i recently purchased a 97 stratus from a family who has owned it since new, and it has roughly 150,000 on it, it runs great other than the darn abs light is on, i asked the owner about the light and he said that he has had a mechanic look at it and its not an issue; i think its slowly becoming one. let me explain what happens, when im driving anywhere between 40-80 mph, and i keep it at a set speed ( with or without cruise control on ) it seems to jump in speed, my rpm gauge doesnt move but my speedometer flutters and i feel the difference in the pedal. i called a local dodge repair shop and explained the issue to him and he thinks that it might be the abs sensor causing the issue but said that he wont know untill he looked at it. im too cheap to take it in and be charge 95$ for a diagnostics test, and im hoping that that someone can point me in a general direction before i shell out money for a diagnostics test and repairs.

 

well being cheap is the problem. how do you expect to know what is going on without the proper tool to do that. you have a choice. pay the diagnostic fee, or buy all the sensors and hope that replacing them fixes the problem or buy a real scanner and figure it out.

I bought my own scanner so I can fix things myself. the first day I had it pretty much paid for it because I was able to fix a transmission problem.

$95 for diagnostics is cheap if you figure the building, the heat, electric, taxes, $5000+ scan tool, guy that knows how to use it, the government regulations the business has to deal with, cost of being in business. not to mention the technicians $20-$30,000 invested in tools... and people complain that it cost them $100 labor to get their car fixed.

 

You say cheap like its a bad thing, I'm trying to save money. Id rather use other rescources before shelling out 1/10th the cost of my car and then find out I have to spend 2 grand on a 1000$ car, when I could go get a different car. Also if 95$ is so easy for u to drop, then by all means come pay for my diagnostic on my car.

 

Pardon the blunt comments I've made, I've been REALLY frustrated about this issue so its kinda touchy. I understand all the cost and so on. I just think 95$ for a simple 5min procedure is a little ludicris. I'm not expexting it to be fixed right then, but I would like to know what I'm looking at for cost and length of time so on. I've tried Checker autoparts, and their scanner doesn't cover for ABS issues, just mainly check engine lights. So if anyone has had a similar issue and would like to tell me what happened and what they experienced would help a ton. Thanks

 

what do you do for a living?

why don't you shop around for a different source for testing the problem?

without a scanner/factory shop manual you can spend 100's of hours trying to figure it out.

next time you get hurt/sick, don't go the the hospital, fix your injuries yourself.


or the cheapest fix, black tape.

 

I'm a college student workin 40 hrs a week, and money is tight right now, hell it will be tight till I've graduated. Also I rarely go to the doctor unless I have 2. I only go if I'm basically dying

 

black tape. that's the cheapest easist way to fix the problem until you can find a scanner to check codes and data for the abs system. otherwise there is no free lunch.

when I was in college and needed information like what you want, i'd go to my local car dealer and talk very nicely to the service manager. Everytime I did this, I got free access to all the service manuals and the photo copier as long as I didn't bother the technicians.

in your college, do they give you all the answers for tests and assignments or do you have to do research, formulate hypothesis and determine course of action to resolve a problem?

what are you going to college for?