2001 santa fe ABS light on!!!

The ABS system relies on wheel speed sensors at each wheel to compare braking action at each wheel. These can be affected by brake dust, heat and wheel movement. These are the most common failure components.

The vehicle needs to have the trouble code read with a scanner. Similar to the engine computers being read by OBD2 scanners.

When the ABS system detects a failure, the braking system acts like a non ABS vehicle. Your vehicle is not as safe as it was with the ABS system working. You should have it repaired at the first opportunity.

Good luck.

If it were my vehicle I would disable the ABS or put a piece of black electrical tape over the light. But if you relye on the damn thing, by all means get it fixed.

What does your manual tell you?

Losing ABS means that you may not be able to brake AND avoid something as you can when its working correctly...so its basically a safety issue.....

Have you checked your brake fluid? You may be a little low, which would indicate a fluid leak.

You have brought up a good point. Checking the brake fluid level should be the first thing done.

I personally have never seen a car with ABS where the ABS light came on for low fluid...

It always had a separate indicator, which is why I ignored the tip before.....but I do not know all cars with ABS either....

From a practical point of view, ABS is not the brakes.....if ABS is damaged, the brakes work as though the car is one without ABS.

I owned a 2000 Ford Escort that only had one indicator light for the brake system. The light looked like a circle with "abs" inscribed inside it. When the indicator light came on I assumed that there should be a separate fluid level light, but when I checked the manual I found that there is only one brake light.

I checked my brake fluid level and found that it was about 1 oz low. After adding fluid the light turned off. Next, I did a simple test to determine if the abs was working properly which envolved driving the car and pressing the brake pedal firmly without pumping the brakes. The abs kicked in and worked as it always had.

Then it is a good idea to check levels, I retract my thoughts on the subject......(Cheapskate Ford!!)

Not all of your thoughts - the first one, "What does your manual tell you," is still the best place to start.

thanks for your inputs guys, i did a scan and it tells me that my G sensor is defective, what the hell is that and where is it , a friend also told me that if the wheel with the teeth is cracked it could also give false reading when it checks for faults, is that true?

thanks a lot for your help

and yes my break fluid is fine

...and how is your BRAKE fluid too?

hi ANDY the fluid is fine as well .

Great!!

Limnes,

If you can lay hands on a Chiltons or other after-market manual for your vehicle it'll probably tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the ABS system and the sensors. If you're really fortunate, it may be able to assist you in making repairs. BUT (there's always a caveat, isn't there?), it may be that this is something that a qualified service center may have to look into because some of these types of sensors are kind of delicate or because it may take special tools to properly access and maintain.

Or you could just Google something like "ABS light 2001 Santa Fe" and see what pops up. I learned how to replace my Saturn's crankshift position sensor that way, once upon a time.

Good luck,

Logan

I just had the same problem on my Pontiac Grand Prix. I thought the sensor was gone (OBD2 gave no error code and the garage/shop told me I'd need a new wheel bearing since the sensor is an integral part of the assy) but upon inspection, I found that one of the wires for the sensor was broken...a little soldering with an iron fixed it in a flash. The bearing is fine and so is the sensor.....

something to check first, I guess...

thanks buddy i'll do that.

A surprisingly small amount of rust on the "teeth" that the sensor counts on the wheel can cause the ABS light to come on. It happened to me, and all I did was jack the car up, and take the rust off the teeth with a fiberglass brush. I suppose you could use a bit of emery paper just as easily.

Can't hurt.....might help. Happens with my Dodge Caravan once a year or so. You let it go too long, and the rust will hit the sensor causing scoring which will put paid to it.

Using ceramic brake pads may limit the metal dust that builds up on these sensors. Cleaning the sensors is something that I try to do when doing brakes.