My ABS light keeps coming on while driving

MEGHANWHITLOCK

MEMBER
1995 BUICK SKYLARK
120,702 MILES

My abs light keeps coming on while driving. Now when I turn on the heater to defrost my front windows the voltage light comes on. The car breaks just fine and starts just fine. What could the problem be? I went in auto zone today where I had just got a new battery from the month or 2 before the hooked up the battery tester and the car died. They say its a alternator but I don't know if I believe them.

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 AT 2:57 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,330 POSTS

Why would you doubt the obvious definitive test? Generator failures on '87 and newer GM vehicles is extremely common. Very often people go through four to six of them in the life of the vehicle. You already did what is needed to prevent repeat failures. That is to replace the battery unless it is less than about two years old. These generators develop huge harmful voltage spikes and the battery is responsible for dampening and absorbing them. It loses its ability to do that as it ages.

Have the generator replaced. The ABS warning light came on because of the low system voltage caused by the inoperative generator. It knows it can't do its job with low voltage.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 AT 10:20 PM