ABS Light

Same thing with me. 56k on the clock, 02 GT Coincidence? hmmm Although mine came on after i had my gears installed. So im going to check the sensor this thursday when i have access to a lift, and see if the sensor is dirty. Or replace it if i have to.

I have an Xcal2 also, but an ABS light wont show up on the Xcal i dont think, as it only checks engine codes. My Xcal gave me a P1233 code for the ABS light problem i have, but when i plugged it into a snap-on brick scanner it gave me a different code, and said "RR ABS sensor failure to receive input signal"

So i'll be checking my right rear sensor later in the week. I'm not sure if you replace them in pairs... i think you DONT. Did the problem happen all of a sudden for you? With me i was doing a gear install so its possible mine got dirty...

You could just have a speed sensor that failed or
your entire ABS module could be ruined.I had the
same thing happen to me.I got the code read and it
turned out that a Ford tech ruined my ABS module
when I brought my car into the Ford service department
a week before for a brake fluid flush.Good luck and get your code read.

Pennywise2 said:

You could just have a speed sensor that failed or
your entire ABS module could be ruined.I had the
same thing happen to me.I got the code read and it
turned out that a Ford tech ruined my ABS module
when I brought my car into the Ford service department
a week before for a brake fluid flush.Good luck and get your code read.

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you will not quit posting how this ford tech ruined your ABS module.. the other two times I asked you how he did this you had no way to answer it. In the other threads you mentioned this you said a independent shop tech said the dealer tech ruined it.. Really? did you ask him how this other tech ruined the abs module. whats more likely..

1. your ABS module just failed and this independent shop used it as a opportunity to bash a competitor

2. the dealer tech wanted to waste his time unpaid to somehow sabotage your abs

I guess you just don't want to listen when somebody knowledgeable says it's impossible for the dealer tech to have damaged it on you by doing a brake flush.

Team Ford said:

The day before the light came on I was doing some heavy breaking...so much so that I didnt have any brake pedal left and the smell of hot brakes filled the cabin.

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get me the code from the abs module then I can try to help you.

Mine is dead too. I tried two scan tools and neither can even communicate with the ABS module.
My guess is that it has a bad ground or is just dead.

This ABS system seems to have one hell of a lot of people with problems with it just out of warranty.

I had the exact same thing happen to me on my 01 GT. 75K on the clock at the time. Only mine happened while I was getting a new stereo and Amp installed. I had a guy at work (where I got the stereo installed) who has a diagnostic computer run the code and it came back as the wheel speed sensor. It is really easy to replace. Took me less than an hour. The only problem is that it was the actual modual that burned out.

Let me give you a word of advice. If it turns out its the module...and you're comfortable with this kind of repair...replace it yourself. Its not that hard and it unbolts right from the ABS relay. the part is anywhere from $250-400 depending on where you get it from. save your self the $300+ in labor to replace it.

All you need to replace the wheel speed sensor is an E8 inverted torx socket and some breakfree/liquid wrench/WD-40 to clean off the break dust and grime. It plugs in under your rear seat so you'll have to remove that. I used the belt buckle method to remove it. Should be fairly simple.

Hope this helps

svttech76 said:

you will not quit posting how this ford tech ruined your ABS module.. the other two times I asked you how he did this you had no way to answer it. In the other threads you mentioned this you said a independent shop tech said the dealer tech ruined it.. Really? did you ask him how this other tech ruined the abs module. whats more likely..

1. your ABS module just failed and this independent shop used it as a opportunity to bash a competitor

2. the dealer tech wanted to waste his time unpaid to somehow sabotage your abs

I guess you just don't want to listen when somebody knowledgeable says it's impossible for the dealer tech to have damaged it on you by doing a brake flush.




get me the code from the abs module then I can try to help you.

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Well Mike my current mechanic would never do anything to my car period.
I know for a fact their is shady Ford Dealership service departments
out their that see my mustang is over eleven years old and has no warranty
so that is the perfect chance to screw with my car.I honestly don't trust
those people working on my car and never will sorry.But that doesn't mean
all the service techs are shady though.You act like my comments are going
to hurt your service departments business but, it isn't because their will always be people that will be willing to pay hundred plus dollars to have you
fix their cars.From my experience the Ford Dealership service department
will never see my car again.

TeamFord said:

Ford said $69 to hook it up to their code reader and $64 for the ABS RR wheel sensor if it is indeed that part thats faulty. Is there another way to get this code besides going to ford?

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Well you may be able to find a part store that can get you the code. but the 69 dollars the dealer is quoting you is not just to scan for codes, it also includes 1 hour diag time to perform pinpoint tests and such. Depending on what the code is they may have to do further testing to get to the problem. Many service writers do a poor job explaining this charge to the customer becuase they either don't know what they are talking about or assume the customer is dumb and they will never understand the concept of diagnostics.

Example...

you may have a code for a right rear ABS sensor circuit fault. many times that will be the sensor itself but it could also be a corroded or broken wire in the harness. ( I have seen that one a few times) or the one I hate the most, a wire that has 1 strand left intact so it shows continuity on a ohm test but can't carry enough voltage to operate properly..

So depending on what the problem is it might be worth it to pay the diag.

Pennywise2 said:

Well Mike my current mechanic would never do anything to my car period.
I know for a fact their is shady Ford Dealership service departments
out their that see my mustang is over eleven years old and has no warranty
so that is the perfect chance to screw with my car.I honestly don't trust
those people working on my car and never will sorry.But that doesn't mean
all the service techs are shady though.You act like my comments are going
to hurt your service departments business but, it isn't because their will always be people that will be willing to pay hundred plus dollars to have you
fix their cars.From my experience the Ford Dealership service department
will never see my car again.

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No I don't think your comments will hurt our buisness but it might cause somebody to read them then start getting silly ideas, and I hate dealing with people when they get silly ideas.

Many many times I have seen service deptments both at dealerships and private shops screw people or just plain screw up, but it is RARE to find a dealer tech to spend time to damage a car. 90 percent of service techs are flat rate and under that pay plan the time they would waste doing stupid stuff like sabotaging peoples cars they are not getting paid for. Since not many people like to be at work and not earning money the chances of what you said happend to your car happening is small. Plus I know how the ABS system works and I find it annoying to read your claim they damaged it because there is no way a average or even good tech would know how to damage the HCU or even more unlikely the ECU in a way that the system would have failed like you described in your original posts on this. Plus no shop is going to say good things about some other shop you went too, they are going to feed into your fear just to get you to go to them and not back to the shop that so called " ruined your abs" and no offense but you fell for it hook line and sinker.

svttech76 said:

No I don't think your comments will hurt our buisness but it might cause somebody to read them then start getting silly ideas, and I hate dealing with people when they get silly ideas.

Many many times I have seen service deptments both at dealerships and private shops screw people or just plain screw up, but it is RARE to find a dealer tech to spend time to damage a car. 90 percent of service techs are flat rate and under that pay plan the time they would waste doing stupid stuff like sabotaging peoples cars they are not getting paid for. Since not many people like to be at work and not earning money the chances of what you said happend to your car happening is small. Plus I know how the ABS system works and I find it annoying to read your claim they damaged it because there is no way a average or even good tech would know how to damage the HCU or even more unlikely the ECU in a way that the system would have failed like you described in your original posts on this. Plus no shop is going to say good things about some other shop you went too, they are going to feed into your fear just to get you to go to them and not back to the shop that so called " ruined your abs" and no offense but you fell for it hook line and sinker.

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I am not trying to annoy you Mike or anyone on this forum.
I simply will not explain or share my experiences with Dealership service departments ever again it's cool.I agree with you Mike that's what I get
for just taking my mustang to any Ford Dealership service department and
plus the service writer never seen me before.I bet you are on the other side
of the stick and you are honest with other peoples' car well Mike you will
go far in your job as a service tech and be rewarded in the end.
Also I blame my lack of knowledge in certain places to work on my mustang
myself.I have been working on Subaru's for ten years now and that is
where most of my knowledge went.I choose to be part of this forum to try
and learn more about my Ford and so,far I have learned a bunch!

i did my gears last week and my abs light has come on. As soon as i started up the car. Luckily I go to UTI and hopefully I'll get it corrected.

My 01 GT has just developed a similar problem with the ABS light. The problem is that it is intermittent. I can drive the car for awhile with no ABS light, then it turns on for a good amount of time and then turns back off.

I haven't had a chance to read the codes yet, but from reading the posts so far, it looks as though it may be a sensor on its way out.

289stang said:

My 01 GT has just developed a similar problem with the ABS light. The problem is that it is intermittent. I can drive the car for awhile with no ABS light, then it turns on for a good amount of time and then turns back off.

I haven't had a chance to read the codes yet, but from reading the posts so far, it looks as though it may be a sensor on its way out.

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Could be a sensor or could be the computer. Mine did the exact same thing so I brought it into Ford and they had to take it out on the road for about 20 minutes before the light came on and when they scanned it it indicated the control module was malfunctioning. I replaced it with a used one and it's been fine. You may be lucky enough to just have a bad wheel sensor in which case you won't have to spend as much $$ as me. Get it scanned.

Pennywise2 said:

I am not trying to annoy you Mike or anyone on this forum.
I simply will not explain or share my experiences with Dealership service departments ever again it's cool.I agree with you Mike that's what I get
for just taking my mustang to any Ford Dealership service department and
plus the service writer never seen me before.I bet you are on the other side
of the stick and you are honest with other peoples' car well Mike you will
go far in your job as a service tech and be rewarded in the end.
Also I blame my lack of knowledge in certain places to work on my mustang
myself.I have been working on Subaru's for ten years now and that is
where most of my knowledge went.I choose to be part of this forum to try
and learn more about my Ford and so,far I have learned a bunch!

Click to expand...

I don't think you were trying to tick me off, and feel free to discuss your service experiences, but when somebody posts sabotage claims I am going to give my point of veiw on it. I am glad you have learned a lot on here, hopefully the tech on this forum continues to improve and everybody will learn more.

sounds good

I had the same thing happen to me yesterday. Yesterday the ABS light came on, and went off right away, to quick for me even to notice if the trac light was also on. Then today I turned teh car on after it sitting in a parking lot for 15 minutes, and they were both on and I could not turn the traction control light back off. About 3 miles down the road, they both turned off. Judging from the experiences in this thread, it sounds like one of the wheel speed censors. My suspension is stock, and brakes were (rotors, pads, and calipers) were all redone about 10k miles ago. Right now, 101,000 miles.

So, wheel speed censor, abs unit, or computer? Or an electrical problem? Any thoughts/advice? Should I take it where I got my brakes done last, because I really don't want to go back there.

Team Ford said:

OMG!

So I pulled the drivers side wheel off and low and behold the wires are cut in two. Seems as though the tire tech bent the bracket for the wire so the rim came into contact with the wires burning through them. So it was not Fords fault it was the tire tech or road debris. I cut and buttspliced the wires then black taped them and pushed the bracket into position. Alls good now.

oh..and on my way to work this morning I look in my drivers side mirror because i hear a thunk thunk thunk while rolling and I see my rear tire wobbling. I pulled over and the lug nuts were almost off! I tightened them back up...I dont think I'll be going to that tire place again. haha

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good job! yeah I would stay away from that tire shop