I'm commenting on this so I can find it if something happens to my moms car. Thanks =)
I have this EXACT problem. I have a Ford Focus and the ABS light is always on, but nobody can ever figure out why when I take it anywhere. I'll give this a shot. Thanks so much!
@bunnymama: The first thing to do is to clean it all, as above. Be careful when you open up the dashboard because the speedo/oiil etc needles aren't attached with a stop and may fall off.
If this improves the problem, but does not solve it, you need a new dashboard motherboard. Call around breakers/scrapyards for a second hand one.
Finally, if none of the above works, it is probably the sensor on the ABS pump after all. Up to you whether or not to replace it.
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Dear hive... this is a public service announcement so that nobody on the bee will have to go through what I have gone through with my car over the past two weeks. This is a VERY COMMON fault with all Ford vehicles.
In summary then: ever since I purchased my second hand Ford Focus, the ABS light randomly lit up. There was nothing wrong with ABS, and I knew this because I had used the ABS whilst the light was on, and the ABS worked just fine. It passed all it's MOTs until this year, when the law changed and a malfunctioning warning light became an MOT failure fault.
So then the car goes to diagnostics... they find nothing. All they can tell me is that my ABS works just fine, and that it's not an earthing fault. It goes off for another series of diagnostics.. they find nothing. Finally it goes off to Ford for a super-duper series of tests which cost me £200. Ford tells me that they detect a fault on my ABS pump, that a new pump will cost me £1,600, and that my car is not worth that much. Ford advise me to scrap the car. Not only that, but when I ask for the diagnostic report, I am not given a diagnostic report at all but a blll of sale with 2 sentences describing the fault typed onto it. Ford say that this is the actual, full report which cost me £200. They then give me an incorrect part number... I ask for the number which is physically stamped onto the part so that I can call around and try and order a second hand part... they tell me that the Ford internal ordering number is the part number. I tell them that I'm not a techie, but I know that part numbers are at least 10 digits and have numbers and letters in them. Ford is unmoved by this.
Next stage... a trip to the Ford parts department to translate the internal ordering number into an actual part number. Happily, the parts department are all too happy to admit that I have been given the wrong number by sales, and they even describe what the part does, where it's located, and how they diagnosed the fault etc etc. But still no diagnostic report... they can't print it off from that department. Only sales can do that... and sales was the department which told me that a bill of sale was the same as a diagnostic report, so it's clear that I'm not going to get the report at all.
At this point, I cut my losses and turn to THE INTERNET. THE INTERNET is magical.
I find out from the net that Ford uses a faulty lacquer to seal it's parts. This means that, over the years, there is a build up of corrosion which can cause short circuits.
Solution: get a bottle of meths and a clean cloth. Open up the dashboard and remove the motherboard. Wipe both sides of the board to remove any corrosion and/or rust. Replace the dashboard. Now open up the fusebox, under the bonnet. Wipe fuses to remove corrosion and replace. Finally, go over the components under the bonnet and clean them up with meths, a cloth, and some wire wool, if appropriate. Leave the car running for a bit so that the heat of the engine evaporates away any remaining moisture, before testing it on the road.
PROBLEM SOLVED!!! MOT PASSED!!! I hope this is of some help to someone out there.
PS If none of the above works, try wiggling the wires under the bonnet to see if any of them make the light go on or off, because it could be a corrosion fault with one of those. Ford were supposed to check the wires and the dashboard during their £200 diagnostic, but when my friend opened the car up then it was clear that they hadn't even bothered to look.
PPS If none of the above works, the problem is probably with your ABS pump. The problem is that the pump has a built in sensor which is quite fragile. Probably, the sensor is broken but the pump is not. You can't replace the sensor without replacing the pump, but there are mechanics out there on the internet who say that they can fix the sensor, so they are probably worth a try before replacing the part.