abs problem

[bomberpilot07]

hi, ive been reading around the forums and have been learning alot of new helpful things... ive got a 98 chevy 4 door 2wd blazer. its been through 2 of my sisters and i got it at 96000 miles. so being that they have no knowledge of cars i got the issues upon receiving it. long story short, i did the 100k mile check list tranny flush, radiator flush, spark plugs, shocks, etc... and went from there. recently its been giving me more problems. just a couple weeks ago it started, first the water pump went out,then sometimes it will hesitate to start, and now the abs is randomly acting up. i started my car up before i left for work and the ABS dummy light was on, i restarted the car thinking it was just being stupid, still a no go, drove it to the end of the street and slammed the brakes, the abs kicked in and the light went off. so i drove to work. when i pulled into the parking lot my light came back on. so when i got off work i pulled the fuses, checked the brakes as best i could without removing the tires, drove it down the street and locked the brakes when i hit them, so tomorrow im going to autozone to borrow an abs code reader to see whats up. im not to familiar with working on brakes so any help will be apreciated. ive got a code reader, but unfortunitally its not made for abs. but i do have a chilton repair manual to check the codes when i get them tomorrow. any ideas what it could be?

oh.. the brakes were serviced right before i got the car "it now has 103k miles on it.", if that helps any. and its 4 wheel disc.

thanks.

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

One of the more common problems on some vehicles is just dirty sensors. Other than that, a sensor could have gone bad. I'm no expert here, but if the code has anything to do with the sensor, you should try cleaning it before replacing it.

[Mikz86TA]

X2 or corroded ground for the ABS EBCM.

[bomberpilot07]

One of the more common problems on some vehicles is just dirty sensors. Other than that, a sensor could have gone bad. I'm no expert here, but if the code has anything to do with the sensor, you should try cleaning it before replacing it.
alright, thanks. btw. forgot to mention that i got my tires rotated just before this happened.. could the guy who did took off the tires have knocked something loose or broken a sensor in the process.. or is that unlikely?

[TreasonAgainstCaesar]

Possible, but not too likely. The guy would have to be really bad at his job to mess that one up.. Of course much more likely if his name was Bubba or Junior.

[98'S-Dime]

id still go with sensor. i had the same problem and a good cleaning fixed it right up.

[T Man]

By any chance, are 2 tires on the front different diameters? say different sizes, or one bald and the other not?

[bomberpilot07]

rented a abs code reader at oriellys.. it was reading that it had no codes in the computer. ill check into the sensor in a little while.

[T Man]

abs codes dont generaly store like ecm codes do. If the light is on you can pull the code, otherwise you are more than likely out of luck

[Mikz86TA]

Uh Oh!! someone mentioned Bubba n Junior. They are at it again! hehehe

[bomberpilot07]

well, just got done looking at the brakes, i checked the discs, speed sensor that my repair manual said to check "its hooked into the transmission", looked for cut or ripped wires, and nothing. i couldnt get to the sensor on the brakes themselves, but it looks like theres alot of brake dust on them. to get to them dont i have to take off the whole assembly? and what can i use to clean them?

thanks

[T Man]

Being that it is 4 wheel disc you are in luck. Remove the 2 caliper bracket bolts, and the rotor and the caliper with bracket will with any luck slide right off of the hub. From there use a brake parts cleaner to thoroughly clean the pickup (aka the abs sensor) and the reluctor wheel which will be on the hub. Check for a loose bolt. i believe they are 7mm