No ABS light

Well yesterday after I fixed my TPS issues. I went for a drive, now I'm getting an intermittent e-brake light. Now at first I just thought my zip ties that hold my e-brake pedal up off the contact broke (I dont have e-brake cables on this car yet). That wasnt the case. This got me to thinking, I've never actually seen my ABS light on, not even during POST. I have on the other hand noticed that sometiems one of those relay's by the vacuum tree does not like to turn off. I'm pretty sure that the e-brake light will only go off if: a) the e-brake is depressed b) low fluid or c) hydraulic failure (piston moves too far in one direction, indicating critial loss of fluid/pressure). Since the light usually goes off after I restart the car, I'm leaning more towards low fluid level.

After pulling those two relay's out I noticed that three wires on the front relay have the insulation stripped backed over an inch and one terminal doesnt stay in the pigtail. The other relay is not in any better shape as two wires look 'burnt' and have bubbled insulation on them. I cleaned/taped up the wires the best I could just to keep things going. I then found the ABS test connector in the trunk. Jumped it (there are only three wires going in so I jumped the two that are above/below each other). I still had NO abs light with key on. This leads me to believe that my ABS light is burnt/missing.

I'm going to pull the instrument panel at lunch today and check/replace the bulb. Am I right in thinking that since my e-brake light is coming on because of low fluid? either way I'm going to check the level and add a little bit to the reservoir. Also is there some way I can test those relay's to see if they are bad or not? I'm going to re-wire those pigtails myself (pull each connector one by one clean/resolder each wire). Sorry for all these questions lately, just seems that everything I look at on this car breaks.

Low pressure in the electric-hydro system will turn on the Red Brake light in addition to the Amber ABS light, which could also be a bad pump, relay or circuit issue for the pump. Do the brakes feel OK when the Red Brake light turns on? Do the brakes get hard?

Brakes still work well with the light on, still get the studder when I hit 'em hard which leads me to believe the ABS is still functioning atleast partially. I noticed that it comes on when I either punch the gas really hard or when I hit the brakes really hard. This leads me to believe the red light is just from low fluid tripping the sensor when the fluid moves around hard. Then again with the condition those relays/connectors are in, I wouldnt be surprised in the least that those are causing the light to illuminate. Once I get a new bulb in there for the ABS hopefully it will lead me closer to a solution.

Perhaps a dumb question, but if you believe it might be due to low brake fluid, have you checked the brake fluid level to see if it is low enough to cause the sensor to turn the Red Brake light on?

[This message has been edited by JT (edited 08-31-2005).]

Heh, yeah I checked it, looked good. I threw some more in there anyways. Just to ensure it will all the way up. The fluid does look a little dirty though. I plan on flushing the whole system once I buy some new pads and do some suspension work at the same time...although that has to wait for a few weeks as I'm moving over the next few days which is going to take up all my time since I gotta paint/move all my crap/make a thousand phone calls to change addresses/all the other stuff associated with moving.

The light didnt come on this morning though, so adding fluid COULD have fixed it, although I was taking it easy on my way to work today. I'll mash into the brakes a bit at lunch and see what it does.

[This message has been edited by sicsiksix (edited 08-31-2005).]

Okay, I pulled my dash, turns out the bulb wasnt installed correctly last time someone was in there and had a bent pin. I straighten it up, now I have a light. I then pulled the codes from the ABS connector in the trunk and got a code 77 (I think, if its the same as pulling engine codes...it blinked 7 times, then a pause then 7 more times, then came on steady). According to tbirdheritage 77 indicates a RH rear sensor fault. I'm pretty positive I cleaned up the ring and sensor last time I was in there, but I might have missed some gunk. I guess I'll pull the tire and check it out again, make sure its spotless and the associated wiring is all good.

I also went for a test drive to see if I could get that e-brake light to come on now that the fluid is topped up a bit. I mashed into 'em pretty good and got nothing. So either more fluid fixed it, or its those relays intermittently shorting out.

[This message has been edited by sicsiksix (edited 08-31-2005).]

Originally posted by sicsiksix:
into 'em pretty good and got nothing. So either more fluid fixed it, or its those relays intermittently shorting out.

[This message has been edited by sicsiksix (edited 08-31-2005).]

I thought the relays up near the vacuum tree on the firewall were the corner marker lights? You know, the ones that come on steady if you turn on a turn signal and then turn off a second or so after you turn off the turn signals?

That's what I was hoping was there. My passenger corner marker light won't come on and I found a spare relay in the glove box with the funny little extra pin in the bottom and figured it was for that and the prior owner never got around to replacing it. There's two at the firewall, and I figured one was left and one was right...

- Keman

Nope, those two relays under the vacuum tree are for your hydraulic brake booster and the other for your main ABS power. Your flasher relay is located in your fuse panel I believe, the big round one (correct me if I'm wrong here).

[This message has been edited by sicsiksix (edited 08-31-2005).]

The corner lamps relays (one for each side) are on the driver's side instrument panel near the accelerator pedal, on the support brace for the dash.

The right (passenger) side relay has the following wire colors:

White & Light Blue
Brown & White
White & Pink