My brakes stop my car just fine, but I have an "ABS INOP" light illuminated on my instrument panel, as well as a red "BRAKES" warning light.

My exterior center brake light (the one in the spoiler) doesn't illuminate, even after replacing the bulbs. The other two exterior brake lights illuminate.

I just recently replaced my rear pads and rotors, and the red "BRAKES" light on the dash illuminated a week or so after I did that. The ABS INOP light has been on since I bought the car.

I'm betting that all of these faults are interconected. Does anyone have any ideas? I did a search on the issue and found that most ABS INOP lights are caused by dirty sensors, but I also found that the center rear brake light and the ABS are connected.

 

Check your fuses.

 

I've checked them. They are all in good shape.

 

The "BRAKE" light comes on for two reasons.... 1) the e-brake is on, 2) there is unequal pressure in the front and rear braking systems. If the light came on shortly after you replaced the rear pads and rotors, I would look for leaks at the rear rotors, and check to make sure that you didn't get some air in the system.

I suspect that once the "BRAKE" light comes on, indicating there is a possible fault in one-half of the braking system, the ABS is deactivated.

 

I'll bleed out the system and see what happens. The ABS INOP light has been on since the day I got the car, so I believe the two brake issues might be unrelated.

I remember hearing once that the ABS system in somehow connected to the 3rd brake light located in the spoiler. If one failed, the other failed.