The ABS warning light is on in your customer's car and he wants you to check it out. So where do you start your diagnosis? Because the ABS warning light is on, you know the ABS system has detected some kind of fault. But are there other problems that may be affecting the ABS system? Start your diagnosis by asking your customer a few questions. How long has the warning light been on? Has the warning light been on before? Have you noticed any other problems with the brakes? Has the brake warning light or any other warning lights been on recently? Have you had the vehicle serviced recently?

Depending on what kind of answers you get, you may want to investigate some other things before you plug in your scan tool to read the ABS fault code(s). For example, if your customer says the brake warning light also came on a few times, it might be a clue that the fluid level in the master cylinder is low or that the brakes are leaking fluid somewhere. If the check engine light or charging system warning light has been on, the vehicle might have a low voltage problem that is affecting the ABS system. And if the customer says he had the tires replaced a few days ago, the ABS warning light might be on because of a change in tire size, mismatched tire sizes, a severely underinflated tire or even a damaged wire to a wheel speed sensor.

In spite of their complexity, most ABS systems are pretty reliable and cause few problems. But whe...