Strangest thing with my 2002 LS ABS/ATrac/Speedometer

NorCalNorse

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Moraga, California
Hi everyone - hoping to get some advice on a strange issue.
I have a 2002 LS going on 400k miles. Its been mine since she was a young thing at 30k. I have had to take care of many an issue over the years. Used to be able to care of her a lot better, but finances have prevented me from doing some things.
This one thing has had to do with the ABS/ATrac/Brake warning lights that came on about two years ago during a heavy rainy season here in Nor California. These came on while driving, along with the Speedometer not working. i would get to my destination and turn car off for awhile, Get back in and all would be well for awhile. About 15 minutes of driving and the same thing would happen. This went on intermittently for a couple months, and then the lights would never go off and the speedometer never worked again. This also meant that my mileage indicator flatlined, along with the milage until out of gas etc. stopped working - which made sense since the speedometer was not working. Never noticed any issues with driving, just the annoying warning lights staring at me and no speedometer. Mechanic said don't worry about as long as I was ok with it - just did not have the $$ to spend cuz of new wife and the four kids i took on, college for two of them etc. I just figured I would keep driving until she would not go anymore.
Fast forward to about a month ago - while starting my car all of a sudden the warning lights were gone and the speedometer started to work - for about 5 to 10 seconds - all while the Adv. Trac light would go on and off repeatedly - and then back to warning lights back on and no speedometer. This has now happened about four times the past month. Why would it want to start working out of no where???!! It literally has not worked AT ALL for these past years.
Is it trying to revive itself back to life? Does this indicate that is issue could possibly be a simple as a fuse? Bad wiring??
Back when I contacted my mechanic he thought the entire cluster had to be replaced (one reason I did not try to get fixed - that was costly and no guarantee to fix). But now Im wondering if something else is going on. Like a Ghost is tampering with it.
A bit of info - back when this started during heavy rains, I had just gotten the notorious water leak from the sun roof that leaked a lot of water down my passenger A frame.
Thoughts anyone? If a module, why would it want to start working again, all but for a few seconds, out of nowhere after such a long time? WIERD!!
 
Hi everyone - hoping to get some advice on a strange issue.
I have a 2002 LS going on 400k miles. Its been mine since she was a young thing at 30k. I have had to take care of many an issue over the years. Used to be able to care of her a lot better, but finances have prevented me from doing some things.
This one thing has had to do with the ABS/ATrac/Brake warning lights that came on about two years ago during a heavy rainy season here in Nor California. These came on while driving, along with the Speedometer not working. i would get to my destination and turn car off for awhile, Get back in and all would be well for awhile. About 15 minutes of driving and the same thing would happen. This went on intermittently for a couple months, and then the lights would never go off and the speedometer never worked again. This also meant that my mileage indicator flatlined, along with the milage until out of gas etc. stopped working - which made sense since the speedometer was not working. Never noticed any issues with driving, just the annoying warning lights staring at me and no speedometer. Mechanic said don't worry about as long as I was ok with it - just did not have the $$ to spend cuz of new wife and the four kids i took on, college for two of them etc. I just figured I would keep driving until she would not go anymore.
Fast forward to about a month ago - while starting my car all of a sudden the warning lights were gone and the speedometer started to work - for about 5 to 10 seconds - all while the Adv. Trac light would go on and off repeatedly - and then back to warning lights back on and no speedometer. This has now happened about four times the past month. Why would it want to start working out of no where???!! It literally has not worked AT ALL for these past years.
Is it trying to revive itself back to life? Does this indicate that is issue could possibly be a simple as a fuse? Bad wiring??
Back when I contacted my mechanic he thought the entire cluster had to be replaced (one reason I did not try to get fixed - that was costly and no guarantee to fix). But now Im wondering if something else is going on. Like a Ghost is tampering with it.
A bit of info - back when this started during heavy rains, I had just gotten the notorious water leak from the sun roof that leaked a lot of water down my passenger A frame.
Thoughts anyone? If a module, why would it want to start working again, all but for a few seconds, out of nowhere after such a long time? WIERD!!
How old are your wheel speed sensors?
 
The ABS module determines the car's speed (using the wheel speed sensors) and sends it via the can bus to the PCM and cluster. Get away from that "mechanic," he has no idea how this car works if he thought it was the gauge cluster!

Get a Ford specific scan tool, like Forscan (cost very little), and see what ABS codes you get and we can help from there. Also, there is a known problem with the wiring at the front right of the car getting wet and corroding and causing problems like yours.

Stay away from anyone who wants to guess at it. Get the codes and we can help with the pinpoint testing to determine if it is sensors or wiring.
 
The ABS module determines the car's speed (using the wheel speed sensors) and sends it via the can bus to the PCM and cluster. Get away from that "mechanic," he has no idea how this car works if he thought it was the gauge cluster!

Get a Ford specific scan tool, like Forscan (cost very little), and see what ABS codes you get and we can help from there. Also, there is a known problem with the wiring at the front right of the car getting wet and corroding and causing problems like yours.

Stay away from anyone who wants to guess at it. Get the codes and we can help with the pinpoint testing to determine if it is sensors or wiring.
thanks Joegr! Going to get the app - What is the difference between the FORScan Lite and the FORScan Viewer? Also - which of the following adaptors do you recommend for connecting to my 2002 LS ?:
  • ELM327-compatible (fully compatible with original ELM327, please see important note below)
  • J2534 Pass-Thru
  • CANtieCAR (in "FORScan" mode)
  • OBDLink SX/MX (STN11xx)
  • ELS27 (STN1170)
Once i get the codes Ill be back - really appreciate your help/advice - And ill be dropping my mechanic!
 
Original speed sensors! Question - are you referring to the speed sensor that attaches to the Transmission? or the four ABS sensors on each wheel? Either way they are all the originals.
I was asking about the speed/ABS sensors that attach to each wheel...They usually serve the Advancetrak system better when you make sure the sensor connectors are free of any dirt/debri and put a tiny bit of di-electro grease on the terminal pins if the Wheel hub ABS sensors are failing or failed it will trigger the advancetrak system warning light obviously but if these get wet or dirty as mine did in the winter of 2017 due to lots of snow/slush and everything in between the warning light will turn on at cold start and after warming up the light will go off after second start...Joe has you going the right direction as usual ...get the codes and go from there...Best of luck
 
The sensor on the transmission is used only for the transmission. The wheel speed sensors are used for everything else. I can't recommend an adapter, other than it needs to be CAN. The PC version lets you do the most with it, and it is free (you just have to ask them). That said, the Android version should do what you need.
 
The PC version lets you do the most with it, and it is free (you just have to ask them). That said, the Android version should do what you need.

The Windows version has everything up front except extended PATS control. It should read all the codes/statuses from the start and give you control over most of the modules

The Android and iOS versions read the same info, but don't provide any controls

thanks Joegr! Going to get the app - What is the difference between the FORScan Lite and the FORScan Viewer? Also - which of the following adaptors do you recommend for connecting to my 2002 LS ?:

I can't tell if Viewer is a stripped version of Lite. I have Android, so I can't help you there, as Viewer is only for iOS. But since Viewer is free, it would make sense to just get Viewer and see if it does what's needed. It looks like a code-only app

As for adapters, most are generic and they change every few months. All you can really do is go by reviews from reputable sites that have good return policies [amazon]. The expensive ones ($40+) often lock you into their apps. Assuming you do have iOS, you'll need a wifi version of the adapter
 
Thinking I get this one - thought its $99.00
OBDLink MX+ Professional OBD2 Scanner for iPhone, iPad, Android & Windows

A bit expensive - I will do a bit more research on adaptors. Lots of them out there! And FDR - your correct. WiFi only for the adaptor when using the iPhone version of the application. Thats a good catch!

Thanks so much everyone for your valuable input - hope to come back soon with some codes!
 
I purchased the ELM327 a couple of months ago and it will not read the wheel sensor fault even when the fault is active. I have an intermittent Trac control fault which is likely a bad wheel sensor and wanted to know which one. Searching for a better option for my Android.
 
I purchased the ELM327 a couple of months ago and it will not read the wheel sensor fault even when the fault is active. I have an intermittent Trac control fault which is likely a bad wheel sensor and wanted to know which one. Searching for a better option for my Android.

What app are you using? Normal OBDII apps will only read check engine P codes. Forscan is a $4 (or free?) app that can read the B and C codes. Both of my generic OBDII adapters read those codes through Forscan, but it's possible I just got lucky
 

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