Constant ABS Light

[TennesseeBroncBoy]

O.K., I am needing to know where to begin. When I bought the Bronc(recently), the ABS light blinked at me a few times over 2 weeks, but had no problems. Had the front pads changed after I noticed a jerky slow down to a stop. I took it to this guy(Dad's friend/Mechanic) and he told me I needed new rotors, but they were a one piece deal and not a normal assembly. Well, I guess he knew someone and got those changed along with the pads. Shortly after that(day or two), I threw it in a crate and now I'm in Iceland with NO ABS! :excl: I touch the brakes and they lock up with out hesitating :excl: :blink: (Not fun now with dry road, but I definitely want it fixed before snow season starts). The light is now on ALL THE TIME :angry: too. I took to our Auto Hobby Shop(Keflavik NAS) and used the computer read the following codes. 017: V Ref Range -- 011: ABS Control Module -- 031: LF Sensor -- 032: RF Sensor -- 063: Pump Motor -- 067: Pump Motor -- 076: RF Sensor. I am pretty sure that they didn't all just crap out on me at once while inside the crate on the way over here. For any info you might need to help figure out what it is and where to start, my rig is a stock 1993 Eddie Bauer 4X4 5.8L Automatic. This is my only vehicle and only means of not having to walk in the 25+knot winds and sideways rain and the snow that will be here in late October/November. (It snowed here 4 times in May) I need any and all help/experience you Bronco pros might have. I am a Blackhawk Helicopter mechanic, so I know my way around a tool box, but I have never worked on a Bronco :blush: ....SOOOoooo. If ya'll know anything, feel free to pitch in. I wanna get this fixed and workin'. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Justshootme84]

My experience leads me to suspect the ABS sensors on the rear axle. Try searching the forums at fullsizebronco.com to get more details. The RABS sensor causes many headaches when doing an axle swap, so a search for that topic may yield some results, too. You may find that disconnecting the sensors will help, but I can't advise doing that due to safety regs. Just for offroad use purposes only.

 

[B-Cack]

I have pretty much the same problem, and I have been tinkering with it for the past 6 months or so. I have the codes from my Bronco and was told that it was my ABS module, so I replaced that and the problem wasn't fixed. My Bronco stops pretty good normally, unitl you are about to stop and then it moans and lunges to the left a little bit... then it is fine. I have narrowed it down to the Hydraulin unit which can be purchased at NAPA for about 350 Bucks. I hope this helps in your analysis. good luck

 

[txomyboy]

Some thing like that hapend to me last time I change the front brake pads, every time I hit the brakes it will stop normaly but a few secons before dead stop the pedal will go all the way to te bottom and the car will turn to the left.

I took the truck to the brake shop and they didnt find a problem, what did i do?

I took out the sensors that are located on the back of the rotors and they where all cover whit metal debris, (the thing is that those sensors are some kind of a magnet so they will hold anything metal ) I clean the sensors and the problem disappear.

Try cleaning this sensors first and see if all the electrical conectors of the ABS system are thigth, you can do the same with the rear but in the rear thers only one sensor and is located at the top of the axle, follow the conection cable to find where is, thers only one electrical cable on the rear axle.

ther is only one bolt to hold the sensor so unscrew the bolt and then you must turn the sensor left and right and pull, why? because they fit bery thight so be patience dont try to just pull them out. a litle WD-40 may help.

If you change the rotors try to see if the new ones have the gear ring on the back this gear is the one that the sensors look at, so if you dont have that gear ring on the back of the sensors the ABS system is not reading anything so maybe thats wy is sending you all those error codes.

You can buy that ring or try taking it out of the old rotors and put them on the new ones.

If I didn't explain myself to well let me know and I will try to be more specific.

good luck.

 

[B-Cack]

Are you telling me that by cleaning out the sensors it completely stopped the problem of the Bronco pulling to the left and the pedal going all the way down. This is EXACTLY what mine does and nobody seems to have any clue as to what it is. I have new rotors on, so I don't think they are dirty, any suggestions? What exactly did you clean, with what and all the good stuff, let me know

 

[txomyboy]

Are you telling me that by cleaning out the sensors it completely stopped the problem of the Bronco pulling to the left and the pedal going all the way down. This is EXACTLY what mine does and nobody seems to have any clue as to what it is. I have new rotors on, so I don't think they are dirty, any suggestions? What exactly did you clean, with what and all the good stuff, let me know

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Yes, cleaning the sensors solve the problem.

Let me tell you wy, the funtion of the ABS sensors located in the front brakes is to look at the tooth located on the gear ring that is on the back of the rotors, every time the wheel locks up the sensor will see a tooth and assume the wheel is stop so it will send a signal to the system to release the pressure to that wheel so it will keep turning and not lock up.

If the sensor has metal debries atach to it, the system will assume that wheel is lock and it will release the pressure to it, that's wy it will pull to one side when you hit the brakes.

how do you clean the sensors? first you have to locate the sensor is in the back of the wheel underneath the bleeding plug of the brake fluid, follow the conection cable to it, it only has one ***** to holdit, take the ***** out and pull the sensor out with side to side movements if it is to tight, try putting some WD-40.

once you have the sensor out, look at it and see if is clean if not, just cleaned whit a rag or cloth and put it back ( the sensor is a cylindrical piece about 1" long and 1/2" in diameter ) all so look inside the hole where the sensor goes and try to see if the gear ring is clean ( you may need a flqshligth to do this ) if the gear ring is dirty , this is another story, because you are gona need to take out the rotors and clean the ring ( and that is a another enchilada ) wy you have to take out the rotors in order to clean the ring? well remember that there's a splash guard on the back of the rotors that will not allow you to get to it, that's wy.

again let me know if i explain myself, if not cant you wait until next week ? the thing is i dont have my rig with me rigth now but if you can wait i will take some pictures of the procedure and post them here so you can have a better idea of what i am talking about.

>- good luck.

 

[B-Cack]

That is a pretty good explanation, I would love to see pics in the future. By the way, I have new rotors, so I think I will try and clean the sensor first. I can't tell you how many mechanics have listened to my problem and look at me like I have a big red [deleted] growing out of my head! Thanks for the info.

 

[TennesseeBroncBoy]

I have a couple things. First, my ABS light is still on all the time. Sometimes I don't really have a problem, but sometimes the rear wheels will lock up when I apply the brake. It's off and on, weird I know. The brakes are really touchy, especially at slow speeds. If I barely push them they grab REALLY hard or lock up. I think the grabbing is from the front and the lock up in the rear. I heard a metal on metal rub coming from the back right before stopping while braking as well. Not all the time though. Also, I yanked the front caliper off and notice the piston has a hard time going back in after the brake is let off. I think the caliper piston is dirty and causing it to not go in. As soon as I pull the wheel off and turn the hub, it is always getting pinched by the brakes slightly. It always rubs when I try to turn it. does not spin freely. Do I need to replace the caliper? :huh: I was looking for a brake overhaul kit but can't find the piston seals or the dust boot anywhere. Maybe I ought to just replace the caliper in the front, but I don't know where to start in the back. Any help would be good guys. P.S.- This is the most akward oil change I have ever done. The filter has the worst placement I've ever seen(...almost) Pain to get it out.