alphapenguin

Just my luck. My warranty ended 6 days ago, and my F'n car decides to throw a fit. The ABS/ASR light came on this morning as I was driving to work, and the cruise control stopped working. I restarted the car a couple times at a few stop lights, and the lights would go away. After 30 sec or so the lights come back on. With the lights staying on, the manual warns that the ABS may now no longer be active. Same with the ASR, and surely they are not. What sucked even more was the fact that it was pouring down rain at 7am.

DAMN YOU MAZDA! well I am sure they didnt engineer this to happen right as my warranty ended. Alas, now i have to pay outof pocket for this to be fixed.

Anyone else have this problem?

expo1

Not to me yet and my warranty was up 55,000 miles ago. But it could be something simple. I would look behind the wheels for any damage to the ABS sensors. I don't know what they look like off hand, but they would be one of the few things with wires near your wheels. Hope that all you need to do is replace a sensor. The other things to check are fuses.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Check your brake fluid level and ensure that the parking brake lever is released.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

FYI... the sensors are mounted in the wheel hub. Its a proximity switch that is aimed at a rotor with sprocket "teeth" on them and it detects the pulses between each "tooth".

Checking these sensors may not be a bad idea (especially if you have recently done any work around the wheel). I had to replace a broke sensor on my F150 because I was a little rough with the assembly while replacing the lower ball joints and tie rods.

alphapenguin

thanks for the responses. I will take a look into it. I havent done any wheel changing, or anything with the car recently. Only thing was I had an alignment done about a month ago by firestone. I checked the fuses, which are fine. I am nto sure what the sensors may look like but I'll take a gander at em. Thanks again
(i noticed that the lights pop on as soon as I touch the break, if I turn the car on and drive around without touching the break pedal, all is good. dunno what that could mean.

~Alex

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

That actually says a lot.
If the wiring or the switch was broken, the ABS light would stay on all the time. If you start your car and the ABS light stays on, the sensor/wire is damaged.
If the light turns off after starting the car (which it normally turns on/off while starting the car) and then turns on after a few feet of wheel motion, then there is an issue with the proximity switch reading the sprockets on the rotor (usually a dirty sensor).
If your issue occurs while applying the brake, I would certainly check the fluid level first.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Look for the only electrical wire running down to your wheel hub. Its right behind the brake rotor and mudguard.

alphapenguin

So I get a call back from the Mazda Service dept, and the guy tells me
"You got a electrical Gremlin problem..."

Basically there is something wrong with my electrical wiring or something so they say, but they have no idea what the problem is.

They are trying to see if Mazda will still cover it under warranty (depends on what the end problem is).

I checked the Brake fluid, and that wasnt the problem. As for that electrical brake sensor, i still didnt know what to look for so couldnt figure if that was the problem. Anyway, i hope I dont lose faith in mazda forever.