ABS light

So for the last month I have noticed my ABS light coming on and going off randomly. It seemed to have started right after i hit the brakes pretty hard.

Now sometimes when I start the engine the ABS light comes on and flashes. Then when I turn the engine off and back on, it goes away. My fluid seems to be ok although never changed since 03. Also the brakes are the originals, but they seem to be good. Just squealing when cold.

Has anyone else ever have this happen before?

 

I had the exact same thing happen to my old ranger unfortunately I never found a solution for it...

 

Bringing this back to life. I haven't been able to find any other posts about this.

I have a '98 Tacoma that I bought in SoCal (warm temps) a year ago. ABS light has always been on; ever since I bought it.

Moved to Colorado this summer and now that it's cold (COLD!) out, the ABS light disappeared! It'll stay off until the ambient temp warms up a bit (near freezing, maybe a bit less).

I was driving on snow in the cold last weekend, and the ABS light wasn't on, so it was my first chance to test the ABS.

The ABS will activate when the wheels lock up, and immediately there's no stopping power (can feel the brakes pulse, but no braking action). Shortly after that there's a loud "TWAAAAANG" like a thick spring being plucked; it sounds like it comes from the Pax side at the firewall (where the ABS unit is), but that may be my imagination.

The noise sounds so expensive that I then release the brake pedal for fear of breaking something.

I was just fine without ABS, but now that it attempts to work and fails, I need to fix it. Have done zero diagnosis otherwise.

Any takers?

 

My light was on and I found out, after many unsucessful trip to local shops, that it was because my ABS cable was disconected. But as soon as I reconected it my ABS will kick on any time I am coming to a slow stop but the light is off.

 

Mine started doing this last winter after i hit a patch of ice and activated the ABS. i took it to a local shop and they took out the sensors and blew them out with air and cleaned the connectors. he then reset the code in the computer. he is not really sure what the problem was. but this fixed my problem. he thinks the ABS system probably had a "brain fart" when i hit the ice.

 

That's a good place to start. Sensors meaning the wheel sensors at each wheel?

Where is this connection? I would be fine with just disabling it all together.

 

Yes, the sensors on the rear wheels. When he ran the code it was saying left rear sensor failure. I almost shit when he told me how much it was. Something like $260. But he said he was gonna clean both rear one's 1st. He said he had encountered that problem before. And thankfully it fixed my problem. Cost me $10!!