Weird Brake Issue

[jprez22]

Hey All---

I have a strange question, last night when coming to a stop on an icy road the brakes acted very odd. I heard a groan/chatter coming from the front end and the pedal was shaking up and down while I was stopping. I've never had to slam on the brakes on the ice before but I'm not certain the brakes worked right. I also saw a green traction control light remain on for a few moments. Now after that incident I have a yellow ABS light on my dash that hasnt gone away. The brakes feel the same as they did before that incident. The brake fluid is dark but full to the line, the car has 24,000 miles on it.

Any suggestions?

 

[MT1083]

My light doesn't come on but I get the same feel in my pedal if I have to brake on ice. I never even considered that there was something wrong. Maybe you just need to disconnect the battery to get the light to go away.

 

[claytucc3]

Yeah sounds like something to do with the ABS. That groan and pedal feel is the ABS kicking in and the ABS and traction control are tied together. The traction control actually uses the ABS sensors. If you say the brakes are working fine that may be true, however that may not mean that the ABS is working correctly or at all. I am not sure if you can pull codes from the ABS system but you might want to check into it. It wouldn't have anything to do witht eh brake fluid sounds like it might be a component. Or as said above try reseting it but make sure everything is in order also you can check the ABS sensors if you want. They are the magnetic sensors on each of the wheels that stick out next to the toothed hub looking thing.

 

[DarkHorse164]

My light doesn't come on but I get the same feel in my pedal if I have to brake on ice. I never even considered that there was something wrong. Maybe you just need to disconnect the battery to get the light to go away.

Sounds 'normal' to me considering you were braking hard. It's the ABS working to keep the brakes from locking up. The traction control light (green light you mentioned) will come on (if not switched off) anytime the car senses it's not getting traction. Now the ABS light (yellow light you mentioned) coming on is not necessarily something to worry about. But since you said it's staying on even after a couple of days, you might want to have it checked. In my Crown Vic, I will routinely pull an ABS light during aggressive driving/braking, but it goes out relatively quick. When it's come on and stayed on, it was put in the shop to be checked. In both instances, it turned out the ABS sensors had debris on them.