ABS light on tow vehicle

[Dray]

I know this is a PU forum but I have a related tow vehicle problem.  My TV is a Honda Odyssey 2004.  It has about 75,000 miles.  I've towed for one year 6 or 7 times.  

My ABS light and TCS (traction control) lights are coming on intermittently.  I even felt the ABS working at parking lot speeds once.  I took it in this morning and theres a whole bunch wrong with my brakes, but what is making the ABS lite come on is a bad wheel sensor (front left).  So the guy quoted me $167 for that.  Yikes.  So I told them to fix everything but that.  So now I'm doing my research.  I think it may just need a cleaning, which I could probably do myself.  

The reason I'm posting here is because when I first got my PU last year the dealer installed a brake controller.  Shortly after my ABS came on and stayed on.  I took it back and they said they did something wrong and were able to fix it.  Well, about a year later now i have to wonder if its related.  What do you all think?

One more question is this.  When hooking up the PU and you plug in the electrical should the ignition be off?  If it's not what are the potential trouble?  Thanks and sorry for the long post.  I just get wierd when my brakes don't work right!

[Chuck L]

If the friction matrial has worn completely out and a metal to metal conditon occured shavngs may have stuck to the pick up assembly, cleaning the debris could cure the problem.
 
If you towed 6 or 7 times since the controller was installed the symptom is probably un related.
 
The best thing to do is find a repair facility that you can trust and have them fix it. It can be expensive.

[austinado16]

With stuff like this, you always want to start with the simple solution and move toward the complex solution.

In your case here's what you know:

Honda fixed the original ABS light problem after they botched the install of the brake controller.

You towed a hand full of times after that, and put many other non-towing miles on the vehicle without any ABS problems.

You now have an ABS light and traction control light and Honda has informed you a wheel sensor is bad.

So, start by buying a can of "Brake Kleen" jack up the wheel with the bad sensor, remove it, and blast the contents of the can into the speed sensor's business end, as will as into the toothed collar that it reads off of.  Follow that with compressed air if you have an air compressor.  Put the wheel back on and go for a drive.  The ABS light my not cancel on it's own, if it considers the problem a hard fault (a real component failure), or if the speed sensor is actually bad internally.  So the problem may not go away......but you've at least ruled out contamination by cleaning.

You may still need to cancel the ABS light for the system to function correctly.

You have a couple options:
1) //www.autohausaz.com and similar websites will sell wheel speed sensors, should you want to replace it

2) you can borrow the code reader at places like Autozone and read your own fault codes and clear them to see if they come back or stay cleared.

3) you can buy nice code reading software online and on ebay, along with the on board diagnostic (OBD) interface cable that connects from the vehicle to your laptop, and then you can read codes just like the big boys.

So one step at a time if you want to DIY.  Or, let Honda do what they do best, and you do what you do best.

[wavery]

I know this is a PU forum but I have a related tow vehicle problem.  My TV is a Honda Odyssey 2004.  It has about 75,000 miles.  I've towed for one year 6 or 7 times.  

My ABS light and TCS (traction control) lights are coming on intermittently.  I even felt the ABS working at parking lot speeds once.  I took it in this morning and theres a whole bunch wrong with my brakes, but what is making the ABS lite come on is a bad wheel sensor (front left).  So the guy quoted me $167 for that.  Yikes.  So I told them to fix everything but that.  So now I'm doing my research.  I think it may just need a cleaning, which I could probably do myself.  

The reason I'm posting here is because when I first got my PU last year the dealer installed a brake controller.  Shortly after my ABS came on and stayed on.  I took it back and they said they did something wrong and were able to fix it.  Well, about a year later now i have to wonder if its related.  What do you all think?

One more question is this.  When hooking up the PU and you plug in the electrical should the ignition be off?  If it's not what are the potential trouble?  Thanks and sorry for the long post.  I just get wierd when my brakes don't work right!

This part bothers me some........ "when I first got my PU last year the dealer installed a brake controller. Shortly after my ABS came on and stayed on."

I would find out if they spliced into your wiring (with Scotchlocks) to install the brake controller or used the factory plug. When you say, "Dealer", do you mean the Honda Dealer or the PU dealer? If it was the PU dealer, you could have a real problem.

ABS can be very voltage sensitive. If they spliced into your factory wiring harness, there could be a problem there. If they spliced in the first time, then used the factory harness the 2nd time, there could still be a problem with where they put the splice the 1st time. Different ohm readings (resistance) tell the ABS computer different things. If the resistance is higher or lower than specs (maybe caused by a few tiny strands of wire being cut or corroded) that could trigger a fault.

I would take it to the Honda dealer and have them explore your wiring.

It is "best" to plug in your trailer with the ignition off. There is a remote chance of blowing a fuse if you plug in with the ignition on due to arching.

[Dray]

Thanks for the replies.  It was the PU dealer who installed the brake controller.   I'll check to see how they did it.