bad sensor? My moms Oldsmobile was notorious for this. Could be...IDK?

 

[quote author=HALOREALM link=topic=183306.msg3878111#msg3878111 date=1291790871]
bad sensor? My moms Oldsmobile was notorious for this. Could be...IDK?
[/quote]

Thanks for the reply. I wonder if getting snow packed in there would mess up the sensor enough to ruin it. I'm not totally sure where it or they are located and how they work. I was hoping it would be something super simple but I think I am going to have to take it in... puke!

 

I'm wondering maybe if you ripped a wire while you were all caught up in the snow.

If one of your VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) wires are damaged or any brake monitoring wire this would cause the ABS and sometimes Traction Control lights to come on.

Best bet is to take it to a mechanic and have them diagnose the problem.

Good luck!

 

[quote author=07blackSEL link=topic=183306.msg3878110#msg3878110 date=1291790474]
I searched but was unable to find anything so here's the scoop.

Yesterday we got almost a foot of snow which I had to drive in. Just got new tires a few months ago so it was no big deal until I got stuck.

I attempted to rock the car and while doing so the "ABS" light came on along with the message "Check Brake System" the parking brake light was also on. I got the car unstuck and shut the car off, I then turned it back on and the ABS light was still on.

I thought maybe it was because there was a lot of snow packed in the wheels so I cleaned out the snow and the light was still there. Finally I unplugged the battery hoping maybe it would reset it, it didn't. I'm all out of ideas aside from the obvious which would be to take it to the shop. Have any of you guys had a problem similar to this, if so what did you do to fix it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Matt
[/quote]

Hi Matt. :wavey: It is difficult to know why it is illuminated or how serious any problem may be. My advice? If the light does not go out on the next restart, it should definitely be serviced ASAP.

Just a few extra bits of advice that may or may not help. While this may not be a direct cause of the problem, if your Fusion has "Traction Control", it may have contributed: Is your Fusion equipped with "Traction Control"? If it is, did you turn it off when you were rocking the car? Just as an FYI for others: If your car is equipped with Traction Control and the car needs to be rocked to extricate it, always turn off the Traction Control first to avoid damage to the braking system.

The rest of this reply does not really help with your current problem. However, it addresses the subject of disconnecting the battery to wipe-out CEL and other warning lights, so it may be helpful to some members in the same situation/for other reasons.

While many people do it anyway, disconnecting the battery to eliminate a CEL or warning light is not a vehicle owner recommended procedure by Ford. In fact it is discouraged. And to save the letters, yes I know even some mechanics will sometimes recommend a vehicle owner do it, but then again, some mechanics are just plain not very good and sometimes give bad advice (as can happen in any profession). To reinforce that fact, how many people who were told by their mechanic to disconnect the battery to eliminate CEL's or other warning lights were also told by the mechanic that they needed to perform the Idle Trim relearn process (which is listed in the our Owners Manual and I will mention below) after the disconnection? My bet would be very few.

Why shouldn't the battery be disconnected (by a vehicle owner) to "wipe-out" CEL's? Two reasons: First, there is a specific ECM/PCM/TCM reprogramming process that must be performed after disconnecting the battery or else the vehicle will not run properly for some time. This "Idle Trim" relearn process is described in detail in our Owners Manual so I will not go into a lot of detail. Second, disconnecting the battery does not correct the problem and it can wipe out any needed trouble codes. It is the equivalent of putting a piece of tape over the light. In fact it is worse than a piece of tape, since the underlying problem is still there, but the ability to find the problem (the trouble code) may now be temporarily gone. If the warning light it is an "accidental light" it will go away on it's own. If the warning light is an indication of a real problem, it will not go away and it needs to be addressed. Disconnecting the battery just causes more problems than it solves (because in reality it does not solve any problems).

So in the end, while disconnecting the battery in this case did not eliminate the warning lights, it did cause your cars ECM/PCM/TCM to lose important programming parameters that need to be relearned. Now, these parameters will be relearned themselves over time, but ideally the "Idle Trim" relearning process should be performed by the vehicle owner (or the Tech/mechanic) after a battery disconnection.

Sorry for the long reply and hope your issue is nothing serious.

Keep us updated.

Good luck. :cheers:

 

[quote author=Canadian_LX link=topic=183306.msg3878178#msg3878178 date=1291810905]
I'm wondering maybe if you ripped a wire while you were all caught up in the snow.

If one of your VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) wires are damaged or any brake monitoring wire this would cause the ABS and sometimes Traction Control lights to come on.

Best bet is to take it to a mechanic and have them diagnose the problem.

Good luck!
[/quote]

Yeah I finally decided I would probably have to take it in and made an appointment today. Hopefully it doesn't cost that much.


[quote author=bbf2530 link=topic=183306.msg3878282#msg3878282 date=1291819427]
Hi Matt. :wavey: It is difficult to know why it is illuminated or how serious any problem may be. My advice? If the light does not go out on the next restart, it should definitely be serviced ASAP.

Just a few extra bits of advice that may or may not help. While this may not be a direct cause of the problem, if your Fusion has "Traction Control", it may have contributed: Is your Fusion equipped with "Traction Control"? If it is, did you turn it off when you were rocking the car? Just as an FYI for others: If your car is equipped with Traction Control and the car needs to be rocked to extricate it, always turn off the Traction Control first to avoid damage to the braking system.

The rest of this reply does not really help with your current problem. However, it addresses the subject of disconnecting the battery to wipe-out CEL and other warning lights, so it may be helpful to some members in the same situation/for other reasons.

While many people do it anyway, disconnecting the battery to eliminate a CEL or warning light is not a vehicle owner recommended procedure by Ford. In fact it is discouraged. And to save the letters, yes I know even some mechanics will sometimes recommend a vehicle owner do it, but then again, some mechanics are just plain not very good and sometimes give bad advice (as can happen in any profession). To reinforce that fact, how many people who were told by their mechanic to disconnect the battery to eliminate CEL's or other warning lights were also told by the mechanic that they needed to perform the Idle Trim relearn process (which is listed in the our Owners Manual and I will mention below) after the disconnection? My bet would be very few.

Why shouldn't the battery be disconnected (by a vehicle owner) to "wipe-out" CEL's? Two reasons: First, there is a specific ECM/PCM/TCM reprogramming process that must be performed after disconnecting the battery or else the vehicle will not run properly for some time. This "Idle Trim" relearn process is described in detail in our Owners Manual so I will not go into a lot of detail. Second, disconnecting the battery does not correct the problem and it can wipe out any needed trouble codes. It is the equivalent of putting a piece of tape over the light. In fact it is worse than a piece of tape, since the underlying problem is still there, but the ability to find the problem (the trouble code) may now be temporarily gone. If the warning light it is an "accidental light" it will go away on it's own. If the warning light is an indication of a real problem, it will not go away and it needs to be addressed. Disconnecting the battery just causes more problems than it solves (because in reality it does not solve any problems).

So in the end, while disconnecting the battery in this case did not eliminate the warning lights, it did cause your cars ECM/PCM/TCM to lose important programming parameters that need to be relearned. Now, these parameters will be relearned themselves over time, but ideally the "Idle Trim" relearning process should be performed by the vehicle owner (or the Tech/mechanic) after a battery disconnection.

Sorry for the long reply and hope your issue is nothing serious.

Keep us updated.

Good luck. :cheers:
[/quote]

I did not know that, I was trying to go over all ideas before taking it in and that was the last thing I could think of. I'll keep that in mind for next time though.