princesamichelle

Short story: Was stuck in snow/slush, had cable chains on two front tires. One of the chains got loose and was pulled and stuck onto brake. Immediately the ABS and Brake lights came on. We finally got cables off, then on again properly, car was driving fine except the lights remain on and the brake pedal only stops all the way to the floor board with no resistance whatsoever. We parked it and got a ride home from friends. I don't think it's faulty ABS module as we've never had any problems with it before. Might it be the snow chain got caught and pulled one of the sensors...is that possible even? I would like to figure this out before dropping 3 grand on a service if I can do it myself. Should I purchase a diagnostic tool or have somebody read the code to see if it's a sensor or is there somewhere I could tell myself if it's physically pulled off or something.

Also, the main screen in the middle of the dashboard where it shows if a door is open and speed etc...is kind of going wacky (along with the problems above) and it sort of shows two concentric circles but since parts of the lights are out I'm not sure what that means.

Yippers®

Check the brake line on that wheel?

myers1.8TQ

I'd go with a brake line. When you go back to it, check for fluid on the ground or wheel well

Guest

Hydraulic Brake line/Brake pad sensor wire/ABS Speed Sensor wire... Triple Whammy

princesamichelle

Thanks for the quick responses. I didn't see any fluid on the ground, but again, it was snowy and slushy and night time. I will go back to it and see if there is any fluid visible but I imagine it might be melted out of snow by the time I get back. I'm new to the DIY repairing...so would the fluid be visible in the wheel wells...if so where? I know what it looks like (light amber color right)...but am afraid that with snow/rain it might be hard to distinguish...and finally would I have to pull the tire off to see the fluid?

Yippers®

That would be my guess as well.

Guest

A hydraulic hose that connects to the brake caliper (brake line), a thin wire that clips into your brake pads (pad sensor), and finally a wire that snakes through the big steel suspension upright and attaches to a metal cylinder behind the rotor (ABS wheel speed sensor)... Check which ones look mangled.

myers1.8TQ

It wouldnt be too hard to just pull the wheel and check the brake line and/or brake pad/ABS sensor

princesamichelle

Thank you! I will go back to it and check it out tomorrow in the daylight assuming there is no more snow/rain. Hopefully it's just the brake line and I'll just have to get a mechanic to do a new brake line, flush and bleed system. What a night! I will post tomorrow once I figure out which line got yanked.

myers1.8TQ

Be sure to let us know, we will be able to help some more Im sure. Farly easy to replace any of them