Recently, I took my 2001 Ranger to Dobbs because of an ABS Light on. Dobbs ran the codes and found a whole host of problems. Their "fix" wizard said to disassemble the ABS plug under the seat and make repairs for "water intrusion" in the connector. Dobbs charged me $108.00 for the diagnosis and said that it would be another $400.00 to fix the problem. Their fix consisted of disassembling the male and female ends of the plug, thoroughly cleaning it, inspecting for damaged/corroded pins, lubeing with dielectric grease and reassembly. To be frank, I did not have $400.00.

My friend came over and disconnected the plug from the bottom. After spending an hour taking the seat out to get to the top side of the plug, we discovered this was not needed.

My friend sprayed the male connector end with water dispersing spray (like you use on a distributor) and thoroughly soaked the connector to force any water out. He allowed the excess to drain away and dried the connections. He then coated the pins with dielectric grease and reassembled.

We then went to our local parts store where we borrowed an OBD II code reader and checked the DTC and ABS DTC codes. He cleared all codes and performed all necessary tests.

So far, all is well. Take that Dobbs.

P.S. This problem occurred after driving in a heavy rain storm.

 

Good feedback. THIS might be of interest to you.

 

Thanks Rockledge. That is the same thing, word for word, that the Dobbs tech handed me. Fortunately, my friend was able to make sense out of it. He did not need to replace any pins, he just used a water disperssant to force any water out that he could get to drain.

Seems to me Ford needs to examine any design that allows water to become trapped inside an electrical connector.