Trailer ABS light issue

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by Oneeighty7, Feb 7, 2020.

  1. Oneeighty7

    Oneeighty7 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 6, 2020
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    Hello All. I'm new to this forum and figured I'd try it out to help me get answer or two and see how useful this forum can be. Any help is greatly appreciated. I have a trailer ABS light that came on a couple weeks ago and doesn't always turn off after disconnecting my trailer. Sometimes It stays on for hours after. Any idea what this means or how to fix it? Thanks.
     
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  3. P71Tech

    P71Tech Bobtail Member

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    Do you have a scan tool to connect to it? I would think that just based on that, that there would be a fault code present. Does the trailer have an aux. battery/power supply hooked to it?
     
  4. Hulld

    Hulld Road Train Member

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    First thing is to jack up the trailer and check all the wheel hubs for play.
    Loose or bad wheel bearings can cause intermittent abs lights because of varying sensor air gaps.
    Also not sure on what abs system you have but the wabco system on my trailer will blink out trouble codes that are helpful for diagnostics.
     
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  5. xsetra

    xsetra Road Train Member

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    I've never seen an ABS trailer light stay on after the trailer pigtail is disconnected.
    Or do you mean the ABS light on the dash of truck?
    What brand trailer and ABS do you have.
     
  6. stillwurkin

    stillwurkin Road Train Member

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    Must be the tractor dash. Friend of mine has one and it stays on in his truck till he shuts it off and restarts it. ABS is a joke, and extra trouble IMO. Just a money maker for DOT.
     
  7. xsetra

    xsetra Road Train Member

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    My last truck. Dash ABS was lit for 3 years. Once, was brought up during an inspection. No warning or ticket.
    It's not an OOS issue.
     
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  8. stillwurkin

    stillwurkin Road Train Member

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    Not in the good old state of Ohio. Mine was working intermittently. As luck would have it, got pulled over and he wrote it up. Think it was 120 or 150 dollar fine and some csa points. That was probably 4 yrs ago. Just lately got stopped in the same area.( Pa- Ohio line on the turnpike wb) he sure checked abs light. Different guy. Had me switch ignition switch on and off so he could see it light up and go off. Saving lives enforcing that abs.
     
  9. UsualSuspect

    UsualSuspect Road Train Member

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    Try plugging in, listen for the ABS self-check, then unplug the pigtail 5 times. If it's a Meritor System you will see the ABS light flash when you plug it in the 6th time, then hear the ABS self check. It resets the Meritor ABS Module if it has old codes in it. If it still stays on, go back to the rear axles, check and make sure the sensors not loose where it goes into the inside of the hub by the tire, and check the other connections by the ABS box.
     
  10. xsetra

    xsetra Road Train Member

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    Abs manual
     

    Attached Files:

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  11. Rideandrepair

    Rideandrepair Road Train Member

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    Try this, Key on, key off, key on,key off, key on, count the flashes, get the code. Look it up. May need to get a look at the module, on trailer, to get the direction the module is mounted in. To read codes properly.
     
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