What does it mean if your abs light is on and your brakes are making noise when you stop in your 1996 Lincoln town car?

Answer 1

It probably means your front disks & pads are worn down too far, and are due for replacement. (ABS light on can be from low brakes...and squealing/creaking/noisy brakes can also be from them being worn.)

My experience (having done my own brakes with success for 30 years or so) is sometimes you can get away with just replacing the brake pads and not having to replace the rotors themselves.

The rotor should have a measurement stamped into it, which is the thinnest they can be worn down and still trusted. Running rotors thinner than specified can adversely affect your braking two ways, both are bad: One way is thinner rotors are more prone to 'warping', causing everlasting braking problems once warped. The other way is too thin means there is not enough metal to absorb heat during heavy braking. (forward motion of vehicle energy is converted to heat energy by the brakes, and the thick rotor helps absorb some of that heat.)

If the rotors are both still nice and thick, examine their surfaces to see if there is deep grooving or wear marks. If so you >might< be able to pay a machine shop to "surface them", grinding them down to nice parallel shiny smooth surfaces. Usually the cost of having rotors resurfaced is expensive enough (~$25 each) that if the rotors are grooved I just buy replacements. But if there is only minor light grooving, and the thickness is still larger than specified, sometimes I just put new brake pads in without changing the rotors at all. Yes, the pads will "wear into" the grooves in the rotor, so you will loose a few thousand miles of overall use. But it can still be a safe and effective measure.

Whatever you do to your brakes MUST be done to BOTH sides at once! If you have one bad rotor, replace BOTH rotors. If you have one worn set of brake pads, replace brake pads on both right and left sides of the car!

Buying an aerosol can or two of spray "brake cleaner" is well worth the money. Brake pad dust can be extremely hazardous...you don't want to breath any of it! Use aerosol brake cleaner liberally when you start to work on brakes to clean off all old dust and grime...put a pan underneath to capture the nasty run offs. Why use "brake cleaner" rather than WD40 or other type lubricants or cleaners? Because brake cleaner is designed to completely evaporate away without leaving any residue at all...exactly what you NEED when working on brakes.

For more detailed instructions, get a manual (like for example a 'Haynes" manual) for your car...which will give you better indepth instructions on how to replace the parts.

OR...take it to a professional shop you trust! Keep in mind many shops will do "free inspections", but they are also in the business of SELLING parts and services, so some of them may always err in favor of whatever the most expen$ive repairs may be. (and dealers are the most conservative of all...almost always recommending replacements of anything even slightly worn, and dealer parts are always expensive.) Some folks prefer taking their vehicles to dealers because they are the experts on the vehicle. Other folks opt for independent well known mechanics or places like Big O. While I have definite opinions as to which are 'best', opinions vary greatly and I don't want to start a flame war.

But back to your question: I'm 90% sure your faulty ABS light and noisy brakes are due to wear. (& 5% that they may just be very dirty needing a thorough cleaning with aerosal brake cleaner, and then trying them again.)

Good luck,

Paul

Good luck,

Paul