So I've encountered my 2nd set of Brake and ABS lights problems with my 1998 Dodge Ram today. Last time it happened, my speedo wouldn't work below 20 or so mph and my lights remained lit the whole time. The brakes seemed to respond normally through all of that. Replacing the rear wheel sensor seemed to fix that problem (although the dealer laughed all the way to the bank).

This time, both of those lights are lit, but my speedo is working normally. Also, my brakes feel very mushy when I depress them and don't have the stopping power that they normally do. I've checked the fluid levels and that looks fine. Brake pads and calipers all look fine too. I'm about to check on that rear wheel sensor again and fix it myself for cheap because that fixed the problem last time, but I am concerned about how my brakes feel when I push them. Any suggestions beyond what I've already described?

 

I'm no expert but I don't think a problem with the ABS would cause mushy brakes. Low fluid or air in the lines might.
Both of my ABS lights on my 95 Ram are on also and the brake pedal feels normal and the brakes work fine. I had the system scanned at the shop. Sensors check out ok. In fact, I had already swapped the sensors from a parts truck I have and it made no difference. The mechanic says it could be the combination valve or differential pressure switch
(both are just beneath the master cylinder). Or it might be a problem with the computer. I haven't gotten around to figuring it out yet. When you get yours resolved please post your solution.

 

An afterthought: Check for fluid leaks espesially at the wheel cylinders. Fluid on the brakeshoes will affect your ability to stop. And if my repair manual is correct leaking fluid can activate the ABS light.

 

Bleed the system. Sounds like there's a lot of air in the system. Did this happen after the dealer put the sensor in? If so, find out if they screwed with your brakes.

Have it looked at. Mushy pedal and soft braking are tell tale signs of air in the lines, or a leak.

 

I shouldn't have used the term "mushy" when describing the breaks. What I really meant is that they clearly feel different when stopping with this situation than they did before. Today though, we took out the rear wheel sensor and found lots of metal flakes attached to it, which is the exact same thing that was found when I took the truck into the dealership. What we ended up doing was breaking down the rear axle and cleaning it out, filling it up with new fluid and added a new sensor to it. We're allowing the silica gel to dry overnight (no gaskets in 98 Dodge Ram's) and will see what things look like tomorrow. If that doesn't fix the problem, I guess we'll try to bleed the system dry and put new brake fluid and check the lines (though right now, there seems to be no apparent brake line leak).

 

***UPDATE***

The truck worked fine for two days after replacing the rear wheel sensor, but today the ABS and brake lights popped up again so we took the truck to a mechanic to see if we could get a code out of the system. The OBD2 threw a "Code 63" and had a description of "Shuttle Reset Switch". Any ideas whatsoever?

 

Shuttle reset switch? I haven't a clue but if you find out please post your findings. I'm trying to track down the cause of the same problem you're having. Sorry I couldn't help.