Anti Lock light!

[MoodyTalon]

Well, driving back to my house from Wal Mart today, my Anti lock brake light came on, on my dash. I dont know what made it throw, but it just came on. Has this ever happened to anyone? Nothing seems wrong with the brakes, they all still work. I tried mashing the brakes really hard to see if it was triggered somehow, and got stuck, but to no avail. I dont know how serious is it. I was planning on driving back to Louisville tonight. So, I guess basically I was wondering if it was still safe to drive, since the brakes dont seem any different to me? Does this light come on a lot? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[EclipseGST-95]

happens in my moms car a lot she had to take it to the shop and the ran a test on the computer coudlnt find a thing messed with some wires securing connections....and started it up n it was off...if it says on all the time u should take it to the dealer....if it just comes on n off randomly i woudlnt really worry about it....although my mom has a bonneville i have an eclipse it has never happened to me...speed bumps pot holes stuff like that can mess with ur connections and make the light come on...if its not that then i dunno what the reason would be...whatever u do..good luck

 

[MoodyTalon]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Doug99RS]

Anytime the ABS or airbag light comes on it typically means that the system has found a problem and will shut off the system.

If you ABS light is on it will simply mean that it will not work in the event that you need to perform an ABS assisted stop. I would not recomend trying to stop hard enough to activate the ABS. In your case that means you will lock up the brakes and possibly lose control.

There's numerous reasons that the light will come on. If the battery is weak, it will disable the ABS pump/system. The ABS system requires a significant amount of powre to work. Low voltage will cause the system to be shut off. If the ABS sensor out at the wheel goes bad or the wiring to it is damaged then the computer will sense this problem and again shut off the system. If it left the system on then you'd have three wheels working properly and one locked up causing a pull while braking hard.

You will be safe to drive the car but may want to have it checked in to once you get back home.
Doug

 

[EclipseGST-95]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrr its a bad wire like i said?

 

[Doug99RS]

Um, third paragraph, 5th sentence.... that would cover that possibility.

 

[Siberian]

Originally posted by MoodyTalon
Well, driving back to my house from Wal Mart today, my Anti lock brake light came on, on my dash...

When I picked my car up from state inspection a couple days ago, same thing happened. Never ever had the ABS light come on before. I turned it off and on a few times, didn't help. Drove it home, turned it off and on, and the light went out and stayed out.

I don't know how the puter actually senses a problem, but I'm guessing the mechanic took the wheels off for inspection and knocked rust or something off which temporarily interfered somehow. Just too much of a coincidence that the light would come on immediately after someone pulled the wheel and inspected the brakes.

 

[MoodyTalon]

Originally posted by Doug99RS
Anytime the ABS or airbag light comes on it typically means that the system has found a problem and will shut off the system.

If you ABS light is on it will simply mean that it will not work in the event that you need to perform an ABS assisted stop. I would not recomend trying to stop hard enough to activate the ABS. In your case that means you will lock up the brakes and possibly lose control.

There's numerous reasons that the light will come on. If the battery is weak, it will disable the ABS pump/system. The ABS system requires a significant amount of powre to work. Low voltage will cause the system to be shut off. If the ABS sensor out at the wheel goes bad or the wiring to it is damaged then the computer will sense this problem and again shut off the system. If it left the system on then you'd have three wheels working properly and one locked up causing a pull while braking hard.

You will be safe to drive the car but may want to have it checked in to once you get back home.
Doug

Thanks!

 

[Doug99RS]

So what did it take to fix it?

 

[clownface]

my ABS light has been on for half a year, ive had to stop hard a few times and sure enough it locked up, but im not to worried about it. I would like to fix it though but i dont wanna pay lots of money for it.

 

[Doug99RS]

If you get it fixed we'd appreciate the update.
Thanks,
Doug

 

[clownface]

i might not even fix it, if theres a way i might just go to nonABS, but i do fix it ill update.

 

[95IndyTSi]

Originally posted by Doug99RS
Anytime the ABS or airbag light comes on it typically means that the system has found a problem and will shut off the system.

If you ABS light is on it will simply mean that it will not work in the event that you need to perform an ABS assisted stop. I would not recomend trying to stop hard enough to activate the ABS. In your case that means you will lock up the brakes and possibly lose control.

There's numerous reasons that the light will come on. If the battery is weak, it will disable the ABS pump/system. The ABS system requires a significant amount of powre to work. Low voltage will cause the system to be shut off. If the ABS sensor out at the wheel goes bad or the wiring to it is damaged then the computer will sense this problem and again shut off the system. If it left the system on then you'd have three wheels working properly and one locked up causing a pull while braking hard.

You will be safe to drive the car but may want to have it checked in to once you get back home.
Doug

Would you know if it is possible that a messed up voltage regulator could cause this loss of power? My dash lights and headlights are dimmer at idle than they should be but when the rpm's come up they brighten up to where they should be. Anyway, my ABS light has been on for about three months. I didn't pay attention to see if these problems started at roughly the same time but is that a possibility? I think it's the voltage regulator and I'm going to take my alternator out and have it tested at a shop this week.

Aaron

 

[Doug99RS]

It could be a possibility but honestly if the regulator went out, I think by now your battery would be dead. If you're going to take out the altenator anyways, then sure check it. But for those that don't want to go through all that effort just yet, I'd recomend checking connectors at the altenator, abs pump/module, and you battery connections. Don't forget to carry your battery with you as well and have it checked.
Doug