Brake and ABS lights and problems! Best approach to troubleshoot please.

[HerbW]

Lately my ABS and Brake warning lights alarm on and off without any braking loss. Till yesterday! I almost rear ended a car when stopping at a light. The petal bounced up and down in a vibrating hum. Must be the ABS doing its thing. The next stop my trucks brakes felt weak then everything was normal again with lights clear. I have all wheel ABS system. A Ford friend told me to unplug ABS fuse and I'd have regular braking. Probably wouldn't work on 2007 5.9 with all it's CAM crap! I was going on a long fishing trip tomorrow but I guess my truck will prevent that! I was taking my boat over Mt. Hood which has extreme grades.

Because I have four wheel ABS system what's is the best approach to find the problem? None of my wheel cylinders look like they're leaking and my Master Cylinder fluid is perfect level. I've searched here and a dealer scan may be my trip tomorrow unless I can meter parts and get it done without the visit. I might drive home with a new truck if I go there due to the frequency my truck goes belly up! This past year I've replaced AC pump, injectors, valve cover gasket, shocks, steering stabilizer, AC fan with rheostat and now I have dash light out! Another stupid tear apart the dash job!

Anyway, sorry for the ranting. Please give any advice on getting my truck's ABS good again. Thank you, Herb:{

 

[Ozymandias]

The old problem, broken wheel speed sensor, broken cable, broken CAB - in that order.
I fight this problem since i got my truck.

and i tell you - pull the ABS Fuse and drive, you have a regular working brake without ABS, so be carefull with the brake pedal or youll make black stripes on the road.
i did virtualy thousands of miles with pulled fuse, in Iceland and in Scandinavia. always i do a longer travel my ABS quit working after a thousand miles.

wish you a nice travel.

 

[Ozymandias]

without pulled fuse your ABS goes nuts and starts to work on solid tarmac like you were on plain ice, thats why you nearly hit the car in front of you.

with pulled fuse you are safe, it is forced by law that the brake of a car MUST work properly with a broken ABS. thats a safety feature.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

Herb, check to see if your 4wd works. My '06 was doing the same as yours. It was winter time and I needed to use 4wd and it wouldn't work. I searched around and found that it was the speed sensor on top of the rear axle.

 

[AllianceDiesel]

95% of the time abs/brake lights are caused by the rear wheel speed sensor. They are cheap and easy to change.

 

[HerbW]

I've test all the ABS sensors. The fronts are 5.29Meg and 5.33Meg. The center rear is 4.92Meg. These are measured with a spendy ohm meter. I see all the connectors are tampered with. Not ABS's first rodeo on this truck. There are two ABS Fuses. Do I pull both? One is ABS PUMP (40 amp)and other is like RWD, ABS(I think it is 15 or 25 amp). Can the ABS sensor be no good and still have a reading? I know it can be intermittent open. I might go drive it tonight and measure it again tomorrow.
Let me know what fuses to pull. Thank you, Herb

 

[HerbW]

I can buy a rear wheel sensor at the local Carquest for $18.00! I'll go get it just to see what happens. I hope it gets it better!

 

[HerbW]

Well the lights stayed on the whole drive around town getting parts. After replacing the rear center ABS sensor(part# ABS368 at Carquest) mounted in the center of the rear axle, the lights quit after going a foot after install! Seems all is well and I drove it a bunch to test it. So far it's fixed! Thank you TDR friends with your help! Herb

 

[HerbW]

The old problem, broken wheel speed sensor, broken cable, broken CAB - in that order.
I fight this problem since i got my truck.

and i tell you - pull the ABS Fuse and drive, you have a regular working brake without ABS, so be carefull with the brake pedal or youll make black stripes on the road.
i did virtualy thousands of miles with pulled fuse, in Iceland and in Scandinavia. always i do a longer travel my ABS quit working after a thousand miles.

wish you a nice travel.

Ozy, there are two ABS FUSES. ONE FOR PUMP AND ONE SAYS RWD, ABS. Did you pull both? Nice to know if ABS goes belly up again. Thanks, Herb

 

[Ozymandias]

It's enough to pull the Pump, the rest will shut down automatically.

 

[HerbW]

Great to know if ABS croaks again! Thanks, Herb