Hi All,

The ABS light on my '00 F250 (59K miles) with 4 wheel ABS came on a few weeks ago then went off after I stopped and restarted the engine. I had pulled a trailer that day. Weeks go by then yesterday, it came on and has stayed on. Coincedentally I had just pulled a trailer again...

I replaced all the brake pads a couple of months ago and I've noticed some squealing when stopping. A guy at an auto parts store told me it could be the pads became glazed and that or brake dust is causing the ABS sensor(s) to fail. Does this make any sense to anyone?

Thanks

 

Mine came on about a year ago,or about 20,000 miles talked to Ford dealer he said it could be wheel sensor or computer or this or that ,bottem line they didn't know they wanted to start at the wheels and start replacin' stuff till they got the right thing, at my cost said could be $400.00 to $1900.00. Hummm only problem I saw was the light on the dash bugged me, took dash face off pulled bulb, ejected bulb out window, no problem. I drove for 40 years with out ABS. I have not had any problems at all. Friend of mine has a chebby, his abs light came on and he lost his brakes.
Don't get me wrong, by no means am I recomending ANYTHING, just tellin' my story, I am a poor working man and I can't aforrd to pay a dealer to trouble shoot my truck, so I had to do what I had to do. Thier may be repercussions, But I ain't experienced any.
Later
Gunny

 

I know what you mean Gunny. Only problem is I'm kinda **** and knowing I paid for the ABS and it isn't working will stay in my mind! I'm not taking it to a dealer yet tho because like you said they will just start swapping things out and chargin' as they go!

It seems to be doing something intermittently. The light will go off after start then come on after shifting into drive or maybe wait for several minutes, or sometimes not even come on. It does seem to be on though more than it stays off tho. I'm suspecting it may be a flaky connection somewhere so I'm planning to crawl under and just start checking things out.

 

I believe there are 3 sensors on this system and each has a plug into the wire to the ABS unit. You might want to unplug each and replug it to make sure the connection is clean. One is the sensor on the rear differential that also sends the signal for the speedometer, the other two plugs are just behind the front wheel wells and can be reached from behind the front tires if you lay under the truck. They are just simple clips. I tried this when I was having similar trouble, but mine turned out to be a bad speed sensor (the one on the diff). I replaced it for $15.00 myself. I've not taken the front wheel apart to find that ABS sensor. Might want to try the plugs, It's worth a shot.

 

Gunny.. first off let me say im with you. ive been racing and driving all sorts of vehicles on the ground and in the Air in my years and none of them had ABS, so ive grown used stopping my self.... when i lifted my truck and started running 36" tires the ABS went to hell... you mash the brakes and it would gradually slow down, unaccaptable.. i pulled the fuse and covered the light with and American flag sticker.. I tell you all it brakes twice as well, ive tested it many times....... Anway Gunny i just wanted to recommend you pull the 60amp fuse under the hood if you havent already.. if you havent the sytem may still be working at some wheels and not others.. so if you did hit your brakes say just the right side lock up and the left try to anti lock youll get some outrages side pull.... could catch you off gaurd if you hadnt thought of that.. im sure you did..... one sensor bad at one wheel could trigger the light and the other three could be working...
good luck guys..

Jetjock16

 

What a coincidence Flier?!?!?! I too have a 00 F250 and while towing over the weekend my ABS indicator light lit up! But in addition to this my Service Engine Soon indicator lit and my Speedometer quit working all within a matter of 5 minutes. I've got 32K miles and this "hunk-of-junk" is leased. I do not want to spend time and $$ at the dealership watching them scratch their butt while troubleshooting. Anyone out there have any ideas on how to fix?

 

franzel, your problem is the speed control sensor on the rear end $15 but put it on your self, dealership charged me $180 for that 5 minute job

 

Jetjock 16,
Thanks for the imput Brother, when my ABS light first came on I tried to find the fuse but never could, is it in the big box under hood? Been rode to hard and to many miles on the ole ticker to have my truck take a hard left or right when I ain't expectin' it.
Thanks again,
Gunny

 

Gunny, yep its under the hood and im pretty sure its the only 60 amp fuse in there...... take a look if theres more than one 60, then ill look under the hood or in my manual to tell ya the exact location.. but im pretty sure its the only one.

 

You guys are right, rear speed sensor on the diff.

I did a bunch of research yesterday. For the record, I found the F250 uses the Kelsey-Hayes EBC10 ABS system. Two sensors on the front on each steering knuckle and one on the top of the rear diff. Apparently, bad sensors and/or sensor connectors cause ABS probs 9 outta 10 times on the trucks.

I went home and pulled and cleaned my front sensors and connectors last night and checked 'em OK. I only cleaned the rear connector, I didn't bother to pull it or check it's resistance. Didn't help the problem tho.

The ABS module provides codes but have to be scanned. This morning a really nice guy at a local francise brake shop, Brake Chek, read mine for free and confirmed the rear sensor problem. Whatta guy. Local dealer wanted $98 just to scan the code. What a rip-off. I think $20 to do a scan would be ok but $98!!!

Come to find out the rear sensor seems to fail the most. The sensors are magnetic. You can check'em with a voltmeter and you should get somewhere between 700 and 2K ohms. If they're open or shorted, they're bad.

The rear speed sensor was $19 at the dealer. I can't wait to get home and replace that baby tonight.

Regards

 

Hey Folks,

Thought of one more thing. I too considered disabling the ABS if it was gonna be expensive to fix. However, after talking to a couple of legal types around here I decided to fix it.

Picture this.... you get involved in an accident, maybe even no fault of your own, and end up getting sued. Plaintiff's law dog begins with "So, Mr. X, evaluation of your vehicle indicates your ABS system was inoperative and you were aware of the situation but didn't fix it. Are you aware of statistics that show ABS provides greater control and can reduce stopping...". Then the plaintiff's "expert" witness chimes in with analysis that shows had the ABS been working you could have stopped or avoided....you'all get the picture.

If you don't have ABS, great. But if you do have it and defeat it on purpose, be careful. Anyway, something to think about in these litigation happy times we live in.

Stay safe.

 

id think thed go after my 10 inches of lift first..... in a legal battle, they could say oversized tires effected the crash, etc etc... And i wouldnt tell them my ABS wasnt working... And there'd be no survivors if my 45" off the ground bumper went into Plaintiff X's window...BUT.. to get back to the original topic.. id be more likely to be in a wreck with the ABS working.. cause it did not work effectively with oversized tires.. so stopping distance was decreased.

 

I just bought a 2006 F-250 PSD and it has 45k on it. My ABS light just came on and I have it scheduled to go back to CarMax for repair. I will update everyone on the results and what codes were discovered. I did install an amateur radio system in the truck recently and added an amplifier that draws close to 100 amps. I noticed in the Tech bulletin (06-7-6***ABS LIGHT ON AND POSSIBLE DTCS C1175, C1236, P0500, P0503)

That a current draw may be showing a problem to the ABS system. "
C1175 AND C1236


If the vehicle has DTC C1236 AND C1175 in the ABS module, check the vehicle wiring per the C1175 procedure. If there is a hard or intermittent wiring fault, the current may at times be high or low causing a C1175. A wiring concern may also cause noise in the circuit that can be interpreted by the module as an erratic speed signal, which will set a the C1236."


So there we are, update to follow, I just thought other Amateur Radio guys would find this useful. Has anyone else ran into this? I did put 35x12.5 BFG Mud Terrains on it wonder it that would effect the ABS?

 

OK here is the follow up I promised. A C1175 Code was found, in the mean time I discovered a sequence between using my Ham Radio with a 1kw amplifier and the light coming on. So after adding snap on ferrite's to the amplifier power cable, antenna coax, and ground straps it seems to have solved the problem, no more ABS Light! The ferrites can be easily located on E-bay and get them for the size you need. The mix you want is a #31 if you can find it. 1kw is a lot of juice and draw on a stock system and the code seems to correspond with a current drain sending a bogus signal to the computer. Hope this helps someone.

 

Have a 99 F250 super duty with a v10. ABS light came on and my speedometer started hopping around. Pulled codes said ABS sensor on the rear end. I replaced it and still have the light coming on. Any ideas? Have a trip next weekend and would like to be more confident in my vehicle. THANKS!