Well, today I got the truck back from the dealer who just wanted to throw parts at it. I won't pay someone a ton of money to throw parts at my truck, if I'm going to throw parts at it I'll do that myself.

Here's the problem: Several weeks ago while driving, the brake pedal went to the flooor on two separate, but close occasions (within about 20 minutes). I pumped it back up both times to get more pressure. About 5 miles after the second time, the ABS light came on. Since then, the problem hasn't occurred, but the light is on.

What the dealer said was as follows, from my receipt:
"CUSTOMER STATES ABS LIGHT IS ON
ATTEMPT TO RUN TEST ON ABS SYSTEM CANNOT COMMUNICATE WITH MODULE CK FUSES AND RELAYS ALL OK DISCONNECT MODULE AND CK CONNECTIONS RERUN QUICK TEST CODE C1202 FAULTS MAY BE VALVE SHORT OR GROUND PROBLEM IN HCU OR ECU MODULES
WILL HAVE TO START WITH NEW MODULE
MAY NEED HCU AND ECU REPLACED TO REPAIR INTERNAL CONCERN MODULE FAULT"

I don't know all the terms here, but I am familiar with various ABS systems and have worked on a number ofthem. I am not familiar with this particular ABS system. Can someone who this means more to decipher and give me some hints on where to look and whta to test?

Interesthing thing to note: The speedometer stopped working a few days before I brought the truck in. Now it works great. Because of this, I was going to check the connections and see if they're dirty, but I suspect something more expensive is broken on it.

Thanks!

 

Ted,

Did the dealer by chance flush your brake lines and put in new fluid?

My BIL has a 2003 Explorer (I think it is a 2003)...BUT his ABS light came on and the service manual states that he needed to flush and re-fill the fluid periodically...he did and that fixed his issue...not saying yours is that...just thinking as I type...

joe.

 

Joe, the fluid looks original. I have not flushed the system, and I had thought about that as a potential first step. The code looks like it's for a bad valve within the pump/valving assembly, which could definitely be the problem if the valve was stuck or something. That, plus checking the connectors.

The question I have then would be what is the best way to flush/bleed this system, seeing as it's an ABS setup, and what brake fluid should I use? I have noticed that various ABS systems can be picky about how you flush/bleed them, and I don't have a functional power bleeder anymore. If I can just do it with having a friend pumping with me bleeding, I can do it tomorrow provided I know which fluid to use, but I'm sure I can figure that part out from my manual if nobody here has a particular recommendation.