Dear Forum Members,
I'm in a nightmare that has kept my 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 5.2 8 out of commission for the last 11 months. The ABS light is on and it won't go off. It has been on since my previous mechanic removed the Viper Alarm system which the installers had linked into the ABS system. He ripped it all out and the only issue was the ABS light was on but, since NYState no longer cared about ABS lights on that year car I let it slide. I moved to VT in 2014 and the car passed inspection - VT didn't care either. Last year they changed the law!!!
I brought the car to our local high school which has a great program for teaching young mechanics and after 3 months the issue persists. Sensors have been checked, etc. and the head mechanic even went so far as to replace the computer, (which I had previously done for stalling issues) but, no avail the light is still on. Can anyone help? They are still seeking a solution. Thanks so much in advance. Thomas

 

First, welcome to the forum!

Without any test results or knowing what has been checked/tested/replaced this is a giant shot in the dark. I'd suggest taking your vehicle to an actual shop and not a high school.

 

I've got a problem where my ABS light flashes on and off constantly. I only noticed it after switching over to LEDs - either it has something to do with LEDs lighting up with less power, or the old bulb was bad.

All that to say, this is about 4th on my list of things to fix, so I'll get back to you with any findings if you don't have an answer by then!

 

Welcome to the forum!

The DRB II should be plugged into the ABS connector to discover the fault codes that are making the system unhappy.

 

Maybe you can get an exemption because the vehicle was built before the law went into effect. Check with your DMV. Now you've got me worried because my 2000 is in the same boat. It's going to cost me $300 for a new control unit if NY changes the law.

 

When I brought it in for inspection the last March, and it failed, they all explained that the laws had changed. Now VT was not accepting any warning lights on any cars. I did some research around town and heard fairly consistently that the state was squeezing older care owners to get the older cars off the road. Given the amount of Jeeps still on the road I was rather surprised. Of course, if I had charged the original mechanic who created this mess to get the light to go off it would have been his problem, instead of mine. I don't have the funds to pay a pro - to spend hours and hours and hours trying to right this wrong, after having spliced into the ABS system for power for the damn Viper Alarm System. So, I opted to get free labor and be very patient. Its been put through the scanning the codes etc, and all seems to be fine, yet the light stays on. I came here of course to seek out greater wisdom, I'd love to get her back on the road. I've made a lot of repairs over the years, I'm only the 2nd owner, and the car is in great shape other wise. Thanks again for your attention.

 

The Teves ABS system in the '94 ZJ will retain a fault code for a repaired fault for 50 ignition cycles, unless cleared by the DRB II scan tool.

 

Yes, I've read this in other posts about this issue. I appreciate you mentioning it again. I'll be going over to the shop tomorrow and bringing up some of the points brought up - this one included. However, if it's a short, due to the issue with the alarm system - I wondered if the ABS light would go out if the issue with the wiring was found and fixed. I will double check if the codes were cleared or not. Thanks so much, Thomas

 

I stopped by the shop today and found out the following: They got a used ABS module because there was no communication between the ABS plug and the scanner. So, no codes have come through. They have gone through the complete wiring etc. traced every wire and have not been able to figure out why the light won't go off.

Given that there is no information coming from the ABS module, although tests to the pump have shown that it works fine, they decided to get a used module from our local junk yard. Yet, there was no success.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the system would not be sending information to the data link connector? Thanks as always for your help. Thomas

 

I had an issue with the ABS light on my 95 ZJ. It came on after I replaced the hood release cable. I poked around under the dashboard on the drivers side and found a wheel speed sensor plug disconnected.

 

Might be a sensor, not a big deal. If you feel the ABS working it's not a problem, and you don't really have to replace the sensor if you don't want to... as long as the ABS functions it's fine.