I am considering a purchase of this vehicle. It has 54000 original miles; howerver, the ABS and Brake indicator lights are staying on. What is the probable cause?
Who cares? Any vehicle with lights on is one you DON’T want to buy.
Run away from this one, and find a vehicle that has no lights on.
There could be a few things wrong there - but, I have a '01 frontier with the same problem. Here’s why mine are on. Before I owned the truck, it had been T-boned on the driver side, we took it to a local mechanic - not a japanese specialist - and he didn’t have the special tool (odd looking thing) to put the rear driver axel and wheel in. It wasn’t aligned properly, and caused the axel to bash into the wheel speed sensor.
Once the wheel speed sensor is damaged, say hello to your ABS light. Likely, this will also cause a brake fluid leak, and once the fluid levels in the reservoir are low enough - on comes the brake light. (My leak else where though)
I’m not one to leave a story unfinished, in the summer of '07 the rear driver barring was replaced - and because I was short on cash, I didn’t replace the wheel speed sensor. All was fine until two weeks ago, while when turning into a gas station, I heard a loud pop and clunk. I stopped immediately and broke out laughing when I saw my wheel and axel sticking a foot out from the body. My truck is now in the shop again, new axel, wheel seal, barring, wheel speed sensor, and a few other odds and ends - EST. $1,100 repair. Had my axel popped out on the highway, the loose wheel/axel combo could have killed someone. I’m lucky and would rather pony up the cash than have someone’s death hanging over me.
If you can find a reliable mechanic to inspect the car, give you an estimate maximum cost of the specific problem along with a complete car inspection, then factor that and a contingency percentage into the price of the car I might consider it, but I sure do like buying used cars with no problems, and sure do like buying ones where everything has been done that was needed with accompanying paperwork. mcparadise has hit the nail on the head.
I should mention, though, that it’s been a great little truck for me. It can go where larger trucks can’t, and can haul a decent amount - however, I wouldn’t recommend more than a 1/2yd of dirt without beefier leaf springs, I bowed mine with a fully loaded (short)box - since been upgraded. The engine handled the load nicely though. Also, it’s a surprisingly great truck in the snow, I pulled 7 cars out of ditches and intersections this past year, people in Seattle have no idea how to drive in snow… actually most of them have trouble driving on sunny days, even ‘student driver’ cars aren’t driving properly(far left lane doing 50mph?? You get an F).
When both the brake warning light and the ABS light are on at the same time it usually means there a problem in the primary brake system. Here’s how it works. If there’s a problem with the ABS, just the ABS light comes on. However, if there’s a problem in the primary brake system that causes the brake warning light to come on, the ABS light automatically comes on. That’s because the ABS computer detects if the brake warning light comes on. And if it does, the ABS computer won’t allow the ABS to function because there’s a problem with the primary brake system. And it turns the ABS light on to let you know it’s not going to function.
So until it’s discovered as to what’s causing the brake warning light to come on, that ABS light will remain on.
Tester