ABS and Trac lights on - brake pedal grinding

GladysFL · Post by **GladysFL** » 17 Aug 2012, 20:41

I have a 1999 V70 with 153K miles. I live in Maryland.

About a week ago my brake pedal had a sick, grinding vibration as I was pulling out of a parking spot (low speed). This vibration was similar to when my transmission failed, but not as prolonged (only lasted a second or two). A day later the ABS and Trac lights came on. The lights were out the next time I drove the car. Once more I had the brake vibration, but the lights did not come on. This evening they came on again when I started up the car, but no vibration.

No other symptoms, no recent repairs other than an evap issue a couple of months ago.

I rely on a local mechanic for repairs. He's not a Volvo specialist, but so far he's done a decent job. Questions are:

-should I trust the local guy or is this a Volvo dealer-type repair (the latter probably sending me over to the sales floor)?
-should I assume it's the module and have Module Master rebuild it and ask my mechanic to reinstall it?
-how expensive is this repair? (I am in that zone of deciding to repair or replace, as the repairs have almost caught up to a potential new car payment. My husband wants me to replace with a Japanese car, but I can't see me allowing that!)

Thank you for any advice you can provide!

Post by **jblackburn** » 17 Aug 2012, 20:49

Take off both of the front wheels, grab an old toothbrush and some Simple Green or carb cleaner. Clean the ABS sensor and reluctance rings on the axle on each wheel, and put it back together. If that doesn't work, then send the module off.

Your case just sounds like dirty sensors moreso than a bad module to me.

GladysFL · Post by **GladysFL** » 17 Aug 2012, 20:59

Sounds easy enough that my electrical engineer husband might even be able to do it!

Thanks!

Post by **Matty Moo** » 17 Aug 2012, 23:55

agreed with the above. I'd tell anybody to rule out as much as they can before throwing money at it. The bummer with a 99 is that you can't use an ohmmeter to diagnose like you can on a 96-98, but you can still check things out.

Have him scan it. Any codes are going to stay stored in the module from when the lights came on. If he comes up with a LF wheel sensor and/or pump motor code, bank on it being the module. The LF is right on the corner of the board and is almost always the first to crack....if it's the module.

If he can't scan a Volvo for ABS codes, find a different mechanic.