Hello guys,

I recently purchased a 2008 ford escape, v6, 2wd. When I bought it, I noticed the ABS light was on, and I got an appointment scheduled to get it fixed, but they couldn't get it looked at for 2 weeks out. Needing a vehicle to drive to and from work, I agreed to schedule the appointment, as I test drove it with the light on with no issues.

Well, after putting about 200 miles on it over the weekend, there are now noticeable issues. First off, the parking brake light decided to come on intermittently, and now it comes on and off spiradicly. Secondly, when I drive the car now, I can hear a clunking noise, followed by the traction control light blinking (It was on constant before), and loss of power. I ended up pinpointing that to being the brakes engaging while the car was driving (I noticed when I stopped, the rotors were really hot. I threw a tiny bit of snow on them and they smoked really bad.

I removed the tires in the front, and checked the tone rings, they both appear to have been replaced recently as they are still shiny as if they were brand new. I also took the ABS sensors out, and wiped them down, they also appear to be new (Although the bolts that hold them on clearly aren't new). I don't have access to a high-level scan tool to get it looked at, and I refuse to drive it anymore to take it to a shop just to have it looked at, what else could be causing the issues? It's highly possible that one of the ABS sensors is bad, but how do I go about checking it without just replacing it? Can I use a voltmeter or something to check it to see if it's getting the correct voltage?

I am not sure how the abs system works, but I know that the traction control light is on because the abs light is on, as they both have the same systems they use, but would that also cause the parking brake light to come on, too ? It originally wasn't on, but just started doing it recently. I checked the fluid level, and it's more than within range.

This is my daily driver, and obviously I can't go two weeks without a vehicle, and that's the soonest I can get it into a shop, so any help fixing it myself would be much appreciated.

 

If you can spin the front wheels manually with the front end raised, then yes, you can test the sensors with a meter.

Static test would be a resistance check. A good sensor usually reads around 1.0-1.5 kohms, IIRC. Bad ones usually measure an open.

Dynamic test: Connect the meter leads to the two sensor leads. Set the meter to VAC range suitable to measure 1-5 VAC. Spin the wheel and watch the meter. If the sensor and tone ring are functioning correctly, you should see an AC voltage of 1-5 VAC with a frequency proportional to the rotational speed of the wheel.

 

Do I disconnect the sensor when I check or leave it connected?

Also, I am not sure if i'm able to spin the tires, am I able to disconnect the sensor and check for resistance between the two leads on the sensor end of the connector?

 

Okay, so I took my multimeter, set to 20v, and stuck a couple of pieces of wire into the back end of the connector, still connected. These are the results I get when I probe the wires (Car is running, in park, no wheels spinning)

Driver side fluctuates between 12.8 to 13 volts, passenger side appears to sit at 0 volts. Would this be an accurate assumption that the sensor itself is bad?

 

No, that isn't what the test is.

Turn the engine off. Disconnect the sensor to be tested. Connect the meter to the sensor. Measure resistance. If good, switch the meter to low range AC volts. Spin the wheel and measure AC voltage.

 

I ended up taking the car in to a mechanic today. They said neither rear wheel sensor is getting a signal. It's fwd, didn't know the rear wheels would have a abs sensor, but whatever.

They said rear sensors not working together is unusual and probably a sign that something further along the system, like the unit itself, could be at fault. It's warranty work and the shop didn't want to deal with the warranty company so I wasn't able to get it fixed. Now I need to find another ase certified shop.

 

Well the car has been at the shop for two days now, and they can't seem to pinpoint the issue. Every time they run a diagnostic test on it, they get different results. Sometimes it tells them none of the ABS sensors are giving a reading, sometimes they are giving a low reading, sometimes they are reading fine. They seem to be having issues finding out exactly what the problem is. They are expecting to have it finished up by today though, so here's to hoping!

 

did you get this solved? could you please provide details on the solution.

thanks in advance

 

It appears I have resolved this, for now. I ended up replacing the entire front end (control arms, tie rods and cv axles), and with that new tone rings, and I took the time to also replace all four abs sensors. For the time being, I have not had any more issues for this. It's not a real solution, as any one of those, or none of those, could've been at fault.