Keeping an eye on your car is essential in these days, in reality, if you do not do the minimum service of it, or if you do not take into account signs of abnormality, you highly risk to see your car getting in bad conditions. This is precisely the topic we are going to discuss today, one of the signs that most perturbs car owners is the ABS warning light on Ford Explorer. In an attempt to help you review this warning light, we will first look at what this ABS warning light corresponds to, then in a second how to proceed if the ABS light is on Ford Explorer?.

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What does the ABS light on Ford Explorer indicate?

We will begin our content page with the meaning of an ABS warning light on Ford Explorer, to do this, in first, we will see what an ABS is, and soon after, why the ABS light on your car lights up.

What is the ABS on Ford Explorer?

To begin with, it is necessary to describe to you what the ABS of your Ford Explorer is used for so that you can understand the remaining of this content. The ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) is a system that prevents the wheels of your car from locking during braking. The goal of this system is to lower the braking distance of a car by preventing the wheels from locking, sliding on the road and you losing control of your car. The ABS system of your Ford Explorer is made up of several parts, here they are:

  • Speed sensors on each wheel, which will evaluate if one of the wheels locks up.
  • A hydraulic system and valves that will manage the pressure of the pads on the discs to manage the braking power of the car
  • A computer that is the control center of your entire ABS system as well as the ABS light of your Ford Explorer

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In reality, you can quite easily feel how your car’s ABS works. If you have to steer, you will find that your car will brake by pawing, this is exactly the behaviour that ABS allows, it will optimise braking to the maximum by linking the phases of pressure on the brake discs and the phases of discharge to prevent the wheels from locking up.

Meaning of an ABS light on Ford Explorer

Now we proceed to the section that you are most likely more curious about, meaning of an ABS warning light on a Ford Explorer? Firstly, it is an orange light, so if it is on it denotes that your ABS system is faulty. You should be informed that as soon as the ABS warning light is on, the ABS will be put into safety mode, so you should adjust your driving and not take any risks. Here are the different problems that the ABS warning light on your Ford Explorer can indicate:

  • It could be a simple short circuit, a damaged wiring harness, a faulty relay or fuse. Use a pressure gauge to verify it.
  • A malfunctioning ABS sensor: A failure of one of them causes the ABS light on your Ford Explorer to come on
  • The ABS hydraulic block of your Ford Explorer: If it is faulty it is possible that the indicator light will turn on and you will no longer be able to use your ABS.
  • The ABS computer: If the computer has a problem, being the center of all decisions made to manage your ABS, the light will inevitably come on.

What if the ABS light activate on my Ford Explorer?

We will now proceed to the section where we will try to give you some solutions to switch off this light, and thus answer the following question, what to do if the ABS light is on on my Ford Explorer?. The solutions will might depend on the deficiencies you are enduring. Firstly, pass your Ford Explorer to the diagnostic tool, if you don’t know how to read a fault code on Ford Explorer, don’t be reluctant to go through our content which points the steps to take. Once you have established the origin of your trouble, here are the steps to take to correct it and turn off the ABS light on your Ford Explorer:

  • Trouble of the ECU or the hydraulic block: It can only be altered, and in this case, you will have to go through a professional, but if it’s dead, it could cost you around 1000€ to change the ECU and 1500 to 2000€ if you have to change both of them.
  • Electrical trouble: Once you’ve identified an electrical trouble with your manometer, if it’s only a fuse or a relay, count around 10€ maximum, in any other case you’ll have to repair the wiring harness.
  • A faulty sensor: Sometimes a simple cleaning of the sensors will be enough to get rid of the trouble, in any other case changing a sensor can cost up to a few hundred euros.

Whenever you have any additional questions about the Ford Explorer, do not hesitate to consult our Ford Explorer category.