Hello,
I have a 2004 1500 Silverado with ABS disk brakes in front and drums in the rear. No matter what speed I travel at I have no problems slowing down. The problem is trying to stop. When I get to around 7 mph the brake pedal starts fighting me. It pushes back against my foot and has a grinding/crunching sound. I thought it was due to my warped rotors, so I replaced them. The bake pads look fine. I even replaced both wheel speed sensor for the ABS. After all that, nothing changed. The other day upon braking the ABS and brake lights came on at the same time. There was a message saying "service brake system". Has anyone else run into this problem? If so what did you do to repair it? I would really like to keep it out of the shop. Money is tight and I am fairly mechanically inclined.

Thanks,
Tom

 

Tom, the first thing to do with an ABS problem is get the codes read out. Without codes, you are shooting in the dark.

Gerald

 

The ABS light is not on now, but is the code still there?

 

The code will be stored in the history even though the light may not be on. As Gerald suggested, you need to get the codes read to give you a good starting point.

 

i learned about ABS in class today..

what usually is the problem 80% of the time is the wheel speed sensor when your light kicks on the circuit is reading wrong signals or there is no signal..

when the light for your ABS kicks on it actually disables your ABS to prevent it from trying to brake while you are driving. and when your pedal grinds and pulsates THAT IS NORMAL!! most people dont know that the pulsating is your ABS at work preventing your wheeling from locking..

now this is how ABS works. a computer constantly monitors all of your wheel speeds while you are braking. If one wheel is going slower than the other your ABS kicks in and controls your brakes from there. How does ABS control your brakes? good question when that one wheel is going slower and about to lock up your ABS takes fluid pressure away from your caliper holds it waits for it to speed up and then puts the pressure back into your caliper about 15 times per second...thats why your pedal pulsates

 

Nicely explained Wiked but I think in his case, there is a bit more going on, especially since he mentioned that it's slowing down ok but at a certain speed it has the difficulty. I'd be shooting blind to say for sure what the problem is but it sounds like a bad wheel sensor.

 

at faster speeds ABS kicks in

ABS doesn't make you slow down faster it makes you stop in a longer distance so you dont lock up your rear tires

also bad sensors will kick on his light

 

Exactly but it doesn't sound like he is applying enough pedal pressure to engage the ABS, that's what I was getting at

 

I have a 2004 silverado with abs brakes. When I start my truck for the first time and i take off ,when I hit the brakes they will start to slow the truck but if I slam on the brakes it only slows the truck to a stop and does not lock them up. After I drive the truck for a few miles then I notice the brakes working and when I lay on the brakes hard it will then stop immeidiatley. The truck gives me no warning lights at all. Has anyone heard of this issue?

 

Both wheel sensors were replaced. The left sensor was replaced last July and the right one was replaced last week. I read on-line to pull the abs fuse and see if the ginding sound goes away. So I did, the truck stops without a peep. I am going to get the code read this weekend. Hopefuly I can get to the bottom of this. Is it ok to drive it with the fuse out? I realize it is not ideal but I have no other vehicle. Obviously, I won't be hauling nor towing anything, just light daily driving. Do the rear drums have wheel sensors? Thanks for all the info and replies.

Tom