakes / squealed tires on take off). If I pull up to a light, turn off the van, and start it again the warning lights go away and the systems respond normally.

I have only found one other person (lives in Florida) that has this exact same problem. He has never found a fix and has just been dealing with the lights.

One other thing I found interesting is that when I use my after market automatic start for the van the ONLY dash lights that are on before I put my key into the ignition are those three lights! When I put my key in the ignition they turn off. Also...if the light don't come on within the first 10 minutes of driving I can drive 300 miles and never see the lights. Rough road conditions don't seem to trigger the event either.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[tartersauce]

ABS Trac control has sensors on each wheel right at the axles. It a squared toothed ring with a mounted pickup which must flex as you drive.

Common causes leafs mud will set a light. COMMON
Pickup clearance to wide - slight wear on pickup
pickup loosing maget power
Pickup wires broken inside - where it flexes with wheel or axle VERY COMMON
water in the pickup connector VERY COMMON

Your active trac needs the signals from the ABS sensors so if the ABS shows something odd, both light will come on.

About your auto start. Has the Auto start always worked setting those lights?
Have you tried disconnecting the auto start Main Controller and relays if any?
They say never to install a autostart in these vans, only because sending power thru ford wiring that is shared my give you crazy problems like lighting up your abs trac light. As power is shared in there circuits.

If you have a meter volt ohm you can check all four and compair. One sensor may be on its way out. Broken wires are the harder thing to diag. as its intermit

[12Ounce]

I agree with everything tartarsauce says about the braking/traction system. Especially about the sensor wiring and need to measure and compare their resistances. If you get the "alarms" when not braking, but only bouncing across railroad tracks or down rough roads ... it adds suspicions to the wiring and connections.

I would add: the entire braking system has to be in good order. That means each wheel should have braking components that are clean and properly lubricated. All it takes is one caliper hanging on the slide pins ... or one set of shoes hanging on the backing plate, weak return springs, etc ... to give you a false wheel-slip indication when braking.

There are codes that can be read ... but they are not OBII, so a trip to AutoZone does no good. The Ford dealer/shop can read them for you as well as some brake shops. Expect a charge for diagnosis ... but it will lead you directly to your concern.

[tartersauce]

Brakes are pretty easy to detect a fault. Drive up to speed and hit the brakes pretty hard and see if the van pulls left or right. Kinda loosen up your hands on the wheel and let it slid wear it wants.

Remember a sticking caliber say on the left would make the van pull right.

No brake on left - Right brake has brake etc..

You always loose braking power. Never gain. A few calibers stick on hard, but you would notice the smoke right away.. lol

[zugzug21]

Zugzug21: Thanks for the info. I've recently replaced all of my brakes, shoes, discs, and drums hoping that would help. When it gets a little warmer out I'll have to take everything apart and try to visually inspect the sensors. If nothing is obvious there I'll see if the dealer can find any codes with their computer. I didn't know that they could pick up more codes than I could with my OBDII.

12Ounce: I would add: the entire braking system has to be in good order. That means each wheel should have braking components that are clean and properly lubricated. All it takes is one caliper hanging on the slide pins ... or one set of shoes hanging on the backing plate, weak return springs, etc ... to give you a false wheel-slip indication when braking.

[tartersauce]

Originally Posted by zugzug21

Zugzug21: Thanks for the info. I've recently replaced all of my brakes, shoes, discs, and drums hoping that would help. When it gets a little warmer out I'll have to take everything apart and try to visually inspect the sensors. If nothing is obvious there I'll see if the dealer can find any codes with their computer. I didn't know that they could pick up more codes than I could with my OBDII.

12Ounce: I would add: the entire braking system has to be in good order. That means each wheel should have braking components that are clean and properly lubricated. All it takes is one caliper hanging on the slide pins ... or one set of shoes hanging on the backing plate, weak return springs, etc ... to give you a false wheel-slip indication when braking.

More common are the Front Sensor wires, not only do they move up and down but must turn too. They are exposed to heat cold just about everything 6 or 8 inches from the road. "Stones" You can just turn the wheel all the way left and look in there. You will see the connector mounted with a wire. Just follow the wire and look for wear or cuts. Open the connector etc.

[zugzug21]

I'm not sure if those lights always came on. It was something I noticed after the warning lights came on when I was driving. I haven't tried disconnecting anything. Yesterday I was actually trying to figure out where the auto start is. I have three boxes under my steering wheel that look like they weren't original equipment...so I'm going to look those numbers up once I crawl back down and get them. I know one of the numbers was 555U which is some type of RF transponder. Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by tartersauce

About your auto start. Has the Auto start always worked setting those lights?
Have you tried disconnecting the auto start Main Controller and relays if any?
They say never to install a autostart in these vans, only because sending power thru ford wiring that is shared my give you crazy problems like lighting up your abs trac light. As power is shared in there circuits.

If you have a meter volt ohm you can check all four and compair. One sensor may be on its way out. Broken wires are the harder thing to diag. as its intermit

[tartersauce]

The autostart will and must have a Controller or Brain. It will also have relays, some newer controllers will have the relays right into the controller. The Main wires are pretty thick not like say speaker wires. Under our dash, theres nothing wire tied anywhere under there which may give you some clues.
Ford does use Black Electrical tape tho, so dont let that confuse you.

[12Ounce]

The OBDII codes are those (mandated by Uncle Sam) that all gasoline powered vehicles, '96 and later, would use for indicating power train faults that would impact emissions. Therefore most of them are "Pxxxx" in form.

There are many other power train codes, usually proprietary, that have little to do with emissions .... they are not in the OBDII group and not read by a scanner dedicated to OBDII. There are also other codes that are not "power train" ... the manufacturer has been free to keep these "close to vest" and away from the unwashed masses (us!). There have been various litigations to make all this code info public ... I'm not up to date on the legal outcomes.

[tripletdaddy]

I maybe wrong so someone affirm or correct my thoughts. There was a recall on the brake pressure switch was is know for creating some pretty funky symptoms. You didn't mention problems with your CC not working, so this may not be it. It is connected to the underside of the brake reservoir. It would leak and bad things would happen including fire. Do a search in this forum.

My second thought is the transmission range sensor/neutral safety switch has caused some funky symptoms. It is located on top of the trans and connected to the trans shifter cable. I could be way off on these.

[tartersauce]

Originally Posted by tripletdaddy

I maybe wrong so someone affirm or correct my thoughts. There was a recall on the brake pressure switch was is know for creating some pretty funky symptoms. You didn't mention problems with your CC not working, so this may not be it. It is connected to the underside of the brake reservoir. It would leak and bad things would happen including fire. Do a search in this forum.

My second thought is the transmission range sensor/neutral safety switch has caused some funky symptoms. It is located on top of the trans and connected to the trans shifter cable. I could be way off on these.

If it is leaking the first sign is the brake light.. But does that infact turn on the ABS light? I know mine didnt. NO abs or trac lights... Easy check tho.. If the brake fluid is low, the brake light comes on. Same light as your Parking brake. Looking under the hood will show if its wet under the master cyl and a wet cruise sensor. Mine also soaked my TRS Trans sensor but it didnt act up. Its been replaced anyway.

[tripletdaddy]

This may be worth a try. I had both the ABS and Brake lights come on together sporadically on my 95 Winny. Everything checked out ok, but still came on. I couldn't figure out why the two lights would come on together. I said what the heck, I've got nothing to loose, to my utter amazement, the lights stopped coming on after I topped off the already full brake fluid reservoir!?!:headbang:
First, I would never have guessed that low fluid would make both lights come on. The manual lists what each light comes on for, but not the ABS for low fluid!?! It really bothered me that I had to fill it that high, because after a brake job I had overfilled the reservoir and caused the brakes to drag and overheat due to thermal expansion of the brake fluid. Draining some off fixed it.

[Rotorman]

Originally Posted by zugzug21

Hello Everyone,

About a year ago my 2001 Windstar began to show a weird problem that others don't seem to be talking about. Intermittently my van with turn on the Brake, ABS, and Trac Off warning lights after driving it for about 5 minutes. I would say that it happens once in every ten trips. What is odd is that when the lights are on I get no OBD-II Codes. It's as if the warning lights are not even on.

I checked if the ABS and Traction Control were actually disabled and they are (skid when slammed on brakes / squealed tires on take off). If I pull up to a light, turn off the van, and start it again the warning lights go away and the systems respond normally.

I have only found one other person (lives in Florida) that has this exact same problem. He has never found a fix and has just been dealing with the lights.

One other thing I found interesting is that when I use my after market automatic start for the van the ONLY dash lights that are on before I put my key into the ignition are those three lights! When I put my key in the ignition they turn off. Also...if the light don't come on within the first 10 minutes of driving I can drive 300 miles and never see the lights. Rough road conditions don't seem to trigger the event either.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

zugzug21...I would check the rear wheel bearings very carefully. to do this jack up the rear wheel and use a small breaker bar under the tire and lift the tire slightly. It should not have any slop or up and down movement. old wheel bearings or out of adjustment bearings can set the abs light on intermitantly. Took me
a while to find the fault. I fixed mine by readjusting and lubing rear wheel bearing, and it solved the problem.

[pperrichetti]

I have a 2001 Windstar LX with the same problem. It was happening prior to replacing my front pads and rotors. Problem remained afterwards. My brake pressure switch is good. I filled the resorvoir to the top. Problem still exists. I posted this problem and was told some control module may be on its way out, and it is an expensive fix. I can get the lights to go off by turning the van off, then restarting. They stay off for a while, then come back on. Sometimes right away, sometimes after many miles. I cleaned the ABS sensors on all wheels with no luck. I know that the ABS and Trac Control do not function when the lights come on as it happened during a snowstorm and I spun the tires without the Trac Control activating. No rhyme or reason when the lights come on. I tried to see if it was when I was braking, or going over bumps, etc... It happens when it happens. I do not have the autostart feature. When weather and time permits, I will try some of the diagnostics in this post.

[12Ounce]

A bit of anecdotal information concerning the ABS wheel speed sensors: My Ford dealership says their shop has used several front LH sensors ... but not a one for the other three wheels. This is for '99 model.