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Is It Safe To Drive With The ABS Light On? What To Do When Your ABS Light Comes On
Are you wondering if it is safe to drive with the ABS light on? ABS stands for anti-lock braking system and assists with bringing your car to a stop. As we all know being able to bring your car to a stop is essential in all cars.
So is it safe to drive with the ABS light on? Yes, your car brakes will still work as usual under normal braking circumstances with the ABS light on. However, under heavy braking, your brakes may lock up causing your wheels to slide. Your ABS system is important in the wintertime as your wheels will lock up if you try to brake on ice.
The ABS system will pulse your car brakes to keep your wheels from locking up allowing your car more grip to stop you from sliding. There are multiple components of your ABS system that can go bad over time causing your ABS system to malfunction. What are the most common issues that can occur with ABS systems?
Why is my ABS Light Coming On?
Your ABS light is coming on because your ABS system is detecting a malfunction in the system which will not allow the system to function to its full potential or not at all. Your ABS system uses speed sensors that are attached to your wheels to be able to sense how fast your wheels are turning which allows it to tell if your brakes or locked or not when coming to a stop.
If your ABS system is not able to accurately tell how fast your wheels are spinning this will cause your ABS light to come on until that speed sensor is replaced and the system can determine how fast your wheels are turning again. If you see that your ABS light is on you should inspect your brake system to make sure that it is functioning properly.
1. Check ABS Sensors
You may need to take your car to a mechanic to have them check out your ABS sensors to determine which ones need to be replaced. You should not need to replace all of the sensors in your ABS system at once as it unlikely that all of them would fail at once. Below is a screenshot of what an ABS sensor looks like.
2. Check ABS Module
If your ABS module is going out that could also explain why your ABS system is malfunctioning. Your ABS module is essentially the brain of your ABS system so if your ABS module is malfunctioning this can cause your ABS light to come on to alert you there is something wrong with the system. 
You would want to put in your specific vehicle to make sure the one you choose is compatible with your vehicle. To check out the current prices of ABS modules on Amazon I’ve linked a popular GM ABS module here.
3. Check ABS Fuse
You would also want to check your ABS fuse on your vehicle to make sure that the fuse did not blow out. Like the other electronics of your vehicle, your ABS system is protected by a fuse that will protect the ABS system from electrical surges. If your ABS fuse went out your ABS system would not be able to deliver the necessary power from your car battery to your ABS system to allow your ABS system to function.
4. Check Engine Light
If your vehicle also has a check engine light on you may want to use an OBD2 scanner on your car to see if it will tell you which ABS sensor the car is having issues with. That way you could replace the sensor yourself if you know which ones are faulty. This would also prevent any shops that you take your car to from overcharging you on parts.
How Must Does It Cost To Fix An ABS System?
If one of your ABS sensors is going bad it can cost anywhere from 100 to 200 dollars per ABS sensor to replace one of your ABS sensors. If your ABS control module goes bad it can cost anywhere from 200 to 600 dollars to replace. It really depends on who makes your vehicle as to how much your ABS system parts will cost.
Part costs vary widely by manufacturer, Mercedes Benz, and BMW parts will cost a lot more than Toyota or Honda parts. You may be able to save some money by buying replacement parts online instead of buying them through your local dealership.
How Do I Know if ABS is Working?
If you apply your brakes heavily while coming to a stop you should feel the brake pedal pulse or shake when you are bringing your vehicle to a stop. If you do not feel your brake pedal tremble when you brake heavily and your wheels lock up then you know that your ABS system is not working properly. If your ABS system is working properly your brakes should never lock up.
Why Is ABS Important?
When your ABS system is engaged it will pulse your brake calipers to keep them from locking up to your rotors and locking up your wheels. If your wheels lock up you will not be able to effectively stop your car because your tires will not be able to grip the surface of the road.
You are able to come to a faster stop with ABS systems because they allow your wheels to keep turning when you slam on your brakes which allow your tires to keep gripping the road to bring you to a stop.
ABS systems will also help your car in winter conditions where you may be sliding on ice or snow. If you’ve not ever experienced a slide in your car on ice or in the rain
If your vehicle is not able to come to a stop when you need it to your ABS system will engage to pulse your brakes to keep your wheels from locking up and to keep you from sliding around. This can come in hand if you are sliding into an intersection or into the lane of another vehicle.
How Does An ABS System Work?
Modern ABS systems will include an electronic control unit (ECU), wheel speed sensors, and hydraulic valves within the brake calipers of your car. The ECU is the brain of the system and is responsible for reading the data from the wheel sensors. The wheel sensors spin with your wheels and can be used by the ECU to determine if one wheel is spinning faster or slower than the others.
If the ECU determines that a wheel is moving slower than the others, which is an indication of the wheels locking up, it will trigger the hydraulic valves with the brake caliper to reduce the hydraulic pressure applied to that wheel. This allows your wheel and tire to be able to grip the road surface under panic braking or in icy conditions.
Why Were ABS Systems created?
Bringing a car to a stop is much easier if the tires are able to grip the road. Under heavy braking and on ice tire grip is reduced which allows the tire to slide over the road surface which is bad when you want to bring your car to a halt. ABS systems are designed to keep your tires and wheels from locking up so that your car is able to come to a stop when you want it to.
When Were ABS Systems created?
Modern ABS systems were created in the 1970s and were popularized in the 1980s and ’90s. Most cars made in the US throughout the 1990s and early 2000s are equipped with ABS systems.
ABS was not a required feature on cars until 2013 so there is a chance that your vehicle did not come equipped with an ABS system. However, most cars produced since the ’90s have ABS systems on them because of the safety improvements that ABS systems bring.
When Should You Not Drive Your Car?
Your vehicle will also come with a brake warning light. If this light comes on there is something wrong with your brake system that will need to be addressed.
If you see this light come on while you are driving you may want to safely pull over until you can figure out what is going on with your braking system to cause the light to come on. You don’t want to accidentally slam into another vehicle or a person because your brake system is malfunctioning.
I’ve had this light come on my car before when I had a caliper that was leaking brake fluid. I did not notice that my brake fluid was leaking out of the caliper and the leak eventually cause the brake fluid to get low enough to trip the brake light alert.
When I was driving around the brake pedal became very spongy and I had to press it down much further than I previously had to in order to get my vehicle to stop.
If you did not know what was going on then I could see the average person not noticing that there was an issue with their brakes and not using enough braking power to get your vehicle stopped in time before slamming into another vehicle.
This issue was fixed on my car by replacing the crush washer that attaches the brake line to my brake caliper to keep the brake fluid from leaking out. Once that was fixed I didn’t have to keep refilling my brake fluid.
Is It Safe To Drive A Car With The ABS Light On? – Conclusion
Hopefully, now you know if it is safe to drive a car with the ABS light on and know what you can do to fix your ABS system and get that ABS light turned back off. Typically if your ABS light is on there is an issue with one of your ABS sensors or an ABS module that will need to be replaced so that the system can accurately tell how fast your wheels are moving.
If you are going to be fixing other problems with your car you may be interested in my other article that outlines why cars are so expensive to maintain and what you can do about it.