Community Forums

MikeLueken · 09-26-2019, 01:05 PM

New member here.
I noticed the ABS light on last night. Checked things and found the coach was a little low on brake fluid. Topped it off with DOT 3 fluid. Started coach and have good brake pedal now.
The ABS light is still on. Is it safe to drive? How do I reset the indicator light?

Mike

Unplanned Tourist · 09-26-2019, 02:25 PM

Maybe it will help if you put in your make/model/year. Also powertrain/chassis info is good too.
If the ABS light is on, you just won't have ABS, brakes will work fine, except they could lock up a wheel on slippery surfaces. In other words, it will be like driving an older rig with no ABS.
That's assuming you brakes are working a they should.
You could try taking off the battery negative cable for a couple minutes. It may clear a code.
Happy Glamping.

twinboat · 09-26-2019, 02:27 PM

A little low brake fluid will not set the amber ABS light. Very low fluid will set the red BRAKE light.

The ABS system is designed as a fail safe system. When the ABS light comes on, the system shuts down and you just have normal brakes, without the antilock feature.

Antilock brakes only actavate when a rolling wheel slows down more the the others. It prevents that wheel from locking up and skidding.

Each wheel has a speed sensor. They may be out of adjustment or melted, if you have a dragging brake.

If the brakes seem fine, and did before you topped off the fluid, you should be fine driving it somewhere to get it checked.

If the brakes got better with adding fluid, you need to get them checked right away.

MikeLueken · 09-26-2019, 05:31 PM

This is a Western Alpine 2003.
I had work done on the plug in so that I could flat tow my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Everything seemed to be working fine when I left the repair shop. Stopped for fuel and the problem started about half hour later. ABS light came on. The brake pedal got soft. Had to pump the brakes to get the coach stopped. The Red brake service light came on twice, but did not stay on.
After topping off the fluid, got back full pedal on the brakes. No problems with stopping on a 10 mile test drive.

wolfe10 · 09-26-2019, 05:54 PM

Most obvious cause would be a brake caliper getting too hot (either from over-braking on a descent or caliper piston not fully releasing) AND, repeat AND old,hydrated brake fluid.

In any case, begin by flushing and having only new brake fluid in the system.

Drive a few miles and check the temperature of the brake disks. If a piston is handing up, it will be easy to verify.

twinboat · 09-26-2019, 06:43 PM

Were you doing some hard stops ?

Do you have brakes on the tow car ?

If you were making hard stops and don't have toad brakes, you may have boiled the brake fluid. It should be changed if its over 4 to 5 years old.

If you boil the fluid on one axle, the other set of braked will do more of the work, over heat, and melt a ABS sensor.

Get it checked.

MikeLueken · 09-26-2019, 09:01 PM

I was not hard braking, just normal stopping. I was not towing. Just at the shop getting the wiring fixed so that the towed vehicle had proper lights working (turn signals, brake lights and running lights. They still needed to get the Jeep braking system installed, so I didn’t tow the vehicle home.
The shop had to rewire the RV pigtail so that is the only work done on the RV.

DrDaveMA · 09-27-2019, 10:35 AM

An intermittent ABS light is a fairly common issue, search past postings and you will find several every couple of years. As Wolfe 10 says, drive a few miles and check your temperatures. On some of the Alpines (I have iron my ‘05) there is a switch in front of the passenger seat that will flash the ABS code so you know where the code is coming from.

whalepirot · 09-29-2019, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrDaveMA

On some of the Alpines (I have iron my ‘05) there is a switch in front of the passenger seat that will flash the ABS code so you know where the code is coming from.

Our '07 has a switch which is DTDT, not momentary as I expected. I've found no method to retrieve the code for the 'solid' ABS light.

rrthor · 09-30-2019, 06:41 AM

EM posted this back in August.

"just fyi- the toggle switch is secretly a momentary switch that doesn't know it's momentary. WRV used the toggle I'm guessing because they has some in stock for other reasons. To operate it you turn it ON then OFF, and the blink codes should initiate if codes are present. The true correct switch should have been a spring loaded momentary contact switch."

The above came from the following post.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f104/abs-warning-445178.html

Mike and Amy · 09-30-2019, 11:18 AM

I agree with DrDaveMA, on my 05 the ABS light comes on and goes off occasionaly on its own. The first time it came on I checked the fluid and the temp of the brakes and all seemed normal. I'm not saying you dont have a problem, just that it is a normal occurrence on some Alpines.