brake and antilock light always illuminated

[jmtandem]

Any help? What are things to look for when the red brake and amber antilock lights stay on all the time (not flashing but steady) . For the first 142,000 miles they came on for about two seconds then went out. Now they are on all the time. Any ideas or do I see a trip to the dealer coming? It is a '91. 5 4x4 3. 54 gears and 5-speed manual. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[paccool]

Brake booster is one possible cause. If it is leaking, low vacume is a cause for the lights.

 

[R.E. Miller]

Hope this is not your problem!

My truck did something similar, but the light has just stayed on. The exciter ring was part of what will be an expensive problem. I replaced the rear end cover gasket and found that a few of the bolts that hold the ring gear to the differential housing backed out..... :-{} and broke off... yes, yikes. When that happened, it moved the pressed on exciter ring that the ABS sensor obtains rear wheel speed from... . poof, no more ABS, and getting it back will not be cheap.

Just my luck, hope yours is better,

Russell

 

[RoryTek]

Most likely it's your ABS sensor that sits atop the diff. housing. Mine did the same thing, replaced it and problem fixed.

 

[hdm48]

Have you run the fault codes? That will tell you what is going on rather than quessing. Check your manual on how to do it. It's easy.

 

[CToney]

ABS

Our trucks have very rudimentary ABS systems. When the system does not function your brakes work normally as if they weren't ABS. This happened to my old truck. To fix it You open the glove compartment all the way past where it normally opens and uplug the grey ( I think ) harness that is behind it on top of your heater. Voila light goes out never to bother you again.



CR Toney

 

[jmtandem]

brake and antilock lights on all the time

This is an update to my saga with the brake and antilock dash lights on all the time. I disconnected the battery negative cable for about 10 seconds and reconnected it. Also, added a slight amount of brake fluid to the reserviors and now the lights are out after two seconds. I am not sure if I fixed the problem or if I am at the beginning of an intermittent problem. But I drove it several times yesterday and could not replicate the problem. Maybe the master cylinder is very sensitive to the amount of fluid in it. It was down about 3/4 inch and is now at 1/4 from the top. Oh well, time will tell.



thanks for all your suggestions.

 

[Lordsman]

Bad Ground?

I had a bad ground which also made my gauges read abnormally. Check the little black ground wire that jumps from negative battery post to body ground.

 

[jmtandem]

anti lock and brake lights on all the time

thanks for the tip about the ground wire. I will check it.