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2001 Dakota anti-lock kicks in by itself

Hi all!

Over the winter, my ABS light (and brake light) came on a few times, but reset itself without issue. This spring, it happened again, but again it quit after a few times. Then about a month ago, I felt the ABS motor kick in while I was driving during cruise conditions, with no brake pedal applied. Only happened once, and for a very short duration. Today, I was making a normal stop, and all of a sudden the ABS kicked in, and I was not stopping. Pumped the pedal, but still no good. Slammed the shifter in a panic into reverse, which slowed me down, and I was able to stop. I drove it about another 5 miles without incident. The ABS light never came on. All I have ever read or heard about is that if the ABS malfunctions, it disables or limits itself and normal braking equipment functions regularly. I can't figure out even where to go to begin to chase this problem.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Dan

Reply to
aj2400
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Sounds like you might have a bad ABS sensor.

Reply to
azwiley1

Reply to
aj2400

Thanks AZ!

azwiley1 wrote:

Reply to
aj2400

ABS sensor my ass, it sounds like you have a bad ABS controller. I would get that vehicle into the stealership ASAP and have the codes on the ABS system read to find out what is going on. That is unless of course, you like taking the chance of ramming someone and losing your truck, your home and possibly your life not to mention what you might do to the person you hit.

Reply to
TBone

Yep, sensor didn't fix it! Is ABS controller a piece that has to be dealer installed?

Reply to
aj2400

It depends on your skill level and the tools you have available. I am assuming that it is a 4 wheel ABS system with your mention of an ABS motor and if not, the problem is not the controller as a complete failure of a rear wheel system would at worst, prevent the rear brakes from working. If it is an all wheel system, remember that each front wheel also has a sensor. The controller is not going to be cheap and IIRC, can only be obtained from a dealer. If you need to go to the dealer anyway, I would have them read the codes from the ABS controller first and see what it is saying as just throwing parts at this problem can be both expensive and dangerous.

Reply to
TBone

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