Yep, my traction light was on as well, even though it was the rear. Do the rotors look shiny/wearing even? My rear rotors were rusted, and basically my fronts were doing all the work, in return sending ABS error.

 

Interesting. On a system that is supposed to use the wheel speed sensor to determine if a wheel is spinning faster due to less friction, it also notices when the brakes aren't functioning properly.

 

If the rear brakes weren't working (frozen) the pressure differential between front and rear could have triggered the ABS light. If there's a problem with the ABS it will disable traction control and illuminate the Trac Control light.

 

however, the thing that everyone keeps missing is the MIL message is saying service traction system and is set only under hard acceleration.

it is NOT happening when braking or slowing down or any other time, only under HARD acceleration.


and the brakes are not frozen in the rear, they actually look quite nice. front pads are worn and need replaced soon, there is no grinding going on and the rotors look nice.

 

see, i was thinking the speed sensor too. isnt that the sensor on the passenger side of the back of the trans?

 

There are wheel speed sensors and a speed sensor. The speed sensor on the transmission is a completely different part.

 

How does the pressure differential affect a magnetic pickup coil?

 

{i know the fronts are slightly low, so i will certainly check those and the rears, however, keep in mind that the traction control system is the main error, and i think that the ABS is a result of the code being thrown for the traction system.


though, i am not sure how low brake pads work on the traction control system.
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in my experience over the past 3 years with struggling to get my damn lights off, learning how the system works, replacing part after part and listening to others, i can say that your traction and abs are almost one. The sensor as you know is in the hub and it runs thru the ABS pump which is all run thru the computer. the hub also lets you know when you have low tire pressure. If there is bad connections, or a bad hub the whole system will give you issue. the ABS cannot be effected by itself, and the traction control cannot be effected by itself. The only difference they have is the spinning of the tire. ABS stops the tire, traction helps it go. The "service traction system" is the whole system of traction and ABS. the hubs are the heart of the system. when your doing "hard acceleration" your front tires (since it is front wheel drive) will be the first to move. if your front tires are moving faster than the back, your traction system will pinpoint the area not moving, using the abs system to "regain" control of the tires on the ground so that they all spin at the same rate. lights will be triggered if there is a failure for the system to do this.

If you have a loose wire, or bad ground it will offset the whole system. this wire could be anywhere. check under the hood near the abs pump (we had to reroute this one on my monte) then check the one on the front driver side of the engine (we had to reroute this one as well) triple check all the wires going to and from all the hubs (your best bet would be to do this with an Ohm meter) clean the harness connectors real good. if you have confirmed that all wires are good then its time to move on to other things. which you said you replaced the front. check the back. i have 4 wheel disc brakes in my 03 so i have 4 hubs. i currently have a hub i have to replace simply because my hub accidentally tore a wire out of one while trying to get my new struts and springs put in, so now i have my abs, trac off, and service traction light comes on intermittently to remind me it needs "repaired". until i have the time and money it will stay like that. Low pads will heat up the rotor faster triggering lights. bad calipers will as well. i am not a huge fan of the hubs having the sensors in them since it is so easy to rip a wire out and then its junk, but what can you do?

 

thanks for the info nightmagic.

the ground under the airbox has been redone when the top swap was done, so i know that is good. i will double check the wires and the connections this weekend when its almost 60*, finally. i am also planning on putting on new pads this weekend my parts shipment shows up on friday.

i am just hoping its not the abs pump or rear hubs. though the rear hubs wouldnt be surprising if they were shot. the fronts had never been replaced and had over 220k.

 

Sorry I misread your post - Now this was something I was told with my Ford truck when my ABS light was on/off intermittent. My front tires were bald and the ABS light happened even on dry, uncindered pavement.