ABS LIGHT

[asiankid624]

hi i own a 03 vibe standard and the abs light is on and the brake light comes on at random times does anyone know why thanks

[ColonelPanic]

If you're seeing both the ABS and the brake light at the same time, don't drive the car! Something major is wrong with the braking system, I would say... How are the brakes working when both lights come on? Now, if it were just the ABS light alone, I still wouldn't recommend driving it *but* your brakes themselves would still likely be performing OK but their is a problem with something in the ABS system - dead wheel speed sensor/etc. So just the ABS itself wouldn't work if you needed it.You'll likely have to take it to a dealer and have them pull the codes for this... I don't think scanners the average joe has access to are capable of pulling codes from the ABS system.

[northvibe]

the red "brake" light is the E-brake. do you ever use the e-brake? I use mine all the time but sometimes i dont put it down all the way (1 click up) and it isnt engaged but the light is still on. The ABS light is what CP said. If its on then your ABS sensors could be bad or the ABS is some how malfunctioning. The Brake light if the ebrake isnt up and is on....yea that might be sorta bad. Sounds like you may have some bad/dirty sensors on your brakes though.

[joatmon]

THe 2003 owners manual saysQuote »When the ignition is on, the brake system warning lightwill also come on when you set your parking brake. Thelight will stay on if your parking brake doesn’t releasefully. If it stays on after your parking brake is fullyreleased, it means you have a brake problem.If the light comes on while you are driving, pull off theroad and stop carefully. You may notice that the pedal isharder to push. Or, the pedal may go closer to the floor.It may take longer to stop. If the light is still on, have thevehicle towed for serviceand for the ABS light Quote »If the light stays on, turn the ignition to OFF. Or, if thelight comes on when you’re driving, stop as soon aspossible and turn the ignition off. Then start the engineagain to reset the system. If the light still stays on, orcomes on again while you’re driving, your vehicle needsservice. If the regular brake system warning light isn’ton, you still have brakes, but you don’t have anti-lockbrakes. If the regular brake system warning light is alsoon, you don’t have anti-lock brakes and there’s aproblem with your regular brakes. See “Brake SystemWarning Light” earlier in this section.The anti-lock brake system warning light will come onbriefly when you turn the ignition key to ON. This isnormal. If the light doesn’t come on then, have it fixedso it will be ready to warn you if there is a problem.brake and ABS in the 2003 manual beginnning at page 2-65page 6-38 says "When your brake fluid falls to a low level, your brakewarning light will come on." so the level in the brake fluid reservoir under the hood would be at would be the first thing that I would check.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by asiankid624 »hi i own a 03 vibe standard and the abs light is on and the brake light comes on at random times does anyone know why thanksyou broke it.

[Digger]

On many cars this happens when the pads get low. A new set of pads will fix this. The light comes on because the fluid in the reservoir gets low when braking. caliper has to travel more to engage the pads to the rotor. My van does what you describe when it needs new pads. A temp fix for the light is to add a bit of fluid. But, not all dot -3 fluid is the same, so make sure you have the right fluid.