Brakes abs light on and brake pedal

[Ford escape]

I just put new brake pads on my 2001 Ford escape. My ABS light was coming on before I change my brake pads and I was feeling a shutter in my brake pedal when I pressed it down. If I pump my brakes a couple times it would stop. So I put new brake pads on my car and it still did it and my ABS light would come on what does this mean

 

[pcgeek11]

It means the Antilock braking system is having a failure mode. You need to have it looked at by a qualified mechanic.

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/what-to-do-when-your-abs-light-comes-on-by-spencer-cates

 

[Rifter]

best case scenario its a wheel sensor, cheap and easy. Worst case scenario its the ABS control computer, expensive and sometimes a real pain to get to.

 

[NutBucket]

Did you try bleeding the system?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Im my wife's 2010 Ford Edge we had a ring gear fail which caused all kinds of weird problems with braking.
Mechanic replaced the tone ring and ABS sensor, and it's been smooth sailing ever since. This problem was like 2-3 years ago

 

[mindless1]

Get a bluetooth (or wifi for apple devices) OBDII dongle, linked to a phone/tablet/laptop/etc running Forscan app. This will tell you the Ford ABS code, and it will also show you the wheel speed sensor data if it is just one of the wheel sensors.

If it's just a speed sensor, prices on those can vary wildly. They can be very expensive at local auto parts stores (for what they are), even at Rock Auto I've seen some higher than expected prices while the last I bought were from Amazon (generic brand) at less than 1/3rd the price of the aforementioned sources.

Is the Escape AWD? If so, or it's a sensor for a wheel on a driven axle you should have both the sensor and the ring built into the hub. The ring is not replaceable by itself but the sensor is, yet I would check the hub for wear before buying only a sensor. A worn (enough) hub can cause a sensor fault and a new hub comes with a new sensor (more often than not).

Some people have been able to pull a sensor out and clean it off to get it to work again, but they're relatively fragile and may break during removal and if there's enough metal debris in there to foul the sensor then the hub bearing is probably about shot anyway.

If it's the ABS module itself, you can save some money buying and installing it yourself but the *right* way to complete that job is take it to a qualified shop that has the equipment to cycle the module in order to bleed air out. You cannot get the air out of a new ABS module by only doing the normal wheel by wheel bleeding procedure.

Some cowboys have been able to bleed the ABS module by getting the vehicle out on a slippery surface and getting all the wheels to lock up and cycle the module, then bleed each wheel, and potentially need to repeat this procedure again, but YMMV on that while a shop should be able to guarantee it is done right.