I have a 2000 SDF250 4x4 crewcab with 75,000 miles. My abs light came on a few days ago, and continues to come on every time I drive the truck. Yesterday, the light went off while driving...and when I went to stop, the pedal went to the floor and pulsed rapidly. It felt like the abs was activating, although it occured at 20mph on dry pavement with absolutly no aggressive braking. Also, the light did not come on while it was doing this. Thankfully, I veered around the car in front of me. I got off on a side street and accelerated up to 30mph to see what would happen...same thing although this time I noticed the speedo went from 20mph to zero instantly, and this corresponded with the abs activation. Although the abs felt like it was activated, the pedal went to the floor and I had very minimal brakes.
I pulled over and checked every thing, fluid, brake lines etc...and couldn't find anything. After I restarted the truck to get it home, the light came back on, but I had normal brakes. I need to take it to a dealer, but I need any helpful info since I'm anticipating the old "no longer covered under warranty" speech.

 

prolly a wheel speed sensor gone bad. i would just pull the fuse and be done with it, no more guessing weather or not your truck is going to stop.

 

Pulling the fuse will not put the ABS light out.I believe you have RABS. You can try to change the VSS on top of the rear $30.00 Easy to install, one screw. And hope this works. If not you may have to go to the dealer and get the codes read. ABS computer $560.00,ECH $800.00. I just had mine replaced last month. but Ford fixed it under warrenty 2000 F250SD 4x4 5.4L V8. 40000 miles. Ford knows about problems with the ABS units. Good luck. If you live in the Baltimore area I know a Ford Tech. who will check it out for you.

 

Should I get the codes read prior to replacing the vss to see if thats the cause, or will the dealer charge me for more for the diagnosis?

 

The dealer will charge about 90.00 bucks to read the codes. A new sensor will cost you 30.00 bucks. It may not be the sensor but I would change that first before you spend the 90.00 dollars. The dealer will suggest to change this first anyway. You can pull the senor out and look for metal shaving, wipe them off and reinstall this may work, with no cost to you. Do a search here and you will find may posting concerning the same problem. Good luck.

 

Welcome to my life... my 2000 F250 just did the same thing last weekend... I've still yet to take out the vss... Let me know if cleaning yours off works, as I wont be able to do anything with mine till this weekend

 

You might be able to read the codes yourself.

On the '03 at least, I know that you can hold down the odometer trip reset button and then turn on the ignition and release the button. This puts the truck in to a test mode. You can keep pressing the button and it will cycle through a bunch of different test. One of them reads the codes.

With the truck running it even does a digital tach and some other real time readings.

I sent my manual on CDROM back to helm because it only had the info for the 7.3 L PSD and not the 6.0 L even though it was supposed to be an '03 manual. Otherwise I could be more specific about the sequence of button pushing to get to the codes.

I have the Superchips Microtuner now and it reads the codes so I don't have to mess with the odo reset button test sequence.

If you do find the codes, you can report back and someone can tell you what the code means.

 

Thanks everyone for all the info. I pulled the vss out and cleaned it..no dice. So I reasearched ford's oem number and found out that Raybestos manufactures this part for ford, and Kragen Auto parts carries them here in California. (Raybestos Part# ABS530780, $11.99ea). Put the new one in, and yippee!, problem solved. Since I was feelin good about it, I also changed out the diff. fluid since there were some metal shavings on the sensor. All looked good when I opened it up...so cleaned out all the old oil, repainted the cover, and reinstalled it using RTV silicone for gasket per Ford repair manual, and refilled it with 3.3L of 75-140 synthetic gear lube. (torque bolts to 29-39 ftlbs) No leaks and no lights anymore . Could it be that the metal dust in the diff. from normal wear and tear is causing the unit to fail, since it's magnetic sensor picks up all the crud? Hmmm..

 

Hope you put modifier in the rear end if you have limited slip!

 

No limited slip. I custom ordered the truck way back when, and I overlooked that option. Wouldn't you know, the dealer never caught it either, even though it was a 4x4.

 

I too have a permenant ABS light on. Don't seem to have ABS feature working either. Mine is a 2000 4X4 5.4L. Local parts store told me Raybestos doesn't make electrical items also that my truck has another VSS on the transmission. How do you know which one to change. I have no codes flashing.

 

I was up on Lake of the Woods in MN a couple years ago and observed some odd behavior with my brakes. I'd be going around 45 mph and lock them up on glare ice and all four wheels would lock. I even had a friend look at the wheels out the window to make sure I wasn't seeing things. When I got back to the cities I brought it in and the service man said it was all normal and the rear anti locks don't work like the front. No lights were on either. The brakes seem way less powerful then the 99 F150 on glare ice.

 

I'd try a different parts dealer. That part number is the one raybestos uses here in California, and it was the right part. According to the factory repair manual, there are three speed sensors, one on top of the differential, and one on each front wheel hub, not on the transmission. The Ford vss is #F85Z-2L373-AB, Borg-Warner also makes one #58375, and again, the Raybestos is #ABS530780. Hope this helps.

 

You only have front ABS if you have wires running to each of your front wheels, If you do not you have RABS. Which would mean you only have one sensor in the rear{top}that I know about. The FORD dealer carries this sensor for around $22.00. On 2000 F250 4x4 , 4wheel ABS was an option. I don't know about other years. It may be standard on the Fx4.

 

Mine has one wire going to each front wheel and one wire going to top center of rear diff. So wouldn't that be 4W ABS? I didn't think mine had a speed sensor on transmission either because it is not digital gauges on dash. Got underneath and took a look and don't even see a cable that goes to the dash from the transmission. If it is there it is well hidden.