WD21 ABS & Parking Brake

[arctic_mark]

I'm seeing the ABS and parking brake warning lights coming on after driving for a minute or two, especially if my '94 Pathy has been parked for a few hours. A quick tap of the brake pedal or a light touch of the parking brake puts them out again.

Any ideas what's up? Dirt in the ABS ring? Worn parking brake pads (I got rear disc brakes)?

Thanks

Mark

[5523Pathfinder]

Is your brake fluid to the max level?

[headpeace]

^ yep that was my first thought

[Simon]

that won't cause the ABS light to come on, unless it's gotten so low that air has gotten into the ABS actuator.....

 

It's possible you've got a bad leak somewhere, allowing air into the ABS actuator. I had that once when I replaced a rear caliper......had to continuously bleed the brakes to finally get the lights out.

[El Pathfindero]

Same thing happened to me....Check your fluid level dude

[arctic_mark]

Thanks guys, I'll check her out.

No problems actually braking tho.

[arctic_mark]

So, I checked the brake fluid level. Checks out A-OK

So doesn't look like a catastrophic leak in the brake system.

The ABS and parking brake warning lights only appear to come on for a brief couple of seconds or so after braking and turning sharply right (ie. when slowing down and turning right into a side street). :confused:

This first started happening after I got into a major stuck a couple of weekends ago where I broke thru the frozen crust of a swamp and required some brutal winching (lost all 4 mud flaps and front fender flares) to get me out.

Any more suggestions?

Mark

[5523Pathfinder]

Ok, abs diagosis. Lets see if I can help. There is a small 5 wire, blue connector that should not be plugged into anything just behind the fuse panel under the dash. Usually it pulls out with the black DLC connector. You need to start the engine and ground terminal #3 to activate ABS self diagnosis. The wire shoud be a Red/green tracer. It is diagnally opposite of the empty pin. You ground it for a second and the light should flash. Count the flashes and let me know the number. If you have access to the factory manual, it describes how to do it all.

[arctic_mark]

OK, been a while since my initial post but . . .

I followed your instructions 5523, and got no malfunction code from the ABS unit at all. Looks like the ABS is working fine.

 

So to give a bit more info:-

When I turn right, the parking brake warning light comes on first, follwed shortly (a second or so) by the ABS warning light. I have to distinctly turn left to get the lights to go out. And now in this really cold weather in Alberta (-32C this AM) not even turning sharply right resets the lights every time.

 

Given that tehhe ABS is not giving me an error code, I figure its a problem with the parking brake that's causing the ABS to engage. The parking brake works OK in as much as it'll hold the vehicle on a hill or stop it moving forward when in Drive.

 

Any more suggestions???

 

Thanks

Mark

[5523Pathfinder]

Here are some tips from our ASIST computer. Maybe they can help...

 

Symptoms: Whenever the ignition key is on, the ABS light remains on. No codes are stored in self-diagnosis. Pin 12 at the ABS control unit has no power (power supply from ignition relay #2). The 'L' wire at ignition relay #2 has 0 voltage with the key on.

Field fix: The 'L' wire is powered from a 20a fuse in the fuse box (7th from the right, bottom row). This fuse had voltage at both sides when probed with a test light, but the 'L' wire terminal contact for the fuse was spread. Pin 12 at the ABS control unit has battery voltage after tightening the fuse terminal, and ABS light operation returned to normal. See page BR-34 of the '94 Truck/ Pathfinder service manual for ABS system preliminary checks.

 

 

Symptoms: Anti-lock brake system (ABS) light on dash stays on with engine running. Self-diagnosis showed no trouble codes.

Field fix: While checking fuse for ABS system, found there was no power at the 'L' wire, location 303M (ignition relay no. 2). Traced wire to fuse box, and found the (-) side fuse terminal was not making contact with the fuse. Repaired fuse terminal to resolve incident.

 

Other than those helping you, it sounds like a wiring issue. Make sure the ABS control unit is plugged in properly. Also check the wiring to the rear ABS actuator.

Edited January 11, 2007 by 5523Pathfinder