Questions and Answers

Camry ABS Light Q. Dear Vince, I own a 1997 Toyota Camry, 4 cylinder, ABS brakes with approx 55,000 miles. Last month I took the car for a state inspection at out local Pep Boys. Everything was fine when I dropped it off. When I returned to pick it up, I was charged $10.00 for the state inspection which it had passed.

I went to the car, started it and the ABS light came on and stayed on. I never moved the car. I went back in to tell them about the ABS light and they felt it was not their problem. They felt it just happened when I started the car. I took the car to the Toyota dealer and found that the right wheel sensor was bad. It would cost me $400.00 dollars to fix it. It is not under warranty. From my research and the Toyota dealer, these things rarely if ever go bad. What could have caused this problem?

Thanking you in advance for your help!
Sally

A. Sally, I really don't think there is anything wrong with your ABS system. What happens, quite often, is that the key is on when they perform the emissions test. Now if the car is still on the lift and all four wheels are not on the ground, the drive wheels will turn. The computer sees the front wheels turning and not the back wheels, so it sets a DTC. The DTC will indicate a bad wheel speed sensor.

What I would do is disconnect the battery negative cable, go in the house and have a cup of coffee and reconnect the cable. I'll be willing to bet a night on the town that the light will be off and you'll have no more trouble with it.

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