Got a problem with the ABS on my 99 Mondeo. Every time I brake, as im coming to a halt the ABS comes on and it makes a noise and vibration. Took it to the garage today. They fixed a diagnostic meter to it and due to an electrical fault in the car it can't identify which sensor it is, if indeed it is the sensor thats the problem. It doesnt even identify that there is an ABS system.
They told me they'll take it back in tomorrow to continue to investigate but it sounds a bit complicated and potentially pricey. (My mechanical knowledge is limited).
Here's my questions:-
Should it be obvious by looking at the sensors which one is faulty?
Is it possible to simply disable the ABS system as a quick fix?

Any advice or suggestions appreciated. As I said im no mechanic!

 

if you dont mind the rears locking up a bit soon then for a short period while the problem is being investigaed you can disable the abs system by removing the fuse(s) in the engine bay fuse box. theres 2 in my focus. can drive the car normally and it'll be fine but will throw the abs light on.

weird that hey couldnt fault code read, you sure its a wiring fault with the car as it could be a fault with their machine or a compatability issue??!!

 

Pretty sure its a problem with my car rather than their machine.

Occasionally when I start the car all the warning lights come on and stay on and the ABS issue doesnt happen. When it is happening no warning lights show. So its kind of intermittent but 95% of the time it does it.

 

thats weird, maybe you've got a dodgy earth somewhere as they should all come on and then go off after a few seconds.

next thing i'd try then is disconnect all the sensors and with a multimeter check the resistance across each sensor. i did this on my brothers primera last week as thats got an abs problem and we discovered some twat removed the abs bulb. only reason it got through its last mot is because without the bulb lit you cant see where the abs bulb should be on the dash! i found that his front near side was 1.6 kilohms but the fucked one was about 30 ohms. that was confirmed when we put an abs bulb in and earthed pin 4 of his diagnostic port as that flashes the abs bulb in sequences giving fault codes all of which pointed to the high resistance sensor.

i dont think you can do that pin earthing trick on th emondeo though but certainly worth measuring the resistance accross each sensor. will hopefully indicate the faulty one.

oh and my bros car does the same as yours where the abs kicks in slightly when just coming to a stop.

 

My old rover used to do this, just before you stop at about 10mph the ABS cuts in. It only had a couple of months left on the MOT and it was going to the scrappers so I just pulled the fuse for the ABS and took the bulb out of the dash!