Well let's open my can of worms... My daughter brought home our 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid and told me the ABS light is on.


When I went out and test drove it the service brakes message was showing. I reset that and then drove it. The ABS light went off for a minute then came back on for the rest of my drive.


The really weird thing is that when in electric mode, it would kick into gas mode every time I used the brakes! And it wasn't because I drained the battery as this was all in our subdivision... This is exactly the opposite from what it should do!? Any ideas on where to start?

 

Take it to the Ford dealer.

 

So helpful ! Let me get my check book first!

 

Ford is the only place likely to diagnose a problem like this. Sorry.

 

If you want to start throwing parts at the problem, you could start with replacing the ABS brake tone rings. It's a common issue and a few people have posted about it in the past.

 

I suggest you buy the relevant Ford service manual in software form. Even if you don't resolve the problem using the manual, at least you'll be able to narrow down the possibilities and so be better equipped to avoid paying for unnecessary repairs. I refer to the manual every time something goes wrong with my FEH. And that's a lot.

 

Check the tone rings first. I had a problem like that and it turned out to be a failed wheel bearing causing the tone ring to contact the wheel speed sensor. Turned out it was the last wheel I checked, oh well, but as I took off the wheel it was wobbling from the failed bearing and the cause was obvious. Replaced the wheel bearing and had to replace the speed sensor also, no biggie. The tone ring was just fine.

The related issue is that the regenerative braking can't work properly if the system can't tell what is going on with the wheels. The tone ring eating into the speed sensor takes that away and so the system does funny things like what you've seen.