Anti-Lock Light on

[will it sho?]

I've been doing a couple of searches on this subject and I still have a couple of questions. Just tonight the light came on and won't go away. I know that the ABS pump comes on at 7 mph. Well, since this light has come on, I've tried turning the car off and starting back up and running past 7 mph. I no longer hear the pump.
If the pump's out, is this going to be a major job to fix? What will it cost? I'm a college student and I can only go so far with the repairs. Any help would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[Rob94]

When you first start the engine, the ABS pump will cycle and do a self test. If any problems are found, the light will alluminate and the ABS will not function. The first time you hit 20 MPH, the pump will cycle and self test again, very briefly. If it finds a problem, same as above. If the light comes on only after you have reached 20MPH, then odds are it is sensor related. It is perfectly safe to drive a vehicle without ABS. People did so for 90+ years before ABS was created. The cost to repair depends on what exactly you find wrong.

 

[Yamaha V6]

You can replace the ABS Hydraulic Control Unit with a used one. Bear in mind that the 94/95 ABS Pump is different than the sub-93 due to the wiring harness changes.

You can run ABS codes as well, which would help pinpoint the actual cause. For example, this weekend's customer's 93 MTX codes told me there was a pump fault. Replaced the unit with a used one, and the car's back up with ABS.

Remove the airbox, ABS Computer, disconnect the wiring harnesses from the ABS Pump (3 total), remove the brake fluid line to the reservoir, remove the 6 brake hardlines from the pump, and loosen the 3 lockdown posts that hold the unit in place. It can come out without removing the metal bracket the ABS Computer mounts to. Obviously, you'll need to bleed the system, and with the pump getting drained, you may end up with air trapped in there. They make specialized bleeding equipment to deal with it.

Good luck.

 

[Dr.Evil]

My light came on one day...I just disconnected and reconnected the wiring harnes from the ABS computer, and it went away. Be worth a try before taking it to someone.

 

[GR8SHO]

Paul, Before you jump to conclusions, diagnose the problem first. The ABS system has a diagnostic capability in it similar to the EEC and has the ability to store codes. I'm sure you noticed that big RED Anti-Lock test connector in the center of the firewall.

The fix can be as simple as replacing one of the sensor cables. If the selftest detects an open condition in any of the sensors, the ABS system will shut down and turn on the light even from the get-go. However as part of the POST, you should still feel the ABS cycle the pump at startup of the car.

You can learn about how to pull the codes from here:

http://prochilo.myserver.org:2080/abs_codes.html