hey all,

well i've been putting this off for years now. prior to starting my truck all the dash lights illuminate. i have always noticed an ABS light - but have never felt ABS kick in. I have had the truck locked up and sliding plenty of times and still nothing. so:

do i have ABS or not?
or is it just not working?
how can i tell if my truck is equipped with ABS?

tia,
jason

 

I believe all trucks had rear wheel abs, but I think front wheels abs was an option. Check to see if there are sensors at each front wheel.

My abs doesn't work either. I too have been putting it off because I don't really know where to start. I have 4-wheel abs and I checked all my sensors with an ohm meter and they're within spec. I had my abs light on all the time until I replaced the rear wheel sensor, but still no abs. I'm thinking about just taking it to the dealer and having them diagnose it, but I don't know what they could tell me that I wouldn't be able to figure out on my own.

 

not sure what a sensor looks like. you know of any pics anywhere?

 

sensor is hidden behind the backing plate, but if uou have 4wabs, there will be an extra wire near or around the front brake flex lines.

 

Sticker under the front of the hood will tell you if you have 2 or 4 wheel abs.

 

if i remember right, 2 w/d front ABS was standard.
4x4 front was available as an option in 2001

 

Snapped a pic real quick. Here's the front sensor (bottom red arrow). It faces that little metal gear looking thing (yellow arrow). You can see the wire (top red arrow) going up into the engine bay.

 

in '00 4 wheel abs was an option..at least on the 4x4..I bought a 2000 1500 4x4..brand spanking new..I should have gotten the 4wheel abs...looking back..I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE 2500 DIESEL THEN!!..with 4 wheel ABS..then I'd only have 1 pickup truck in great condition..instead of 1 in good-excellent. and one in fair(the diesel). but hay the diesel runs and runs good..doesn't look so good..so..I'll add my share or dents and scratches while I own it..

without 4 wheel abs only the rear brakes are controlled by ABS.. go figure out that one..would have made more sense to have the front abs controlled personally I think the was a cheap marketing ploy..the sensor is the same one used the rear end for speed.

-dkenny

 

If the abs light has been on, abs won't work until reset, I believe. When there is an abs problem, the abs is shut down, and it reverts back to normal braking action.
Unfortunately, in VA, if it comes with abs, it has to work (no abs light on), or it will fail.

 

i only notice the ABS light upon turning the key into the on position (all lights illuminate and then go out) it has never come on while in gear as far as i know, nor have i felt it kick in.

 

I have only had the rear ABS work once on me on my 93 2wd. and that was on dry pavement.. . I have never felt the ABS hit with my 97 (rear only). I think having a standard has something to do with that. As long as the entire drive train is go or no go it doesn't work. I really don't know how it will tell if the rear tires are skidding if the rear diff sensor and the VSS read "0" speed at the same time when I put in the clutch and hammer it. IF it read road speed from the front tires, then maybe it would work.

FWIW, my fathers 95 has 4W ABS... Doesn't work on that truck either..

 

How would you reset it? Just disconnect the battery for a while? Cause I've done that but it still doesn't work.

 

sounds like a lost cause i'm chasing here. too much snow on the ground to go and check for a while . . . i looked under the hood and in the glovebox - no front wheel ABS to be found anywhere.

 

The CAB is located on the driver's side under hood on the left firewall. If there's one connector on the box it's 2WD ABS, if there's two connectors on the box its 4WD ABS. If the light comes on when you turn the key and then goes out your system is working. It does a self test and will come on and stay on if there's a problem.

 

Alright so I checked my sensors again. Rear speed sensor is new. The two front ones are within spec at 1515-1555 ohms. Also, I jacked up the front wheels and spinned them as fast as I could by hand and got an AC voltage up to 5 volts coming from the sensors (went down to 0 volts when the wheels weren't spinning). That must mean they're working properly, which is a good thing because those sensors are pretty expensive.

My ABS light comes on when I first turn the key to "ON" then turns off. Meaning that it passed the self test according to Sheriffav8r. I tried pulling some codes by grounding terminal #13 on the 16-pin connector under the steering wheel, but I did not see the amber abs light flash or anything (it didn't turn on at all). So everything seems to be ok... Except my abs doesn't actually work. What would be the next thing to check?

From my understanding, there is an abs computer on the driver's side under the hood, one on top of the abs pump in the same spot, and one inside the cab in the middle behind the transfer case lever. Is there also one tucked up behind the dash somewhere?

Is there any way I can test the mentioned abs computers?

Edit: Besides the rear axle speed sensor, are there any more speed sensors like in the transmission since I have a 4wd truck?