Keeping an eye on your car is very important in these days, in fact, if you do not do the minimum maintenance of it, or if you do not take into account signs of abnormality, you strongly risk to see your car getting in bad conditions. This is specifically the theme we are gonna talk about in this article, one of the symptoms that most perturbs motorists is the ABS warning light on GMC Sierra. In an attempt to help you review this warning light, we will first take a look at what this ABS warning light corresponds to, then in a second how to handle it if the ABS light is on GMC Sierra?.
What does the ABS light on GMC Sierra indicate?
We will commence our paper with the meaning of an ABS warning light on GMC Sierra, for this, in first, we will see what an ABS is, and next, why the ABS light on your car lights up.
What is the ABS on GMC Sierra?
First of all, it is necessary to demonstrate to you what the ABS of your GMC Sierra is used for so that you can understand the rest of this content page. The ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) is a device that prevents the wheels of your car from locking during braking. The purpose 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 GMC Sierra is made up of different parts, here they are:
- Speed sensors on each wheel, which will analyze 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 GMC Sierra
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The fact is, you can quite easily experience how your car’s ABS works. If you have to steer, you will find that your car will brake by pawing, this is precisely 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 GMC Sierra
Now we go forward to the section that you are certainly more curious about, meaning of an ABS warning light on a GMC Sierra? To begin with, it is an orange light, so if it is on it shows that your ABS system is faulty. You should be aware that whenever the ABS warning light is on, the ABS will be put into security mode, so you should modify your driving and not take any risks. Here are the different problems that the ABS warning light on your GMC Sierra can point:
- 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 malfunction of one of them triggers the ABS light on your GMC Sierra to turn on
- The ABS hydraulic block of your GMC Sierra: If it is faulty it is possible that the indicator light will occur 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 run your ABS, the light will obviously turn on.
What if the ABS light turns on on my GMC Sierra?
We will now go forward 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 GMC Sierra?. The solutions will might depend on the failure you are experiencing. To begin with, pass your GMC Sierra to the diagnostic tool, if you don’t know how to read a fault code on GMC Sierra, don’t hesitate to go through our content page which points out the steps to take. Once you have established the cause of your problem, here are the steps to take to resolve it and turn off the ABS light on your GMC Sierra:
- Problem of the ECU or the hydraulic block: It can only be altered, and in this situation, 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 problem: Once you’ve detected an electrical problem with your manometer, if it’s only a fuse or a relay, count around 10€ maximum, otherwise you’ll have to repair the wiring harness.
- A faulty sensor: Often a simple cleaning of the sensors will be enough to remedy the problem, otherwise changing a sensor can cost up to a few hundred euros.
If you want more tutorials on the GMC Sierra, go to our GMC Sierra category.