ABS module Puzzle: Cruise Control non-op but Speedo fully functioning and accurate

[Qshiplvr]

My '99 SHO with about 71K miles was purchased last year with non-functioning cruise control (CC). The speedo is fully functioning, and accurate. The AX4N was just rebuilt and seems to shift fine, but there is an odd condition under steady throttle condition (flat fwy, for example) where the torque converter will lose lock, the revs kick up about 500-600 rpm, then goes back into lockup again. This happens every 10 - 15 seconds, with me keeping the throttle as level as possible. I topped up the synthetic ATF thinking it was low, but alas, the lockup/non-lockup sing-song continues. Also, the ABS light kept coming on intermittently, then self extinguish, throwing NO codes on my Scangauge. When I try to engage the CC, the green "CRUISE" light on the dash lights for half a second then immediately extinguishes. When I perform the static CC test, I get 4 flashes, which point to ABS module faulty, but that's where I'm stuck. Does anyone have a picture of this module? I think it is located under the battery tray, but haven't crawled under the car to find it (it's about 110 deg F outside now). I was reading the boards, and I don't think I can figure out if I can use an ABS control module from other non-SHO Tauri. All my tail light bulbs work, so don't think the problem is there. Any suggestions?

 

[E1]

It IS the ABS module causing your troubles.

The Tq converter lock/unlock can be a simple as your climate control cycling the AC. When the AC comp clutch goes on, the Tq is unlocked.

Only V8 SHO ABS will work and it is the source of your speed signal. The tranny does not have a speed sensor on our cars.

I DO have a known good '96 SHO ABS pump assembly I might part with....

 

[stephen newberg]

The way to test if your RPM thing is the AC is to shift the climate control over to vent, which shuts the AC down, and see if your RPM jump goes away. Likely it will. This is a normal, though irritating, effect of the way things are set up from the factory. I have read that some reprogramming can remove this, but since I normally drive using fresh air anyway, I have never gotten around to tracking it all down.

pax, smn

 

[gamefanatic]

Well at 110°F you are not likely to want to be without your A/C for long. Being a SoCal Desert Rat, I know that weather isn't about to get better, before it gets worse. If the surging goes away with the A/C off or on vent, then you have an A/C problem. This may be unrelated to the ABS issues.

To test the A/C operations:
Does the problem occur at idle/park?
What about at 2000 rpms (in park)?
Visual check: Can you see the A/C clutch dis/engaging at the time of these RPM jumps?
Electrical Check: Validate that you are getting 13.5 or greater volts with the car running at the battery, and more than 12.4V after letting the car rest 10 minutes.


If you have access to A/C gauges, check your low and high side pressures. Low should not drop below 28 psi, and high shouldn't go over 450 psi. Pay special attention to the low side. Does it bottom out quickly or not?
Try spraying some water (hose) on the condenser, does this change anything?

 

[Qshiplvr]

E1, Stephen, and gamefanatic:

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my head scratching! I really appreciate your experience and knowledge. It really is invaluable to a newbie such as myself. I forgot to mention that less than 1000 miles ago I had to replace the entire A/C system. JohntheSHOguy performed a shim-ectomy when I first bought the car during the teardown to do the cam weld and 100K mile service (even tho the odo showed only 66K, the car led a hard life of neglect). When the A/C clutch stopped engaging, there was nothing more left to do but replace. The clutch was fried. The shop who replaced the A/C system replaced the entire system, so I am fairly confident the system is working properly. It never occurred to me that the torque converter going into lock/unlock during the A/C clutch engagement was a "normal" condition, but I defer to those who know these cars far better than I do.

So if I can rule out the A/C RPM bump being anything wrong w/ the drivetrain, then I guess I am left with trying to find a replacement ABS controller. I have read that it is possible to just replace the "electronic" half and leave the "hydraulic" half intact. When the weather cools down later this year, I'll have to crawl under the car, unless someone can post a picture of this module to see if I can take it off and possibly send the electronic half out for rebuild. I think I remember seeing on the Taurusclub forum somebody sending out their ABS module to BBA reman or Modulemasters if I can remove the part, but again, I do not know if this post on the Taurusclub board will apply to our SHOs since we have a unique ABS module controller.

If someone can post a pic of my target to replace/repair, it would help me a lot!

Thanks again guys for all your help!

 

[Qshiplvr]

I found the reference to the ABS module. It was on v8sho.com:

http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/ABSSpeedometeCruise.htm

One member posted: I had a similar problem with my 97. Last summer, the ABS light started coming on when the weather was extremely hot. I noticed that when things cooled off a little bit, the light went out. I also learned by trying, that when the ABS light was on, I had no ABS and when it was off, the ABS functioned normally. It never did set a diagnostic code. I just put off working on it until one morning when the speedometer quit. When that happened, it affected shifts, power steering, and I can't remember what all else.

In the 96 and 97's, the ABS module develops the speed reference signal that the whole car uses - including the speedometer. I'm not sure if that holds true for the 98's and 99's. My parts research taught me that the 96 ABS control module is unique to the 96 SHO and the 97 is unique to the 97 SHO. I THINK that the ABS control modules were the same for all of the 98 and 99 Tauri - SHO and SLO.

In my case, I got very lucky. After I had the ABS unit out of the car and the control module separated from the pump side (twisted off a bolt in the process), I could see through the clear gel they have poured over the internal circuit board and could see that there were small wires connecting the circuit board to the plug terminals. Nothing was visibly wrong but when I poked a small screwdriver into the gel and worked the wires around a little bit, I discovered that three of them were either broke from the plug terminal or were so weak that they broke when I wiggled them. It was a little tricky but I picked enough of the gel out to clean things up and solder the wires to the terminals. That has now been about 20K miles ago and it still seems to be okay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My bet is that you have a similar problem and that like mine, temperature changes are enough to make the wires move enough to make or break connection.

Dave Witte
97PG Welded
​

The line where he mentions "I THINK that the ABS control modules were the same for all of the 98 and 99 Tauri - SHO and SLO" give me hope. Perhaps I am being unrealistically optimistic???

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Hi Qshiplvr,

ABS modules unique to 1996 and 1997, it's good to know.

Can you post a photo of the faulty part of your ABS module ? Maybe with a good welding kit, it can be repaired ? Maybe not yours as you "explored" the problem but for others in the future.

Thanks,

 

[Qshiplvr]

 

[Qshiplvr]

Ford F8DZ-2C286-AA, ABS Modulator

• NEW OEM FORD ABS UNIT

• SABLE 98-99 Pump
• F8DZ-2C286-AA
• TAURUS 98-99 Pump
• Out of Original Box. May Have Minor Imperfections from Handling. Overall in Excellent Condition.
  

On Amazon.

Is this what I'm looking for????

 

[stephen newberg]

No, it is not. The one for the SHO is different from the one for the Taurus/Sable.

pax, smn

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

Stephen is right, different part and no, I want to see the faulty part on your ABS module as you said you unbolted it (more precisely the 3 broken wires). If you not thrown it away...

I checked my photos for this part and the part # is F6DZ-2C286-BA, but it's for 96-97 only (as I search normally for mine). As the 2 parts are very similar they can be only distinguable (SLO vs SHO) by the last 2 letters of the number sometime.

The # you searching for is probably something like F8DZ-2C286-BA. According to 1996-1997 module #, AA seems to be designed for SLO application in this case.

Did you check the page on V8SHO.com where many parts # are ? (I posted here on another post in the last months because it's hard to find on the site.)

I will check if I have a #,

 

[Qshiplvr]

I am sorry if you read that I said that "I unbolted the ABS controller on my car." If you understood that is what I said, I did not mean to say that. What I REALLY wanted to say was: "I WANT to unbolt the electronic side of the ABS control module from my car and replace it with a working one."

My problem is that I would like to know what this part looks like, based on what others have said they successfully did. It is going to 117 degrees F outside today, and I don't want to crawl under my car to try to find this module right now. Maybe later on in the year when it gets cooler I will venture under the car. I was looking at the Taurus forum and came across a picture of what I thought my target was, but stephen newberg, the moderator told me otherwise that it was not correct (thank you, stephen for your expertise).

I was hoping that SOMEONE ELSE who knows what this part looks like could post a picture of my target so I know whether I am unbolting the correct part/section or not.

 

[Qshiplvr]

To make matters worse, it appears I need to find a '98-'99 ABS controller only. When you search for parts for your 1996 SHO, sometimes (many times?) the parts are incompatible with my 1999 SHO.

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

** sorry, maybe, it's because english is not my first language. Don't crawl under your car for that, I was curious if it can be repaired rather than searching another one.

As this part compute the speed, at your place I will want to put the exact same part on the car. I saw 1 or 2 used on e-bay today (from 98-99 ones). New, it will be harder to find. I think the 96-97 vs 98-99 are incompatibles because of the ECMs are not using same language (just a theory).

Looking in my bible (3 inches of printed infos pages and useful posts) to see but the V8SHO.com forum don't have a # for a 98-99 ABS module...
Looking at it and visually it seems almost identical (it's a F6DZ-... on the photo).



I do search often, most of the time before the parts broke. (Almost during winter when my SHO miss me.)

Sometimes, I do my search for part # here. Because photos are good and we can see part # on it.
https://www.hollanderparts.com/used...nti-lock-brake-parts/545-01565a-assembly,-sho

But for now, I can't see it.

Sorry, I cannot help more and my Ford blue book is for 1996...

 

[stephen newberg]

Glad to help. I also am pretty sure that the 96 & 97 one is different from the 98 & 99 one, by the way. Additionally, though you might find something listed as 'new' on E-bay, do not believe it. I investigated a couple of years ago and there were zero new ones left in any of the supply chains. A few weeks ago I found on listed on E-Bay as 'new' but its photo indicated very obviously used and cleaned up some after removal. The price was, however, as if new. Got to watch out on E-Bay, I am afraid.

I think Eric has one recovered from a '96 in good working order, and I am sure it could be made to work with a '98 or '99 car, but you likely will need to play with the wiring to make that happen, would need the wiring diagrams for both versions before starting.

pax, smn

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

I have the ABS wiring for the 1996 in my book but not sure where we can find the 1998 one... This blue book made by Ford doesn't seems to be remade in 1998 even if lot of changes occurs on the model this year. The wiring (1996 ?) is already on the site :

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/tranny-slips-when-very-hot.101071/#post-1075169

I rode many thing on ABS module here and there is no number mentionned for 1998+... (except for the SLO, is a confusion have been created from the SLO situation ?, no additionnal # on internet and Eric Leehman said it was the same for all years, even Paul Nimz never told that it had a difference between years...)

 

[stephen newberg]

If Eric said it was the same for all years, very likely it is. He knows a lot about that sort of thing. I would go with that and see if he still has that '96 one and try it.

pax, smn

 

[GEN 3 SHO FAN]

More precisely, he said he think it was the same for all years but he wasn't sure at 100%...

 

[stephen newberg]

Oh. Well, he is my go to source on this sort of thing, so if he is not sure, neither am I.

pax, smn

 

[Qshiplvr]

It IS the ABS module causing your troubles.

The Tq converter lock/unlock can be a simple as your climate control cycling the AC. When the AC comp clutch goes on, the Tq is unlocked.

Only V8 SHO ABS will work and it is the source of your speed signal. The tranny does not have a speed sensor on our cars.

I DO have a known good '96 SHO ABS pump assembly I might part with....

So if Eric is offering a '96 SHO ABS pump assy to solve my problems, then I assume he thinks a '96 ABS controller is compatible with my '99????

Since I am very new here, and I see both Eric and Stephen as very prolific, knowledgeable and experienced SHO enthusiasts (and I assume, ethical), it would be safe to pursue obtaining a '96 SHO ABS controller to solve my problem (as opposed to trying hard to locate a '98 or '99 only ABS controller from a salvage yard)??