• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

ABS brake warning light comes on at start and goes away.

B

BillHoo

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Messages
51
Location
vienna, va
Yet another ding from the service station when they did the safety inspection on my 2000 Contour. I might be able to fight this one as the guy added it AFTER he printed out the computer generated report and wrote it in the list of faults. So the computer report shows no problems with my brake system, but he hand-wrote that I should check on the ABS brake system.

REASON: After he finished with the inspection, he started up the car and drove it out of the bay. He said he saw the ABS light go on when he started the car and it went off a few seconds later.

I just want to address everything, so I'd like to find the sensor location. Googling does not show where it is on the 00 Contour. Looks like most cars have it somewhere around he brake disk. I stopped at the pick n pulll today to get other parts for my repairs but could not find anything that looked like an ABS sensor (lots of pics of the sensor on arious parts sites) No diagrams on the internet showing where on the car this thing sits. on the 00 Contour wreck I found, there was something near the engine down in the wheel well that looked like an ABS sensor, but someone had tried to chisel it out and it broke off.

My approach is to top off the brake fluid tomorrow if it is low. I'd like to pull the sensor (or sensors) and see if they need cleaning. then reset the computer and see if the light come back.
 
Before you start replacing stuff, it's important to pull trouble codes from the ABS system and see if anything is really wrong, and if the tech is going to note it, he should have pulled codes, IMO. If the station put your car on a two wheel emissions dyno for the inspection/test, having the front wheels turning while the rears aren't can set an ABS code. If the ABS trouble light doesn't come back on, then it's likely it was a temporary fault and it's been cleared. I've never had to pull ABS codes on my 99 Contour, so you'll have to Google a bit to see what the procedure is. FWIW, there's a wheel speed sensor on each wheel hub, and polling the ABS system will tell you if it's detected any bad sensors and which one(s) are bad.
 
The tech did not put the car up on a dyno as this was a safety inspection only.

obtw I forgot to mention this is a 2000 Ford Contour Bi-Fuel, so in the state of VA, I've had the emissions waived the last 5 years since they don't have the equipment to accurately test the natural gas system. Unfortunately the station that I'd been using is going thru renovation, s they could not do my inspection this year. I've been using the car in gasoline mode because most of the NG pumps in the area have switched to 3000 psi systems and my fuel ports don't fit those.

The tech made a smarmy remark about how it's not really a natural gas car if you can't get natural gas for it. I told him I only needed a SAFETY inspection as my emissions was good or another year.

He only noticed the ABS light as he started the car to pull it out of the bay and it went out a second later. So he handwrote it onto the evaluation after the list of failures had already been input into the system and printed.

I just want to see if the connections to the sensors are making good contact and the sensors themselves are not covered in brake dust as I hear they can cause the light to flicker on like that. Unfortunately, I don't know where the sensor(s) are located.

I have until the 15th to bring the car back, and I don't think I can get a Haynes manual and work on the car before then. that's why I've defaulted to google and the internet to try and resolve these things. Trying not to bring to the dealer as they would probably recommend a new ABS system and charge me a ton of cash.

I have one of those Bluetooth OBDII scanner things that works with my smartphone. Would that be able to pull ABS codes? I've read that on some other cars the ABS port might be different from the OBDII and need another scanner?

Otherwise, I'll bring to the local Advance auto Parts and they might scan it or me. Although I read on another forum that some places won't scan ABS as it's against the law??? Wonder what state?
 
I hooked up my ELM 327 wireless OBDII scanner today and used an OBDII scann app on my Android tablet and got code U1262. Is this an ABS code? Usually I see P0### codes.

I tried to get my local parts store to scan, but they told me they do not do ABS scans. they only have an OBDII scanner and suggested I buy the one for ABS scanning from them for $200 or find a cheap one on amazon.

I just looked up the U1262 code and found another Ford forum where the code pointed to a bad ABS module.

Trying to see if that is the same as an ABS pump module and what it looks like. They seem to go for $250 new OEM on eBay. I'd rather not pay that. Maybe go back to the pick and pull tomorrow.... after I check the brake fluid first!

Need to know where the ABS module is located on the 00 Contour. Also, are thee any fuses related to this thing? Gotta find where they sit too.

Any ideas?
 
your dealing with a standard communication failure code. It could very well be a bad abs module but a pin point test is needed IMO. a high end scanner is needed to to test the pcm, module or wiring. Since the main concern is the ABS light going on and off this can help lead a tech to that module to test but don't throw parts at it it could be a bad wire or other minor issue vs a hard part,
 
I just added some DOT 3, checked all the fuses and made sure the connectors were firmly plugged in. I don't know where the sensors are hidden, otherwise, I've be looking to ensure they aren't caked with brake dust.

Beyond, that, I'll have my local garage guy do the rest of the diagnostic. I'm going to bring in the car to have the passenger side front tie rod looked at - this was the suggestion from the safety inspection, the the tech did not go into detail other than "You might want to have it looked at".

It's been too hot for me to work on any major stuff on the car. So I'd gladly pay someone else to do that kind of work.

I just disconnected the battery a half hour ago as I need to open up the steering wheel to see if I can tighten up the nut for the other inspection ding. Half an hour should be enough to ensure the airbag power has been safely discharged.

Would disconnecting the battery reset the ABS so the won't won't go on when starting? I guess I'll find out when I'm done wit the steering wheel tightening.
 
Freaking INCONSISTENT FORD MANUFACTURING!!!!

So, I was going to follow the youtube video on removing the airbag from Contour SVT steering wheel. the instructions were to use a T25 bit tremove the four bolts. I have my T25 and wondered why it wasn't biting.

Put a mirror to look down the screw wells and find it is not a T25!! It's a weird Tri-shaped security bit.

Luckily, saw just that bit at the local micro-center as part of an electronics tool kit for $10. I'm heading there now.

I noticed inconsistency in the headlamp adjusters too. On mine, the screws holding it in place are cross-head. On the 00 SVT I find at the wrecker, they were T27.

Why do they do that!!
 
It might stay out for a short time but if there is a problem it will come back. Might want to wait on going to the tech because now he may not come up with anything and then when it gets picked up or some wiring moves the right way or the plug/module acts up it will do it again and then you will have to pay again for the testing., at the very least tell him that you disconnected the battery. he may have you wait with knowing this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top