ABS lights

JEFF JOHN

MEMBER
2006 BUICK RENDEZVOUS
6 CYL
AWD
247,000 MILES

Had my brakes rotors done everything was fine long trip and my front wheel was smoking and very hot. Had the car towed (a long trip) Mechanic took two days to fix to find out it needed new calipers, which in my opinion shout have been done when the brakes and rotors were done. Approximately two weeks later my ABS light and symbol came on did the mechanic need to reprogram the ABS when everything was done? Could you help me out here this is getting really expensive? Do not know if I am getting taken advantage of.

4 Replies

HARRY P

MECHANIC
2,292 POSTS

ABS light probably is not related to the previous work. The car has a lot of miles on it, and unfortunately, at that many miles problems can just pop up like that. Smoke coming from the wheel is usually the caliper and should not have taken two days for the mechanic to diagnose, but maybe he just had a lot of other work to do before it.

Anyways, check out this guide concerning the ABS system: https://www.2carpros.com/articles/abs-warning-light-on-easy-repair-guide

Personally, I would buy the scanner and read the codes. You can also go to the dealer and get the codes read, but that will probably cost you nearly as much as buying the scanner, and you would not have a nifty little tool for future use.

So let us know what you come up with.

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Sunday, August 6th, 2017 AT 7:50 PM

JEFF JOHN

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hi Heyman 1104,
Thanks for respoding, Will check the fuse to see if that is gone. Forot to mention after brakes and roors were done tires were low sensor light came on. Took it to the place where tires were purchased and had to fix the stem. Before the long ride and brakes and tire smoking tire pressure light came on again, same tire. Calippers were done they did not fix the tire pressure told me to take it to where I bought the tires. Now as you you know the ABS. Did not have a problem before the brakes and evrything was done. Since the ABS sensors and speed sensor are so close to the things replaced do not most mechanics reprogram the braking system. Just asking this is twice I know of the front brakes have been done. Am I getting taken for a ride? Could they accidently damaged the sensors while fixing dont know if he was the mechanic or an apprentice working on my car. Small town all about the $

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Monday, August 7th, 2017 AT 11:21 AM

JEFF JOHN

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hi Heyman 1104,
Thanks for responding, will check the fuse to see if that is gone. Forgot to mention after brakes and rotors were done tires were low sensor light came on. Took it to the place where tires were purchased and had to fix the stem. Before the long ride and brakes and tire smoking tire pressure light came on again, same tire. Calipers were done they did not fix the tire pressure told me to take it to where I bought the tires. Now as you you know the ABS. Did not have a problem before the brakes and everything was done. Since the ABS sensors and speed sensor are so close to the things replaced do not most mechanics reprogram the braking system. Just asking this is twice I know of the front brakes have been done. Am I getting taken for a ride? Could they accidentally damaged the sensors while fixing do not know if he was the mechanic or an apprentice working on my car. Small town all about the money.

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Monday, August 7th, 2017 AT 11:54 AM

HARRY P

MECHANIC
2,292 POSTS

While all of those parts are close together, the sensors and such for the ABS system are not involved in doing brakes, rotors, or calipers. Those sensors are either bolted onto the hub assembly or are integrated into the hub assembly. So I really do doubt that the mechanic managed to mess anything up.

Also, there is no reprogramming to be done. It is just a matter of pushing a caliper piston back into position. Here are a couple of guides that more completely explains the braking system:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-front-brake-pads-and-rotors-fwd

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/brake-caliper-replacement

As far as the tire situation goes, those valves can start leaking at any time. Often times a large piece of dust/dirt gets stuck where it should not and that causes a slow leak. The easy and cheap way to fix it is to simply replace the valve.

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Monday, August 7th, 2017 AT 8:54 PM