hey guys having a big problem with my 98 ram 1500 5.9 with rear abs. last week during a normal stop i heard a big clunk and ever since have had crappy brakes that would pulsate on every stop. so far i have replaced the master cylinder,1 front caliper(broke the bleeder) both rear cylinders,rear shoes and all hardware. with the back end on jackstands the rear wheels will stop for a second then the abs starts pulsating and letting the wheels turn and the pedal will slowly go all the way to the floor. if i pull the abs fuse the rears stop and hold with no problems but the abs and brake light stay on. what i'm thinking is just bypass the stupid abs but will the lights be off if i just jump the brake line over the abs unit?

 

Is it 4-wheel ABS or just rear? I'm wondering if you have a wheel (speed) sensor flaking on you after that particular episode....

 

+1 on investigate the clunk. pull the rear diff cover and look at the "tone ring" around the ring gear and see if anything's broken. check the rear abs sensor in the top of the pumpkin. maybe replace it.

 

Rear abs only another thing that i forgot to mention when this first started after i heard the clunk. the next time i stopped the rear left wheel locked up for a few seconds as i started to go then was fine for a week. then after replacing the master and front caliper i took it on a test drive and the rear left locked up in my driveway for about six feet and didn't unlock untill the wheel cylinder blew apart. could the abs think my rear end is locking up every time i hit the brakes? i never thought about the sensor because i thought the speedo worked off of it and my speedo is still working. thanks again for any help i have to get this truck safely driveable again. if it comes down to it for a quick fix i have no problem bypassing the abs because in 20 years of driving this is the first truck i've owned that has had abs so i think i could live without it.

 

Pull the drum, and see what things look like. (since the wheel cylinder blew up, my guess is you have already been in there?) When mine did that kind of trick, it was because the shoes were down to the rivets.....

 

the shoes were replaced yesterday along with all the springs and the wheel cylinders. i just took it for a test drive drive and the abs is still kicking in at every stop. so i pulled the fuse and now it stops good only problem is i now have the abs and brake lights on the dash on. does anyone know if it would turn the lights off if i just put unhooked the lines at either side of the abs unit and hooked them together?

thanks
jason

 

i don't think the light will go out if you bypass it. i think? it has complicated diagnostics built into it and if it doesn't receive all positive signals from every component, then it turns on the light. sort of like airbags.

its ok to drive it with ABS disabled. you just have regular brakes and the annoying light.

 

i guess i'll just need to pull the bulbs out of the cluster because the lights are driving me crazy every time i look down i'm thinking something is wrong but on the plus side the truck is stopping fine so i think i'm good to go

 

put a piece of duct tape over the light....
pulling the cluster is a pita.