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ABS Brake Questions and Answers
This category contains featured questions as examples. They relate to most vehicles.
Question: 1998 Lincoln Town
Car mileage: 60,000. Guessing at the engine
size, but it is a v-8. My question is brake
related. When cruising at almost any speed, all
of the sudden the car seems to brake, and even
has a burned brake smell from the front left
after driving a moderate distance. The garage
put it on a diagnostic check and found the left
front brake sensor to be bad. I replaced this at
a cost of $280. The problem is not fixed. Oh, by
the way, this car has anti-locks. And, I failed
to mention, that when it is braking (on it's
own) all you have to do is tap the brake pedal
and the brakes will release. This is definitely
annoying. I took it back and now they feel it is
the transmission not going to overdrive, so they
did a tranny flush for $89.00 It still does the
same thing. Could it be the rubber brake hose
collapsing internally? They think not!
Answer: From what you have
described, we believe that the ABS unit needs to
be replaced.
Question: 2002 Chevy Lumina
mileage: 37,554.
Hello! Just recently, when I would go to brake,
the brakes would make a "noise" and my low
traction light comes on along with my antilock
light. This does not happen all the time. I
notice it a lot when I go to make a turn. It is
harder to stop when this happens, but I just
push harder on brakes. The antilock light turns
off when I shut car off, but comes back on when
I brake and this incident happens. It reminds me
of being on ice, but there is no ice!
Answer: Have the brake pads
and brake shoes checked. The "noise" that you
hear may be caused by worn out brake linings. If
the linings check okay, scan the ABS computer
for fault codes.
Question: 1999 Ford f150 4x2
reg cab 302 mileage: 7,662 km. The brake pedal is
pulled to the floor on its own when the brake is
just started to be applied. With no pressure on
the brake, the truck stops and the pedal must be
pulled back by foot to release. Could the brake
booster be causing this? What is the problem?
Any recall for this?
Answer: Sounds like the
power brake booster is faulty. No recalls that
we know of.
Question: 1999 Jeep/Cherokee
6 cyl mileage: 81,000. The "humming" noise that
I hear every time I step on the brakes continues
to come on with a lot more frequency. It stays
on for a few seconds, then it comes on again. I
realize the noise is normal. What worries me is
the frequency that it comes on. This problem
just started about two weeks ago. Can you give
me any clues? Thanks for the help.
Answer: The humming noise
may be a vacuum leak in the power brake booster.
If your Jeep is equipped with ABS brakes, the
ABS unit may have failed.
Question: 1999 Pontiac/Grand
Am GT 3100 SFI V6 mileage: 76,000. This one has my
local mechanics stumped, hope you can help. My
Grand Am has some serious ABS trouble. If I push
the brake pedal slowly, it will go to the floor
and not engage the brakes. But whenever I push
the brakes somewhat harder the brakes do engage,
but seem to pull somewhat. My mechanics and I
aren't sure what part of the ABS system needs
replacing, could you give me some guidance on
what to do about this? Thanks.
Answer: Sounds like a master
cylinder need replacing.
Question:
1999 Plymouth Voyager mileage: 90,000.
Brakes Not Working - parked my 1999
Voyager Minivan one night and brakes seemed to
be working fine.
Next morning brake pedal goes to the
floor.
Checked master cylinder and both reservoirs are
empty.
See no brake fluid leaks on ground. Have
replaced both rear wheel cylinders in last 9
months, one about 3 weeks ago. Have
replaced front disc rotors and pads about 3
weeks ago as well.
Brakes have been fine since then.
Do I have a bad master cylinder or could
the problem be something else?
Answer: It
is possible that you have a bad master cylinder
but you should inspect all brake hoses and wheel
cylinders as well.
Losing all the brake fluid in a short
period of time indicates that
you definitely have a leak somewhere. It should
show up during the check.
Question:
2001 Ford Taurus mileage: 34,000.
When I apply the brakes from about 40 mph
or above I get a severe tire shake transmitted
up through the steering wheel.
This is only felt while braking.
The car handles well otherwise.
Could the rotors be unbalanced?
Answer:
We doubt seriously that the rotors are
out of balance.
More likely, they are warped.
This may have been caused by heat
generated during braking or over-tightening the
wheel lug nuts. You need to replace the brake
rotors.
Question:
1999 Ford Thunderbird SC mileage: 83,500.
I have a leak in my brake fluid (master
cylinder).
Is there anyway possible I could patch it
up other than replacing it.
The amount to replace is over 1200.00
anything that could be done please advise.
Thank you.
Answer: We do not recommend
“patching” anything in the brake system.
Try getting a couple more estimates. Also
check for lower priced parts online.
Question:
1999 Ford F350 crew cab 4x4 5.9 Cummins mileage:
120,000 truck.
My brakes from day one were not the best.
I put in a Cummins diesel and now I pull big
loads.
I can’t panic stop and they seem mushy.
I replaced everything the vac booster,
master cyl, proportioning valve, calipers.
Now its worse.
I have bled them several times and
adjusted my rears up close.
Sometimes they shutter when I stop hard
and now even pull to one side.
I know the R.A.B anti lock things don’t
work right because my rears will lock up.
I don’t get any fault codes ...now what?
Answer:
We suspect that rear antilock break valve
is faulty here.
Also, check the vacuum supply to the
power brake booster to make sure it is
sufficient.
Question:
2003 Ford Explorer 4 liter mileage: 73,000.
My husband has been trying to change
brake pads, calipers, shoes, etc. and when he
bled the brakes, he found no fluid coming out of
the rear brakes.
The lines appear dry.
What could cause this?
He thought the rear ABS valve might need
to be replaced, though no one has heard of this
part needing to be replaced.
Our local dealer and others in town want
big bucks for this.
Please help with any suggestions.
Answer: Your problem is probably
not caused by the rear ABS valve.
What you should check for is brake fluid at the
master cylinder.
Loosen each of the lines one turn, press
on the brake pedal and look to see if brake
fluid is coming out of both lines.
If fluid does not come out of both lines,
either the master cylinder is out of fluid or
you have a faulty master cylinder.
Question:
2004 Lexus-ES 330
mileage: 46,000.
I am working on my car and the brakes go
to the floor. I bled the brakes, and road
tested the car 3 times.
I checked the brake booster, which
checked out ok.
The brakes held for a couple of weeks
then started going to the floor but would
hold if you pumped the brakes so I replaced
the master cylinder.
I re-bled the system 3 more times and the
brakes hold if you pump them but not on the
norm.
I don't normally work on foreign vehicles
so I am not all that familiar with them I am
told by some of my friends that LEXUS AND
TOYOTA had bad brake systems in the early
90's.
I would appreciate any help that you can
provide-- before my wife hurts me FOR her
car.
Answer:
If when you bled the brake system there was air
in the rear brakes, then the rear calipers may
be faulty allowing air to get into the system
when the parking brake is applied.
Question:
1999 Lincoln Continental.
Husband is trying to replace rear
brakes...is having problems getting the caliper
to go in far enough!
If you have any tips to help him and to
keep any more tools from flying through the
garage I would REALLY appreciate it ALOT!
Thanks!
Answer:
The piston in the rear calipers must be
“wound” or “turned” back in.
They do not push straight back like the
fronts.
A special brake tool is usually required in
order to perform this task.
Question:
2003 Dodge Caravan mileage: 54,000.
My parking brake does not work. I
push it, and it goes to the floor. How
do I remedy?
Answer:
First check to make sure the parking
brake cable that goes to the rear brakes is
intact and not broken.
Next check the rear brakes and the
self-adjusters to see that they are free and
working properly.
If all checks out okay, then adjust the
parking brake cable.
Question:
2005 Ford Ranger 4 cyl mileage: 25,000. Seems
that on certain days, mostly on real warm days,
when someone gets into the passenger side door
the door doesn't want to shut (according to the
computer).
Then when I am parking my truck, the dome
light will stay on.
I copied down your suggestions and am
going to try this out.
All this to say, My ABS and brake light
stay on all the time.
I have had it checked out several times
at the dealership and they can't find a problem.
A few years ago, I was coming back from a
trip to Nashville and when I got just outside of
St. Louis, I hit a major puddle of water on the
highway.
About 20 miles later the ABS and Brake light
came on and I immediately stopped to get it
checked out.
The guy said the sensor must have gotten
wet and it should fix itself, but the brakes are
fine.
Anyway, the brakes work just fine only on very
cold days does the light go off and it looks
fine.
Do you know what I can do to fix this
problem? Are
there sensors somewhere that I can clean up or
replace?
Where should I start, since the mechanic can't
find the problem?
Thanks.
Answer:
The “ABS” (antilock breaking systems) light will
“light” when there is a malfunction in the
braking system.
The fault code is then stored in the
computer.
The computer must be scanned to retrieve these
stored faults to pinpoint the malfunctioning
component.
Because the ABS light indicates something
is wrong, a trip to you neighborhood automobile
service center sooner rather than later is
recommended.
Your ABS system may not be functioning.
Question:
1999 Dodge Caravan cyl mileage: 70,000.
I accidentally poured some motor oil into
the brake fluid reservoir.
What are the symptoms?
What should I do to correct it?
Answer:
Assuming you have not driven the car and used
the brakes, then replacing the master cylinder
will probably correct any damage caused by your
mistake.
If you have driven the car and used the
brakes, then the motor oil is throughout the
entire system.
The only safe thing to do under these
circumstances is to replace all rubber
components in the brake system (brake hoses and
cylinder seals.)
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