So, I get in my truck yesterday and my ABS light is on. I ran the codes and there are none????

Not sure where to start.

2004 F350 V10 DRW 4x4 XL.

Any suggestions well accepted.



Thanks

 

Check your wheel bearing hubs and wiring connections going to the hubs. I had have my wheel bearing hub replaced. I know sometimes mine
will come on if I get ice or water on it

 

Interesting thought. I have replaced, I believe both wheel bearings on this truck in the past 3 years. but I would not have thought of that.


Still confused why it is not throwing any codes.

 

Your abs system is not compatible with most code readers. You need to see a dealer or Ford mechanic to identify the cause.
The abs sensors can get pretty dirty and cause havoc. I know the differential sensor will get so mucked up, it needs to be cleaned and/or replaced.
Keep in mind there's no wiring to the hub. The wire that runs to the sensor detects a signal through the tone wheel to determine tire rotation.

 

So I guess I dont really understand how that works. Then again, I am not an ABS fan in reality. I much prefer controlling the truck myself but I am no longer given that option.

For some reason I seem to blow through wheel bearings in this truck. Seems about 1 every 2 years. normally passenger side. I was noticing the other day that I heard a noise coming from the front end that resembled wheel bearing. I just have not had the time to stop and check it.

 

Try disconnecting battery and see if light goes out after reconnecting. Most wheel bearing hubs have 1yr or 2yr warranty on them. How many miles do you drive? I drive 30000 a yr and was told figure on at least one failing within that yr. I know on my impala I could put the car in neutral and shut the car off and I could clear the light. And then drive and see if light came back over time or if was just a fluke with water and ice on the harness.

 

You essentially now, do not have abs brakes if that's really what you want. They still operate safely, just not work as abs brakes, now with it effectively off.

Also, not sure if it works for your year truck, but older units, you could pull the abs sensor out and fill the hub with a grease gun to keep them running much longer. It doesn't affect the abs system with the grease as its a tone sound system.

 

Wow bearings every 2 years. Sounds like front end problems to me. It may also be the tire size you are running. Some guys put big *** tires on there truck without thinking about the stress it puts on the steering parts and bearings. I would maybe see if there is a heavy duty bearing you could get. Go to a 4X4 shop. They will be able to help with this.
As for the ABS light. It also tells you that your braking system has a problem. It could be dirt or something simple it more complicated like the the distribution block has a problem. If the wires are fine and the sensor is clean and the tone ring is not broken than go to the dealer and have it checked.

 

I wish I could blame it on big *** tires. I am actually running the stock tires on this truck, which frankly look ridiculous on it. But when it came time for sneakers, I had to pinch a few pennies. Putting 6 tires on at a whack is somewhat prohibitive.. lol

Truck is an 04 F350 with about 165k on it. If I drive that into most dealerships, I am going to be looking at a 5k ransom to get it back out. Wish i had that sort of scratch lying around, but alas not in this pocket book. If I knew of a dealer who would be completely honest and only fix what needed to be fixed than I would be more than happy to do business with them.

 

They may be able to do a inspection for free. If not look online for coupons from Ford. They have them on the Ford site.

 

Most normal do-it yourself Scan Tools are nothing more than a Code Reader.

The ABS is a different animal, in fact my OTC unit will not even read/clear ABS codes. I go to Autozone & get it read for FREE, they need to use their "Actron/AutoScanner plus" some personnel know how to do it but most do not. Your vehicle Info must be loaded & chosen into Scanner before ABS can be read.

FYI...Whenever u do get the problem fixed, a ABS light will go out automatically w/a "very short" drive

 

It is also pretty common for the rear sensor in the the diff to go bad. not an expensive fix. You do need a good computer to read abs on these trucks.

 

From personal experience, I'd start with some new sensors. You could buy all three sensors for less than $60, which is a lot less than buying a fancier scan tool in order to read ABS codes.

Harbor Freight does sell an ABS enabled code reader for around $100, but I've never tried it, so cannot guarantee it would pinpoint which sensor.

However, why bother? Just buy and replace the sensors, one at a time, until the code goes away. I'd start with the one on top of the rear differential, since that one is known to fail on a lot of Fords, not just Super Duties. As little as $11. Put it in, drive for a few drive cycles. The truck's ABS computer will clear the light all on it's own if everything is ok.

Still not out? Then do a front wheel sensor. Pick a side, any side, As little as $24 with harness (which will rule out harness tire rub issues). Wait for a few complete drive cycles for the dash light to extinguish. If it does, fixed, if not, swap front wheel sensors, putting the new one on the other side. Or heck, just replace it with a new one, since the truck is almost 12 years old.

Normally, I'm not a fan of throw parts at it type of diagnosis, but realistically, it is the wheel speed sensors and wiring to the wheel sensors that most often causes the ABS light to illuminate. I've confirmed this with my scan tool, which does measure ABS PIDs, and log codes.

Here are a few pics of how the scan tool collects data from the wheel speed sensors:

















Basically, the ABS computer in the truck is comparing the wheel speed reported by each sensor, with each other and with the VSS. If one wheel is reporting illogical data ...like the rest of the truck is doing 25 mph while one wheel is doing 22 mph for a prolonged period of time (beyond just turning), and this lag continues, then the ABS light will illuminate to alert the driver that something is up.


One last note... personally, I'd probably buy a more expensive sensor than the Dorman ones priced above. But the cheap ones do give you a place to begin, and you can always sell them even cheaper and replace them with higher quality parts.