ABS light keeps coming on?

Tiny
UTHNKUNOME27
  • MEMBER
  • 43 POSTS
  • 1998 CHEVROLET TAHOE
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 150,000 MILES
Sometime when I start the Tahoe and back out of the driveway the ABS light will be on. The tranny will not shift out of 1st gear while this light is on. The speedometer is at 0 also.
Any info on how this problem needs to be addressed and maybe a diagram on where the problem is.
Thanks in advance Nick
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
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Hi there,

This may be a faulty speed sensor, a scan would normally show this as a fault code, start here.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
UTHNKUNOME27
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Thank you sir. Is this something that autozone can pinpoint or will their scanner just give me a general problem area.

I was reading a little bit a few minutes ago and some people are saying that the speed sensor connectors can get metal shavings in them from the brake dust and cause the sensors not to read right. Im gonna go try and bleed the brakes one day this week and im gonna take a look at the connections also. Im looking for an answer to the topic below mine about brakes being bled also. The wife says the brake pedal has too much travel. Im used to it so it doesnt bother me.
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
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Often the quality of the scanner is the limiting factor, cheaper scanners wont read all codes, so a good quality scanner should pin point he actual fault, bleeding the brakes and flushing all the old brake fluid is a good move, this should be done periodical as brake fluid is hygroscopic, that is it does attract moisture, which will boil and cause soft brakes as well as cause rust problems, I am working through another post with exactly this problem now, good luck with yours, thank you for using 2carpros, your feed back is always welcome.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
UTHNKUNOME27
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What boggles my mind is why the tranny stays in 1st gear and wont come out until the light is off. I could understand the speedo and light issue but the tranny has me wondering.

Sometime (not often at all) when I start to come to a stop at a low speed I can feel some sort of feeling in the brake pedal and the speedo will go to 0 and the tahoe will be hard to stop. This is maybe going less than 10mph. It is a weird feeling and very hard to explain what it feels like. Its almost like their may be an air pocket in the line but I dont think that is the case at all.
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
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You may have a separate issue here, but the scan should show up any electrical fault in the transmission as well, I would concentrate on one problem at a time, get that sorted and move on to the next issue.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
UTHNKUNOME27
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I went to Autozone today for the heck of it just to see what kind of codes it was showing. No shops were open on sundays. The check engine light has been on for a couple of years. The code that was read was p0430

Will it just show a speed sensor code when it acts up or will it have it in there from previos occurances from when it has happened.
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
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P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 2)

Well that code is a red herring, nothing to do with any of the problems that you are experiencing, it may well be a old code with no relevance, I do feel that now it will require a hands on approach, there is a limited amount that I can do from afar, have the codes cleared, bleed the brakes, if the brakes have not been bleed in some time, there may be muck in the ABS distributor head and the valving may be a bit sticky, this will not hurt at all.

Mark
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
UTHNKUNOME27
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Im gonna take it tomorrow and get the tranny fluid flushed out and replaced. I went fishing this morning and doing down the road about a mile from the house the ABS light came on. Speedometer went to 0, when I press the gas it is like it is in neutral. It finally slowed down enough and it was like it was in 1st gear. I could manually put it in 2nd and it would go fine. When I would try for 3rd gear nothing was there. Same way in "D". After a minute or two of dealing with it everything was fine. Fished til lunch time and loaded the boat on the trailer and went back home. No issues what so ever since this morning.
I just dont understand. Could it be a sensor on the tranny?
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
UTHNKUNOME27
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I went to autozone to get some stuff and talked to a guy there that has a suburban to see if he has had any issues like me. I descibed the issue and he said he thinks it would be the speed sensor on the side of the tranny or transfer case. Does anyone have a diagram or picture of where this thing is located. Is this something I could do or should I take it to a shop that has a lift.
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
NASTIL
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1997 CHEVROLET TAHOE
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 103,000 MILES
The abs light has recently came on. I replaced both front hubs 5 months ago to fix speed sensor problems. What could be problem for light coming on now?
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
EUGENE123
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The abs light will come on for many reasons the sensor in one of the wheels could be bad or a fuse could be blown, you could be low on brake fluid, a wheel may be locking up, etc. I would start small with checking fluid levels and fuses also is check engine light on?
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 8:43 PM (Merged)
Tiny
DANNY L
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,648 POSTS
Hello, I'm Danny.

Having the ABS light on means there is some type of fault code stored in your vehicle's computer. The best thing to do is have a CAN performed to check all the systems on your vehicle. Here is a tutorial showing what is involved for a CAN scan:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/can-scan-controller-area-network-easy

Here is a you You Tube tutorial from our site showing how to check ABS codes:

https://youtu.be/rTtAnsOlZU4

Hope this helps and thanks for using 2CarPros.
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Friday, February 19th, 2021 AT 9:23 PM

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