Im looking at getting a 94 firebird formula 95k miles on.

The guy said the ABS light has been on since he got it.
Is this an easy fix or anything major i should be worried about?


He also said the temp. guage will read hot sometimes but the cars not overheating. Would this just be the actual guage or the sending unit?

Im not good with electronics and wiring so I just want to make sure that Im not going to be getting into major problems.

thanks in advance

 

Call the local GM dealer and ask about the replacing the ABS unit. I know its not cheap on a Silverado........my dad was quoted $1,100 for replacing his ABS unit. You might be lucky and just the sensor or something very simple has gone bad.

How high is the temp guage going? into the red? If so the car may have more problems than just a sending unit or faulty guage.

It might be worth taking the car to a mechanic and have them check it out. Yeah, it will cost $100, but it could save you lots more than that if the car has major problems.

 

I 2nd taking it to a mechanic.

The ABS light could cost from $20-$1000+, and how does he know that the car is not getting too hot and the guage is bad?

You dont want and engine that was ran hot very much.

 

I plan on taking my dad with me when I go. He's a mechanic and always helps me check cars over as best we can.

The guy says sometimes the guage dont work at all and sometimes it reads just a hair higher than it normally runs at.

He said the brakes and ABS work fine it just the light stays on. I figured it was just the light because the last two gm cars Ive owned did that also and they both ended up just being a light malfunction

I will definitely check look into everything thouroghly

 

The "ABS INOP" light could be anything from dirty contacts on one of the wheel sensor harness connectors ($0 to fix), to a faulty sensor ($100+ for the new front wheel spindle cartridge, w/ sensor), to a tottally fubar ABS unit. You could probably find a used ABS unit fairly cheaply, because some of the serious drag racers delete them to reduce weight.

On the coolant temp sensor - there are two different coolant temp sensors. One is located in the drivers side head, between #1/#3 spark plugs, and feeds the dash gauge. The other is on the water pump housing and feeds the PCM. That's the one that controls the fans and tells the PCM what it needs to know.

If your dad has access to an OBD-I scanner, he can connect to the 12-pin ALDL connector under the dash, and check the PCM coolant temp reading, to compare it to the dash gauge. That will tell you if the engine has a cooling problem or its simply a gauge/sensor problem.