ABS and Check Engine light questions

[buster84]

I never had this problem in till recently I also got the car tuned recently and its never happend before but i want to see if anyone else has had this issue. I notice every once in a while my ABS light will come on for like 1-3 seconds then shut off, It does it every so often like out 1 out of 5 trips. The same thing happends to my check engine light. It started with the check engine light and recently the abs is doing it, but now i dont see the check engine light doing it again. I was wondering if somehow the tune has messed with the odometer or maybe my odometer is going bad?

Another question, I filled my car with 15% coolant and the rest with water and royal purple radiator additive . Ever since then the coolant light has been on is there anyway to turn it off. I read that the only reason its on is because its not 50/50 mix so the little ball isnt floating and its thinking its low. If i unplugged the sensor would that work?

[bluestang01]

ABS light

I have a thread about this issue in the mechanical section.

What you're describing is exactly something that has been happening to me. The only difference is my check engine light hasn't come on. I've been doing research on it and it seems there are two main things that can cause the ABS light. 1. Low brake fluid 2. One of the sensors has gone bad. I've noticed that when the ABS light comes on for a short while that my traction control automatically turns off as well.

Unfortunately I haven't had time to track this problem down. A friend has a shop and I've been thinking about going to him and hooking it up to the computer. Problem is he's not open on the weekends so it's been tough.

Let me know what you find out.

[buster84]

haha thanks. I have no idea what it was. It actually happens when im not even moving, like i started the car and it came on, then faded off. it happen a couple times this way and only once while driving.

[Mustanger]

My ABS light has come on like that too...I just got in there & cleaned around the sensors & wiggled everything I could find...so far it hasn't come back on??? Never found anything definite though.

[jwhite]

Originally Posted by buster84

Another question, I filled my car with 15% coolant and the rest with water and royal purple radiator additive . Ever since then the coolant light has been on is there anyway to turn it off. I read that the only reason its on is because its not 50/50 mix so the little ball isnt floating and its thinking its low. If i unplugged the sensor would that work?

the mixture of 15% coolant + water + royal purple radiator additive should not cause the coolant light to come on...if anything, perhaps you do not have enough coolant in the system, or the system is not properly bled

i am probably wrong, but to my knowledge, there is not a coolant level sensor/"ball" floating in the coolant reservoir.

[buster84]

Originally Posted by jwhite

the mixture of 15% coolant + water + royal purple radiator additive should not cause the coolant light to come on...if anything, perhaps you do not have enough coolant in the system, or the system is not properly bled

i am probably wrong, but to my knowledge, there is not a coolant level sensor/"ball" floating in the coolant reservoir.

I read this thread and that's why i figured it has the floating ball, lots of other threads there mention it as well.

ABS Light and Coolant Light On - Mustang Forums at StangNet

[sufferer]

Originally Posted by buster84

I never had this problem in till recently I also got the car tuned recently and its never happend before but i want to see if anyone else has had this issue. I notice every once in a while my ABS light will come on for like 1-3 seconds then shut off, It does it every so often like out 1 out of 5 trips. The same thing happends to my check engine light. It started with the check engine light and recently the abs is doing it, but now i dont see the check engine light doing it again. I was wondering if somehow the tune has messed with the odometer or maybe my odometer is going bad?

Another question, I filled my car with 15% coolant and the rest with water and royal purple radiator additive . Ever since then the coolant light has been on is there anyway to turn it off. I read that the only reason its on is because its not 50/50 mix so the little ball isnt floating and its thinking its low. If i unplugged the sensor would that work?

Yeah I flushed my radiator and put in 50/50 mix coolant and since then my coolant light has been on. Check it periodically and it's always full, don't know why the light is on. Don't have any temp. problems. Someone suggested before maybe a thermostat. I don't know though.

[buster84]

Originally Posted by sufferer

Yeah I flushed my radiator and put in 50/50 mix coolant and since then my coolant light has been on. Check it periodically and it's always full, don't know why the light is on. Don't have any temp. problems. Someone suggested before maybe a thermostat. I don't know though.

I was researching up on this more and found out that apparently around 100k miles these sensors are known to go bad, and ford doesn't actually sell the sensor either, you have to buy a whole new reservoir which sucks because i bet that's expensive. I'm going to just unplug the sensor and hope it turns its self off. I usually always check my fluids once a month so i really don't need that sensor anyways. I also have a sct livewire which displays coolant temp so i would know when im low because the temp would rise on the gauge. If unplugging doesn't work i hope theirs another way to turn that thing off.

[Mustanger]

I wonder if it is a continuity sensor? If so I bet you could jumper it out...anybody know?

[Rangersfan]

If you had your car tuned on a dyno, that would cause the ABS light to go on. It's normal and should shut off after a drive cycle. It's from the front wheels not spinning while the rears are on the rollers.

The coolant issue....???

[buster84]

Originally Posted by Rangersfan

If you had your car tuned on a dyno, that would cause the ABS light to go on. It's normal and should shut off after a drive cycle. It's from the front wheels not spinning while the rears are on the rollers.

The coolant issue....???

Now that makes sense, maybe the thats why the check engine light comes on then off right away. I havnt seen it come since so its probably fixed. As for the coolant issue i found just unplugging the sensor fixed the problem and the light when away

[sufferer]

What makes me worry though is when I was flushing the radiator and screwing the plug back in it broke tightening it, just the outside part though. It's still plugged inside the radiator and I have no leakage at all. No big deal until I try to flush the radiator again, when that happens I guess I'll have to replace the radiator, or just pull a hose to drain it. I can't help but think though that this and my coolant light coming on at the exact same time aren't related. It was never on before. I only have 53K miles. Mmm...

[buster84]

Originally Posted by sufferer

What makes me worry though is when I was flushing the radiator and screwing the plug back in it broke tightening it, just the outside part though. It's still plugged inside the radiator and I have no leakage at all. No big deal until I try to flush the radiator again, when that happens I guess I'll have to replace the radiator, or just pull a hose to drain it. I can't help but think though that this and my coolant light coming on at the exact same time aren't related. It was never on before. I only have 53K miles. Mmm...

well im not quite sure, i had to flush it with the hose because it was already broken on my car. i never had a light on before, but i'm not sure if the plug was ever plugged into the sensor because i never messed with that plug before. I installed my supercharger and was looking at everything and found that unplugged and i know i didnt unplug it, but when i plugged it back in the light came on and stayed on the whole time. I heard that the reservoir tank goes bad so im assuming that they unplugged it because who wants to spend $200 to replace there tank that works fine other than a sensor. Maybe your sensor is bad, or you don't have an exact 50/50 mix because i heard the sensor is extremely sensitive to 50/50 mix too. when you look inside the tank does the sensor sit at the bottom?