service ABS, service traction control, service trailer brake 4x4 unavailable warning

josh8326 · Dec 29, 2015

Hi, looking for some advise hopefully. I own a 2013 ram 1500 longhorn with about 25000 km on it. This is the second winter iv had it and this year the service abs, traction, trailor break and 4x4 messages appeared on the dash. I brought it down to the dealer and they replaced the left rear speed sensor. Things seemed to work okay for about a week until i was driving along and bam the same messages appear. I lost abs breaking, traction control and i am unable to lock my 4x4 in (so basically the truck is useless in the foot of snow we just got ;p ) during my trip in to bring it to the dealership again for repair the dash lights flickered on and off and everything came back (dash was reset back to mph and settings were reset). The dealership said they could find no error codes and were unable to find any issue. I picked the truck up tonight and all seems to be okay now. Any thoughts on what could be causing this? Has anyone else experieced issues like this?

Am3gross · Dec 29, 2015

there is something there, you will just have to wait it out until it fails, unfortunately. sounds like it could be another speed sensor problem.

josh8326 · Dec 29, 2015

Well it didnt take long to happen again....i was waiting in drivethrough today and the lights and errors all appeared again. I lost abs,4wd and traction control for the drive home. I went back out to take pictures after i finished eating (20min) and was able to capture pictures but on the last picture the lights on the dash flashed and the errors disappeared. I took it for a spin around the block and everything seemed okay again.

Unfortunately i know little about vehicles so maybe someone can help me out with these questions (thanks in advance)

1) Do previous error codes stay stored somewhere in the trucks memory? (Even if they no longer appear to be an issue)
2) If so how long do they get stored?
3) Does anyone else experience "flickering effect" when using the led cab reading lights?

Rlaf75 · Dec 29, 2015

It sure does sound like a wheel speed sensor that's causing the abs, 4x4 issues. That won't explain the dash lights flickering unless it's a computer problem which may cause all of the issues. Like mentioned previously, drive it til it happens again and try to get the codes read immediately to see what pops up

josh8326 · Dec 30, 2015

Will do, so far they clear on the drive down and once i am at the dealersip they tell me they have no errors and no stored error codes. This seems weird to me as i thought the truck would keep some sort of log in memory....does it not work like that?

josh8326 · Jan 14, 2016

Thank you for your help! After a few more return's to the shop they were able to find a wire that had come loose near one of the wiring harnesses on the front driver side. Since the fix the issue has not occurred again. Hope this info helps anyone else with a similar problem.

scottram2500 · Feb 19, 2018

I had the exact same problem was the abs wheel speed sensor wires broke $49 dollar part at Napa boom good as new.Crazy two little wires can make the abs, four wheel drive,and traction control all go haywire.was a headache finding the problem but hopefully this helps others with the same problem.There are abs wheel speed sensors in the front and rear so any of them go bad or wires go bad can cause this problem.

service ABS, service traction control, service trailer brake 4x4 unavailable warning

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