ABS/Brake light's on, Zero Calibration doesn't work.

S

SprockCapn

New member
I have done the zero calibration, and the lights stay on most of the time. They are weird though. It seems like a short somewhere, because sometimes the lights will go off and the traction control/abs brakes will start working again. BUt eventually the lights come back on. The lights were off for awhile and I noticed I was getting way better gas milage.... any ideas of what I can do to fix this? The gas milage makes me wonder if its a problem with the O2 sensor.

Any advice would be awesome... I have been battling this problem for a long time. Thanks.
 
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When my ABS/Brake lights were on, the problem was a broken ABS sensor wire. Lights went on and off intermittently until finally they stayed on.

What codes does it throw? I got mine scanned by a local garage. I tried AutoZone but whatever scanner they use did not show the ABS/brake codes.
 
sonerick said:
When my ABS/Brake lights were on, the problem was a broken ABS sensor wire. Lights went on and off intermittently until finally they stayed on.

What codes does it throw? I got mine scanned by a local garage. I tried AutoZone but whatever scanner they use did not show the ABS/brake codes.
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Your lights sound similar to mine. Are all 4 lights on in the L Shape? I cant think of what the other two lights are off the top of my head.
Is the ABS sensor wire near the wheels?

I will have to check that out. I tried to pull codes, but the check engine light isn't on so it didn't give me any.
 
Yes, all 4 lights were on (VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, TRAC, ABS). No check engine light, so no codes from my ScanGauge.

There is an ABS sensor at each wheel. You will see a wire running from the engine bay down the steering knuckle and connected to the sensors on the front wheels. The rears are probably a little bit different.

There are some diagnostic procedures listed in the FSM that involve shorting two pins (like in the Zero Point Calibration) and interpreting the resulting sequence of blinking lights on the dash to identify the exact problem triggering the dash lights. It could be a few different things....ABS sensors, sensor wires, the HydraBoost unit, etc. If visual inspection does not turn up anything, I would do a little bit more diagnostic work before moving ahead and replacing any parts.
 
SprockCapn said:
I have done the zero calibration, and the lights stay on most of the time. They are weird though. It seems like a short somewhere, because sometimes the lights will go off and the traction control/abs brakes will start working again. BUt eventually the lights come back on. The lights were off for awhile and I noticed I was getting way better gas milage.... any ideas of what I can do to fix this? The gas milage makes me wonder if its a problem with the O2 sensor.

Any advice would be awesome... I have been battling this problem for a long time. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Not to insult but are you sure you're doing the calibration properly? Also like others have mentioned it sounds like a bad connection or sensor since it goes in and out.
 
I don't think the ABS light usually comes on when the Zero Point Calibration gets erased. At least it didn't for me.
 
sonerick said:
I don't think the ABS light usually comes on when the Zero Point Calibration gets erased. At least it didn't for me.
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No you're correct, I do remember hearing for some people it did. I guess I meant was the zero point being done properly when the lights were on.
 
sonerick said:
Yes, all 4 lights were on (VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, TRAC, ABS). No check engine light, so no codes from my ScanGauge.

There is an ABS sensor at each wheel. You will see a wire running from the engine bay down the steering knuckle and connected to the sensors on the front wheels. The rears are probably a little bit different.

There are some diagnostic procedures listed in the FSM that involve shorting two pins (like in the Zero Point Calibration) and interpreting the resulting sequence of blinking lights on the dash to identify the exact problem triggering the dash lights. It could be a few different things....ABS sensors, sensor wires, the HydraBoost unit, etc. If visual inspection does not turn up anything, I would do a little bit more diagnostic work before moving ahead and replacing any parts.
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Thanks, this is helpful. I have tried the zero point calibration several times and read the instructions word for word with no luck. I will have to inspect all the wires. That seems the most likely to me since my car seems to like to get electrical shorts in it. THanks for all your help. I will have to try this and report back on my findings!
 
Well, I took all the wheels off and tonight and followed all of the abs sensors and wires and couldn't find anything that looked wrong/broken. I have been fighting this issue for awhile and just figured out it is killing my mpg when the lights are on. I think I'm throwing in the towel and calling the Toyota dealership in the morning. If anyone has another ideas I would be open for them :-) thanks for everyone's help today.
 
Just to be clear as it was not mentioned, your MIL (Malfunction Indicator Lamp aka "Check Engine Light" ) is not on, but the ABS, VSC, TRAC lights are all lit up? You need to have someone with an ABS/VSC Capable OBDII scantool pull the codes from the vehicle to better understand what the issue at hand is. It does sound as if it could be a sensor issue due to the intermittent nature of the problem.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
Just to be clear as it was not mentioned, your MIL (Malfunction Indicator Lamp aka "Check Engine Light" ) is not on, but the ABS, VSC, TRAC lights are all lit up? You need to have someone with an ABS/VSC Capable OBDII scantool pull the codes from the vehicle to better understand what the issue at hand is. It does sound as if it could be a sensor issue due to the intermittent nature of the problem.
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What kind of place would have a scan tool that would read those codes?
 
SprockCapn said:
Well, I took all the wheels off and tonight and followed all of the abs sensors and wires and couldn't find anything that looked wrong/broken. I have been fighting this issue for awhile and just figured out it is killing my mpg when the lights are on. I think I'm throwing in the towel and calling the Toyota dealership in the morning. If anyone has another ideas I would be open for them :-) thanks for everyone's help today.
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Keep us posted.

As I mentioned, you can use procedures listed in the FSM to perform the diagnosis yourself. It's as easy as doing the Zero Pt. Cal. Honestly it took more time to find the procedure in the FSM than to perform the diagnostic procedure.

For testing procedure, refer to document 038004.pdf in the service manual sticky in this forum.

For the front speed sensor testing procedures, refer to document 0380011.pdf in the service manual sticky
 
SprockCapn said:
I'm hoping Toyota! But I'm not sure.
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I'm not familiar with Scan Gauge products but BW is correct. Basic scan tools usually just read the generic OBDII powertrain portion of the system. You won't get non-MIL info on other systems like; ABS, airbags, seatbelts, enhanced powertrain, instrument cluster, blah blah blah.

I've had AutoEnginuity for about 4 years now with the Ford, BMW and Toyota Enhanced interfaces. I mostly like it. One reason: because it functions as a basic OBDIII for almost every brand vehicle but once you've purchased the base product, you can upgrade to the enhanced interfaces fairly cheap. It doesn't have the complete functionality of a manufacturer's specific tool but it's close. And the "live data" sensor reading is very handy esp. with O2 sensors.

Also check out Toyota Techstream. I don't know everything it does but it's been talked about a lot here.

A dealer obviously has the factory scanner. Don't know if the Autozone's or Pep Boys or Napa's do but my local Napa guy does.

ADDED:

I just remembered that I had problems getting my old 2003 4G to hold the zero point. After some research I found this:

http://www.yotatech.com/f193/yaw-rate-acceleration-sensor-zero-point-calibration-219300/

Performing the DAC calibration solved my problem.







.
 
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