The light has been on since my friend gave me the vehicle (223,000) with a blown cat, frozen caliper and rotten rear brake line, all fixed now, but the ABS light stays on. I have been reading and it seems the thing to do is bleed al the calipers. any other ideas while im in the job with all the wheels off? I also replaced the drivers hub bearing a while ago and reinstalled the sensor wires. thanks, Dave

 

It could be a number of things and could well be one of the sensors, which would be my guess if the brakes are all working fine. In PA, that is not a disqualifier for state inspection and I have driven vehicles for many years with that light lit because it just wasn't worth the effort to me. YMMV You'd have to scan it to see if you can figure out what the culprit is and I have no clue how precise (which sensor) the diagnosis would be.

 

Thanks, the truck failed my sons DMV test so i got motivated, dont really care but am interested.......looking to buy a reasonable ABS OBD reader, last one ($32) didn't do the brakes....

 

A basic OBD scanner is not going to read ABS, SRS, or BCM codes, only powertrain "P" codes that are triggered by the ECM (engine and transmissions codes in the case of these trucks since the one computer controls the trans too, although the trans codes might be vague codes with a basic OBD scanner).

Unless your doing mechanic work and are going to be using it regularly, there's no point in investing the money into a scanner that will read all of those codes, as they can get VERY expensive, and for a 2 or 3 time use, it's just not feasible. You would be better off either finding a friend or a friend of a friend that has such a scanner, or just seeing what a shop would charge to hook up a scanner to read what is throwing the ABS light on.

I went down the same rabbit hole when I got my 04. Ended up being a bad speed sensor in the right front, and later on a bad solder joint INSIDE the ABS module (that I fixed by delidding and resoldering the module itself). But without the use of my buddy's scanner (who does mechanic work on the side), it would have been a crap shoot.

Among other codes that I was also taking car of :P notice the C codes about wheel speed sensors. Found the front right sensor's wire rubbed raw against the upper control arm. And when I removed the sensor from the wheel hub, it literally came off in pieces