03 P5 with ABS light and E-brake light on

[03mazdaP5]

As the title says, both of those lights stay on. About a week ago, they were coming on and going off randomly. Now they are not going off at all. The research I have done tells me this possibly a faulty ABS sensor, but I have not found out how to tell which one is bad. I would prefer to save money and do this myself, rather than take it to the dealer. Any suggestions?

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

check your fluid level?

 

[03mazdaP5]

Yeah it looks like its at or very near max. I have a Jeep that was leaking brake fluid that has a bottle of DOT3 fluid in it. When my wife gets home with that car, I am going to add a little to see if that helps. When I add, do I need to drive the car around the block a few times to let the computer reset?

Also, when I have been driving it, every now and then (not often) when I am braking at low speeds, it will act like the ABS is trying to engage and the pedal vibrates. I hope that helps too.

 

[north42g]

It is possible to manually flash and read your ABS codes. This is how:
Ground the TBS Terminal in the Diagnostic connector in the engine bay and counting the number of ABS light Flashes on Instrument Panel. The TBS Terminal a Yellow/Red wire in the center row of connector.
Retrieve cade and post here and I will difine the code for you. I have seen left rear WSS be a common failure. WSS= Wheel Speed Sensor)

 

[north42g]

BTW: It will flash out two(2) digit codes. i.e; DTC # 14 & # 48 have to do with the left rear WSS.
Long Flashes are 10's and short flashes are 1's So for example, three long flashes & two short flashes would be DTC 32.

To start: Turn ignition key to "OFF" position. Ground the proper Terminal under hood with Jumper Wire.
Turn Ignition Key to "ON" position. If DTC codes are present, the AMBER ABS Light will begin to
flash accordingly. Good Luck and Let us know.

 

[spizzak]

I'm having the exact same issues as you: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123821721-Brake-Woes

I read the codes as north42g described and got left rear abs sensor errors so I replaced the sensor with one from ebay. After this the lights went off for a week or so and then started coming back on again. I'm going to have to go back now and test the sensor to see if it's faulty and maybe adjust it's position a bit.

Your best bet imo is definitely to first read the codes and find out what it is. And then if it's the abs sensor like it was for me try testing the sensor with a multimeter and shifting it around to see if you can get a more consistent reading.

PS. My brake pads had worn down to the metal which is what started all this. Make sure your pads aren't low.