Driving to work today the ABS light and the brake light came on, I noticed my E brake pedal is quite low (I don't use it enough so this caught me by surprise) and the brakes are obviously out of adjustment. My question is will the adjustment alone (lack of) cause the lights or should I be looking at the sensor as well or.... I should also probably mention that it takes 5 minutes of driving for it to come on again after a shutdown and restart.

 

I would bet it's your ABS speed sensor on the rear axle. Plastic part that plugs into the diff. Pretty easy to replace and they wear out because they are plastic. Just be sure to get all the plastic parts out when you pull it....

 

I'd check that first. Mine did this a couple years back when I drove it thru some pretty deep, soupy mud. I think there is also a speed sensor on the front axle, at the wheels.

 

well I drove to work today and no lights, I'm sure it will be back. If I use a code reader will the speed sensor show?

 

No, it will not show, IIRC. At a minimum take the sensor out and check the condition of the sensor and the ring. If it came on once it may still have a problem and it's a cheap fix....

 

well, i checked the rear wheel speed sensor ....fine. adjusted rears,topped up brake fluid. no more ABS and brake light,wait n see I guess .

 

i had the same thing for years,and finally got around the fixing my hub bearing and low and behold the little shield between the hub and knuckle had cut the ABS SENSOR in half.new hub had new ABS fittings and all is back to normal.should say the ABS sensor cable was cut in two.shield is MIA now.

 

I've had those lights lit up for years. I tried to figure out how to pull that sensor a few days ago but I can't see how it disconnects. Maybe I need a brighter light and my reading glassses to see how it goes.

 

I think it's just a bolt through the tab of the sensor on the top of the rear diff. The front part plugs into a connector that comes off the ABS computer.

 

I don't think the 98's even had 4wabs as an option, just rear ABS. Have you ever noticed you speedo bounce before? I had this problem in my dually when I first got it. At first, it was just the lights that came on. Later it was my speedo coming and going. I replaced the rear sensor and that made a difference for about 30 minutes. I ended up having a broken wire from that sensor to the PCM, broke around the leaf spring mount on the drivers side.

 

My 94 has 4 wheel abs. Had the same thing, went through the entire brake system, eventually found a vacuum leak. In my opinion, there are no pat, easy solutions to the abs/brake light issue. The system is complicated enough that there are many areas that can cause it. You need to systematically go through the brake system, eliminating culprits. It can be an expensive process. Each step, the lights would go off for a little while, and then come back on. I know that I had multiple issues causing the lights.

 

I know for fact 97's had it as an option but had never seen pre 1997 with 4wal.
Hodge is right, it's not a simple is A then B system and since it's not completely OBD2 compliant you might want to seek someone with a DRB factory tool to scan it.