Does engine vacuum play a role in ABS? Sorry if this is a dumb Q but on my 96 Monte Carlo the ABS light comes on solid (meaning no ABS, not lost brakes) but only if I get on the throttle, if you can call it that in this car.

So when engine vac. drops the ABS light comes on. It resets after being shutdown and restarted. Brakes are ok but this started happening after the manifold gaskets and water pump were replaced. Shop is giving me the run around "We dont see anything wrong" and would like to charge me to find the problem.

Any clues on where to look?

When the ABS light is on, there is usally a DTC logged. Have the car scanned for codes, if the shop hasn't already done that. That will point you in the right direction.

A common condition on those cars is when the ABS reluctor ring on the CV joint cracks from rust building up under it.

This usually throws a code for excessive wheel speed variation.

C1225 - LF Wheel speed excessive variation
C1226 - RF Wheel speed excessive variation

Another thought...the connector for the RF wheel speed sensor is located in the engine compartment near the engine belt. The harness may have been damaged, or disturbed during the previous repair. Check it out.

Awesome, thank you. graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/beers.gif

Too much horsepower to the wheels is the problem tongue.gif

Yo Beaux, I have an OBD II scanner that'll scan and clear codes. It worked on my S-10 like a champ the other day when a code was thrown. Let me know if you need to use it. Scanner only works if the Check Engine Light is on though..

Originally posted by Alan:
Too much horsepower to the wheels is the problem tongue.gif

Yo Beaux, I have an OBD II scanner that'll scan and clear codes. It worked on my S-10 like a champ the other day when a code was thrown. Let me know if you need to use it. Scanner only works if the Check Engine Light is on though.. I thought about the horsepower issue and detuned it (had a chip burned to hamper performance cause the sucker is just flat out squirelly off the line)

I will work on getting the check engine light to come on, shouldnt be a problem. Remove airfilter, put in one dirty plug, put a sock over the throttle body and i'll dump some Kool Aid in my rad. I'll keep you posted. smile.gif

The scanner might come in handy.