Ford Explorer: RABS Puzzle .....

I went down a steep hill maybe 6 mo. ago (I'm near San Francisco), and
by the time I got to the bottom I had a lot of brake fade, severe pulling to
left, and some smoke and a lot of burning brake fluid smell coming from the
Right Front Tire/Brake. I went shopping and let things cool off. There was
still a bit of pulling but the brakes worked again.

I made a mental note to have them looked at, but they weren't really
pulling much at all after that and I didn't do anything more about it (yeah,
yeah, procrastination....).

A week ago the slight pulling Stopped!!! The brakes have never worked
better !@!@!

OK, here is the first part of the mystery: Right about the time the
brakes miraculously cured themselves, I get BOTH the Break Warning AND ABS
warning lights coming on and staying on !!!! (The ABS flashes off for a
moment and then comes on again when I start up).

First thing I did was check the fluid, which didn't need topping up.

I did a bit of net research and found instructions to ground the single
wire by the foot parking brake pedal, and then turn on power (but not start)
the car to initiate RABS code read-outs (I DO have the code list).

Now things get stranger: I am not getting ANY code read-out at all (16
flashes is supposed to be normal, but I'm not getting ANY flashes!).

I had the brakes looked at and there is NOTHING that seems to be wrong
with them. The mechanic concluded that there is probably a bad sensor
somewhere or a wiring fault. I have a '92. I am not going to put money
into this just to get these lights to go out. I would like to have these
lights go off, so they would have some utility, however small, in informing
me of REAL problems in the future.

The only cheap/quick fix I can think of so far is to take out the light
bulb under these warning lights

ANYBODY HAVE ANY BETTER IDEAS FOR ME ????

TIA,

Bob G

PS: Bonus Questions ( ): I don't seem to be getting the hill
holding on my automatic transmission that I used to (a bit of back sliding
on the steepest hills unless I use the brake -- Is that indicative of some
problems ??? (My idle is normal).

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Jim !! I shall investigate further....

Bob




"Jim Warman" <net> wrote in message
news:ys6bb.4800$telusplanet.net... 
car 
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