Car question: ABS brake light on dash

[Tala]

I drive 17 year old beater, it's a 1992 Ford Ranger 4.0L 5speed and I don't even wash it anymore cos of all the dents & scratches what's the point?

Anyway, this past week the light on the dash that says Rear ABS has been coming on. I was told to get a sensor for it - which I installed yesterday (first day it wasn't raining) but today the light came back on again

The brakes work great, although I dunno about the ABS part. I've taken that poor little pint sized truck everywhere, mud, dirt, gravel, - including muddin in the Mississippi river spillways. It brakes and handles great as small pickups go, but I wouldn't say the ABS part has ever been very fast to "kick in" because I think it's only done it once.

Nothing has changed in the way of handling or braking so I'm wondering why the light is coming on all of a sudden? Fishing for ideas here because If it's not the sensor - what could be wrong???

 

[gritsar]

Tala, I don't know offhand but when my SO gets up I'll ask him about it 'k?

 

[gypsy2621]

get it checked , there could be some mud or sand caught p inside it , or the E brake might be hanging up.
mine did that and shortly there after coming on the Ebrake popped itself lose and locked up the wheel.
um dangerous at 55 mph.

 

[Tala]

My e-brake is mechanical though. I think it's separate from the rest of the braking system so it shouldn't affect the light.

 

[Tala]

this is what I got online, maybe I just need to reset my car's computer?

Modern antilock brakes are far more reliable and less likely to need repair than the older systems. Indeed, actual system failure is almost unheard of. Most common is dirt getting into the sensors, which activates the ABS light and shuts down the system. When this happened on our 100,000 mile Neon (after the leaf-blowers visited - which is one reason we still rake), we examined and tried to clean each sensor. We ended up having the system checked by a mechanic with a code-checker to find out which sensor was not working, and took it out and cleaned it - which worked once we reset the computer (by the unplug-the-battery method).​

 

[EweSheep]

I do have a problem with my Dodge Caravan that the ENGINE light kept coming on every so many miles. We had to disconnect the batteries to reset. many times we took it to the garage, they checked it twice and there was NO leak in the fuel system. The computer said emission fuel leak and nothing else pops up. We got a new gas cap, it still does it. We installed a new fuel filter (from Auto Zone), it still pops up. Even put in a higher ratio unleaded gas, it still does it.

So what IS the problem?????

The "brain" is working ok but not sure if THAT is the problem. We dont have 350 dollars to cough up for a new circuit board!

So in the meantime, we kept disconnecting every time the engine light comes on to reset and it will not come back on anywhere from 30 to 80 miles city. If on the highway, it does not come on at all during that day until the next day when we are driving in town.

No one really knows, not even the best mechanic can figure it out with his electronic gadget to diagnostic the problem. GRRRRRRRRRR!

 

[Tala]

Hahaha my mom had a 1987 Dodge carvan that was the MOST problematic car EVER! That was back before computers, lol
We joked we had to use a rope to hold on the parts that kept falling off

 

[EweSheep]

Sorry I dont have major problems with Dodge, I love them all LOL! Had a beautiful Dakota, a Voyager and this Caravan, they all run strong but little quirky things that just can not understand things about it.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Well quirky was the main problem. My dad kept fixing things, but it still had weird "quirks" so yeah. The main problem with the Dodge minivan was that it just never was "right" after a certain age. Mom racked up 200K miles on it though, quirks and all

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I have a 95 Ranger with 253,000 miles on it. I had that problem only once. It was time to change the drum brakes. Nothing more. We think they never wear out, after changing those front disc brakes so regularly, but they do. When was the last time you actually looked at the drum pads?