My 1999 Chevy Malibu ABS lights went on this morning along with the Battery lights being on, I don’t have a garage and the car sort of got plowed into its parking place as we had a big three day snow storm. It isn’t making any noises. But it is full of ice and snow. What is wrong with my car?
I can’t think of anything that would link these 2 lights to the same problem (except that both separate issues may come from the ice/snow).
For the ABS light, you probably have one or more wheel sensors clogged up with ice & snow. You’ll need to clean it up or find a warm place to park it for a while so it all melts off. If that doesn’t help the ice & snow may have damaged the sensor & or its wiring or knocked it out of place.
As for the battery light, one possibility is that you have an old battery (how old is it) and the cold has it teetering on being dead. And/or the same with the alternator. And/or a bunch of ice & snow got rammed up past your splash shields and is messing with the belt - which would be worse if the belt is also old. Incidentally, is your steering working normally? Pop your hood and look on the left hand side (passenger side) where the serpentine/accessory belt resides. Make sure there is a belt there.
If you verify that the belt is actually there and the car seems to run well, and there is an auto parts store close by call them asd ask if they test charging systems. Many do it for free. Drive there and your battery/alternator can be checked. If your battery is old don’t be surprised if you end up buying a new one (which they will probably install for you).
I had both the ABS and Battery lights come on and and sadly it was my alternator.
The warning lights are tied into the alternator field circuit so sometimes more than the battery warning light can turn on when the alternator has a problem.
On my Corolla, if I have a faulty alternator, besides the alternator warning light, it also turns the brake warning light on. (Or maybe it is visa versa, but the alternator and brake warning lights are interconnected for some reason. I presume it is to provide a fail-safe if a warning light bulb goes out.)
Sadly? You should be happy. It could have been a very costly ABS component.
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+1, I’d definitely rather replace an alternator instead of some part of the ABS system!
I’m guessing this information is of little use to the OP since this thread was started over 9 years ago.
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The warning lights are tied to the field alternator circuit so the warning lights can go into the ‘TEST’ mode when the ignition is turned ON and the alternator isn’t providing any back-feed voltage to turn out the lights.
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The alternator field circuit isn’t involved w/the brake/alternator interaction on my Corolla, just a couple of diodes is all; but I could see why that might be a good, simple way to accomplish the dash warning light function in older vehicles. I think my 47 year old truck uses something like that.
depending on where they live, they could still be waiting for a decent thaw…