Hey guy's

I'm going to start to go trough a badly needed repair session with my 1995 Camaro.

I originally was going to let it fall apart as it has been the past 2 years and save money for a Ford Fiesta...to save gas.

But I realized what ever money I saved on gas I would end up spending in insurance, for a basic Fiesta year plan went for me at around 1280 a year.

I pay about 340 on my Camaro...so I figure I'll just fix this car up and make it a machine I will be proud to drive....maybe save myself about 10k while I'm at it.

Things Camaro Needs Fixed

#1 Body work (Has a minor crash borken parts, and dents in the front).
#2 New paint job (A lot of the paint is just very sun worn, plan to give it a new paint job, maybe not the best quality stuff, but decent quality for sure).

#3 Tire Rotation / Alignments - Haven't had that done on it for over 50k miles...

#4 Checking why the engine light wont turn off....or has not turned off in about 3 years.

#5 ABS Inop - Have had this problem for about 2 years now...as well as

#6 Check gages - and often times my brakes seem to want to fail a bit...but they work after they fail for a few seconds.

#7 Install a full air conditioning system on my Basic model v6 3.4L (I know...this alone is about $1500 of my $5000 budget).

#8 Find and install passenger side mirror....some one took it clean off when I was in the parking lot on campus...never found out how or who.

#9 Stitch, fill, and repair inner bodywork.

#10 Check the fuel valves or find out why I'm only getting like 22mpg highway instead of the reported 28 that I should be. (I drive at 60-65mph most of the time....


So my 2 main questions are these.

#1 What the heck is ABS inop, and roughly how much would it cost me to get it repaired....and who can actually repair it?

#2 I often also get a ""low track" light...how do I repair this? How much is this going to go for?


- part of me really wants to buy a new 1995 Camaro without any of these problems but....I can't seem to find that either around the San Diego area...at least not one for a decent price with decent mileage on it....(Less than 120k).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

The ABS inop can be several different problems and this light is the SES light for the brake system. This light usually comes on when a wheel sensor is malfunctioning, usually a front one which requires the replacement of that whole hub assembly. You can get the hubs fairly inexpensive, around 150 bucks or less. But you really need to get it scanned. And a regular obd1 scanner won't read ABS codes, takes a special scanner.

the low track light means you're loosing traction, it's not a problem light, just a FYI light so you don't need to fix it.

 

keep looking for a 4th gen in good shape. for 5k you should be able to find a nice one. tax time is coming next month and thats usually a good time to find something at a good price.

 

Both your traction control and ABS read off the wheel/axle sensors, so those lights could most likely be related to the same cause (assuming the low trac is lighting up/activating when it shouldn't be).

 

Hello,
I am currently experiencing the same problem. Last week for about an hour the ABS INOP light lit up on my way to work. Got to work, parked the car and in the afternoon on my way home the light didnt came up. This morning while driving to work the ABS INOP lit up again. I didnt noticed any weird thing while braking.
Greenarrow suggests get it scanned. Is this something a Parts store can do? Or do we have to go to the Dealer on this one.
I read on another forum that this is a sign of electrical malfunctioning and alternator is the one that goes out after awhile. Just wondering if anyone has experienced this.

 

What year of car? Could just be a loose sensor if it comes on and off.

 

Pay a shop to do an ABS system scan and get a flow chart of where the problem is printed out -- verify they can provide you this root cause analysis printout before you spend the money in case you want to do the repair yourself. That is what I did on my now-sold '95 and replaced the ABS motor pack myself -- easy repair.

 

Before you go spending money on it, check the connections to all sensors, pull out the plugs and spray them with electrical cleaner and then make sure they are plugged in and sealed properly. Sometimes moisture can set random lights. Other times it can be the first signs that a speed sensor is going out. If you clean them all out and still have random ABS lights then get it checked, this is usually not something that autozone, checkers, or the like can do and you'll need a good shop or dealer to scan it. Make sure you get the code because if it's a wheel sensor it's a easy job and you'll spend double what you need to to have a shop do it.

 

Thank you all for the fast reply.
I have a 1996 6cyl 5spd with 35k orig miles. The dealear recently performed 30k mile service and was amazed on the condition or the car. around 34.5k miles is when the ABS INOP came up and then the other day too.
I am not a mechanic but has done and watched some few minor repairs on cars and motorcycles. so this weekend I will be checking out what you guys have pointed out and I thank you for the replies.
How ever I have a few dumb questions :
3800 Camaro, where are these sensors located?
GreenArrow, When you said "plugs" were you reffering to spark plugs or the sensor plugs that 3800Camaro is reffering to?

Will be waiting for replies and hopefully maybe some one can post picture to make it easier and I do apologize for the trouble.

 

The ABS system is made up of 3 or 4 sensors depending on model/option of car, and ABS hydrolic unit and Brake Control Module (BCM), may be called other names.

You have 1 speed sensor on each front wheel, these are built into the hub. Then depending on the model/option you could have 1 or 2 sensors in the rear axle. Each sensor will have a weather clip plug from the wiring harness that plugs into them. These can sometimes pull out a little and let some moisture/dirt in which can cause false readings to the computer, causing the ABS light to come on. If you pull the code from the computer it will tell you which wheel sensor is messed up, the most common ABS problem. The ABS hydrolic unit is located on the front drivers side next to the air filter box. This is the heart of the ABS system and what physically controls the fluid in the system keeping your brakes from locking up. It's possible you can have problems with a couple things on this module, again the ABS codes will tell you. The BCM is located under the dash against the drivers side panel, this controls the ABS system and you can have problems with this as well, but from what I've seen it's either good or it's bad, there's usually no sections in it that go, it's all or nothing. I hope this helps you out.

I would say to get a haynes manual for your car and that will help you outidentifying parts and locations. A normal scanner will not pull ABS codes from the computer, that takes a certain scanner. But a regular 40-60 dollar scanner from autozone, jegs, etc.. will pull regular SES codes and are a good tool to have around since the dealer charges around 100 bucks just to pull codes.