All the sudden my ABS light came on. I never felt or heard anything, the light just appeared on and hasnt gone off. Both my front tires are locking up under hard breaking.

I've checked the fuse in the engine bay and it was fine but I replaced it anyway....no help.

my fluid is where it needs to be.

Is there anything else I can try or look at? I know absolutly zilch about the abs system

STEPHEN

 

If the ABS unit reads a fault it will disable ABS to all of the wheels. This would explain why you're locking up with the ABS light on.

Next thing to do is check all 4 sensors. The FSM has impedance values so you can measure them.

If all of that checks out you need to pull half the rear hatch plastic molding & ring out the sensors to the ABS controller. (it's on the U.S. driver side)

In the one instance that I had to troubleshoot an ABS problem it turned out a rodent crawled into the engine compartment & chewed up the front ABS wire, & the plastic piece that prevents wire chaffing on the fender metal. Basically all of the sensors rang out a very low resistance except the one that the open in the circuit...

Good luck.
Eric.

 

You probably already checked this but your ABS sensor on the wheels might be dirty from all the brake dust and just need a cleaning. This is what happened to mine.

 

does it turn on instantly when you start the car? or after you have drove 10ft or so?

if the sensors are bad, it will turn on after you roll a little ways. not sure if it will do the same thing with a bad ABS unit though.

 

The light comes on right when I crank it up and stays on. I'll try cleaning them and see if that helps....should be easy cause I'm fixing to replace my pads and rotors this weekend. I'll also check for any damage visable damage.

ES - How did you check the resistance of the sensors? Do you unplug the sensor at the ABS controller that you were speaking of and test the resistance from there? Also, what is "FSM"???

I'm pretty much electrical ignorant.

STEPHEN

 

you can check the resistance of the sensors by unplugging them and measuring it with a volt meter on the ohms setting. the location for the front passenger plug is near the abs unit, attached near where people attach the torque braces. it's a small, two wire connector.
The one for the drivers side is directly under the cruise control actuator, or where it would be if you don't have it. it's attached to the flat area down there right next to the fuel pump resistor.

I haven't checked the back ones ever.

FSM=Factory Service/Shop Manual

 

I'm also experiencing ABS trouble with the symptom of, the lack of the antilock- my light only comes on when the car gets shut off and the turbo tim. is still running-(accessory)but I do lock up on severe braking too. Figure the brain or some grossly overpriced o-ring seal is out-?

 

Well, to add more confusion to this (sort of), my ABS warning light comes on occasionally in hot weather, but it usually resets (goes off) when I shut off and restart the car. It hasn't lit up for quite a while now, though, since the weather has been pretty cool. Any thoughts or theories?