My wife went to drive the truck (1997 dodge 1/2 ton 4wd) this morning and said that the ABS light came on and stayed on and that the brake pedal felt really funny.. Said that it al ost went to the floor... What you all think???

 

The brake line that runs over the gas tank rusted out, and broke.

 

HeyYou, can you elaborate further? I'd like to know about this since my speedo does not work, and brake, and abs lights are on.

 

Probably a couple problems then. For the speedo, and various lights, have a look at the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) on the back of the trans, or t-case. Check wiring first..... if it fails, speedo stops working, and that rather annoys the ABS......

The brake line to the rears runs overtop of the gas tank. They like to rust, and break. You may not immediately see fluid running down, but, have a look at the levels in the master cylinder, I think the front reservoir is for the rear brakes. If that one is going down quickly/empty, when you step on the brakes, chances are the line is blown. A standard problem on these trucks.

 

is it easier to drop the tank to fix the line or take the bed off to repair line?? I had a 1999 F-250 and that same line busted and I dropped the tank and it was a total bear.. Then my dad has 99 chevy that we had to put a fuel pump in and we took thebed off his and it was a lot easier than dropping the tank..

 

I wouldn't bother attempting to repair the line. I would just re-run some new line, and not even worry about getting that part of the old one out. Make sure ya get the right size, run it where it needs to be, bleed the brakes (good opportunity to flush the system...) and be done with it.

It won't fix your lights though. Verify that the line is indeed bad before ya spend money. The lights are going to be a separate issue.

 

I have replaced my VSS on the TC and rear axle, but speedo still does not work. Have not yet pulled the codes to see if they went away (still have o2 sensor code)

I will take a look at that brake line, as this makes complete sense. Thanks!

 

I found th leak and you were right it is the line above the gas tank.. So you are saying just run a new line up along the frame rail and just leave the old one in there also.. Looks like it would just flop around and eventualy get damaged..

 

Take out what you can easily get to, if it really doesn't wanna come out, or, is a pain to get to... leave it.

For the new one, you can zip-tie, or whatever other method you like, to keep it in place. On my van..... (yeah, I know...) where the rear line ran was VERY tight, the line wasn't going anywhere, so, I just didn't worry too much about it. Hasn't been a problem. (well over a year later.)