June 30, 2025 • 7 mins
Ron Ananian joins Mendte in the Morning to continue his talk with Larry about the dashboard lights as he explains the ABS lights and traction control.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So you've probably noticed over the last few weeks we
have a theme going on with Ron and Ron and
Nanny and he's taking us through a tour of the
dashboard and all the warning lights, you know, the ones
we ignore most of the time. They just keep flashing
at us, but because we don't know exactly what they mean,
we just decide we can wait and maybe they'll go off.
(00:21):
Ron and Naney is host of The Car Doctor, which
is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app. He's also owner
of r A Automotive in Waaldwick, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Good morning Ron, Good morning Larry. Thanks thanks for having
me again.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Oh sure, of course.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Let's talk about as we go through all these warning lights,
the anti lock break lights.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Anti lock breaks. First of all, let's let's let's separate
and kill the myth. Every car has regular breaks, you know,
you step on the brake pedal, the car stops, and
then there's anti lock breaks. Anti lock breaks are really
the same break system. So if the anti lock brake
light is on, your vehicle will always have the traditional
(01:05):
service break. You'll be able to stop the car, you
just won't have the added safety feature of anti lock.
Anti lock is just as the name implies. Best example,
stop your car on a pile of wet leaves, all right,
the right sides on the leaf pile, the left sides
on dry road. What happens if you don't have anti lock.
The right rear wheel will stop quicker, causing that side
(01:29):
of the car to slide and possibly spin. The left
side stops with normal braking force because it's on a
drier part of the road. Anti lock sees the change
in wheel speed, it sees the wheel slowed down, and
it gently pumps the brake. Remember what Dad taught you
when he was teaching you to drive, pump the brakes
in the skid condition. Antialock breaks is sort of like
(01:50):
that on your shoulder.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And so it's an important warning light to check out.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Right, Yes, if you're used to driving with antilock break
and all of a sudden that light's on and you
go into a yeah, I don't need to fix that,
that's okay, and you go into a skid condition, then
you've got to start pumping your brakes in order to
correct the situation. If you know how to do that,
you know, certain generations know I know to me, it
kicks in instinctively, right, Yeah, the younger generation of drivers,
(02:19):
I don't know if they've been taught that, and I
don't know if they're ready for it, so they kind
of rely on it. So it's an important light to
pay attention to when you see it come on.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
What about traction control?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So traction control, you know antalog breaks is for stopping,
traction control is for going. Now, most traction control lights
are two squiggly lines parallel to each other. Sometimes it's
a tire with a dotted line underneath. Every car has
a little bit of a different light. You should look
in your owner's manual to verify. But traction control will
(02:52):
basically sense skid or we'll spin. Better word, we'll spin
while you're a accelerating and if you're on a piece
of ice and all of a sudden that tire speeds up,
it will slow it down to maintain traction and help
the car stay straight. All right. It might even apply
(03:13):
all the brakes in some form to slow the car
down completely because it sense you're going into a skid.
So one's for going, ones for stopping, but they work
in conjunction with each other. Now you can have a
dashboard warning light come on for abs anti lock brake
and that will a prevent the antilog brake system from working,
(03:33):
and then have that turn on a traction control light
because if ABS isn't working, traction control goes, hey wait
a minute, now what do I do? And it will
set a code telling you, hey, there's a problem here,
let's look at both systems.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
So both lights go on at the same time, is
what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
They could, Yes, sir, absolutely, And so.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
When that happens, I think, I think it's actually a
good thing because when two lights go on that normally
gets your attention.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Nothing scares people more than dashboard warning lights. One they
can live with too, they're getting nervous. Three they're on
the side of the road. So that's why a lot
of the manufacturers heck, you can have a check engine
light come on, not to change the subject, but you
can have a check engine light come on, and that'll
turn on ABS, traction control and a few others. So, yes,
you will start to see and as more of these
systems continue to grow and evolve, and they're all safety related.
(04:23):
This is all about safety, you will see more and
more lights come on to try and get people's attention,
to make them aware that, Hey, you've got to get
this checked out. There's no condition where an ABS or
traction control light is going to come on that should
be ignored if you at least have it checked out
by a mechanic and have them say, here's the issue,
here's what I have to fix, et cetera, et cetera,
(04:44):
et cetera.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So here's the problem.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I think that a lot of people, when they see
lights go on, think oh, this is going to cost
me a lot of money. And when they see two
go on, they think that as well. So what let's
talk about abs and traction control lights? So they both
let's go on. How much is that going to cost them?
If there's a problem.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
It typically takes a shop somewhere between a half hour
and forty five minutes of their time. If they're a
two hundred dollars an hour shop, it's one hundred and
fifty bucks. So the question you've got to ask yourself
is it worth one hundred and fifty dollars of your
of your life to find out why my lights are on?
At least then you know they might even do it.
(05:25):
If you're a regular customer, they might even do it
as a note charge. Hey, Larry, here's what we found.
You know, it's an older car. Do you want to
fix it? Here's an approximate cost to repair. Or they
may look at it and say, here's the two fault codes.
We've got to go in and do some serious diagnosis.
It's a couple one hundred more bucks, et cetera. But
at least you know there's value and knowledge and power
(05:46):
in knowing what the problem is. And that's half the
battle today.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
So you just gave me.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
The price for the scan, then you said that you
have to do a deeper diagnosis, which would be more money.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
What if you had to fix it? How much is
that going to run?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Me? Well, it can run anywhere from a typical ABS
fault is a bad wheel speed sensor. There are four
wheel speed sensors on most vehicles, one in each corner
of the car, left front, right front, and so on.
The average wheel speed sensor runs approximately one hundred and
fifty dollars, and it's somewhere around an hour to an
hour and a half of the shop's time to replace it,
(06:23):
clear of the code and maybe in some cases calibrate
the system. So you could spend between four and six
hundred dollars to fix an ABS sensor from diagnosis beginning
to end. Now you can also have the granddaddy of
the wall headache. You can have a bad ABS controller.
An ABS controller is the central brain. Prices start at two.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Grand oh oh man, this is why we ignore. But
here's the problem. We should it. I know when the.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Lights go on, if you get it fixed, you might
save yourself bigger problems down the line.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Right. Yes, because it's a safety thing. Remember you you're
getting in most cases, you're getting an insurance deduction on
your vehicle because you have ABS brakes. I've never seen
it come up in court, but I often wonder if
the ABS system isn't working and you get into an
accident and the insurance company we're able to know, does
(07:17):
that dissuade them from having to cover that vehicle? Yeah,
for that case to come up.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, that's the chance you're taking. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Ron and Nanian, host of The Car Doctor, which is
available weekly on the iHeartRadio app, and owner of ra
Automotive
So you've probably noticed over the last few weeks we
have a theme going on with Ron and Ron and
Nanny and he's taking us through a tour of the
dashboard and all the warning lights, you know, the ones
we ignore most of the time. They just keep flashing
at us, but because we don't know exactly what they mean,
we just decide we can wait and maybe they'll go off.
(00:21):
Ron and Naney is host of The Car Doctor, which
is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app. He's also owner
of r A Automotive in Waaldwick, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Good morning Ron, Good morning Larry. Thanks thanks for having
me again.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Oh sure, of course.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Let's talk about as we go through all these warning lights,
the anti lock break lights.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Anti lock breaks. First of all, let's let's let's separate
and kill the myth. Every car has regular breaks, you know,
you step on the brake pedal, the car stops, and
then there's anti lock breaks. Anti lock breaks are really
the same break system. So if the anti lock brake
light is on, your vehicle will always have the traditional
(01:05):
service break. You'll be able to stop the car, you
just won't have the added safety feature of anti lock.
Anti lock is just as the name implies. Best example,
stop your car on a pile of wet leaves, all right,
the right sides on the leaf pile, the left sides
on dry road. What happens if you don't have anti lock.
The right rear wheel will stop quicker, causing that side
(01:29):
of the car to slide and possibly spin. The left
side stops with normal braking force because it's on a
drier part of the road. Anti lock sees the change
in wheel speed, it sees the wheel slowed down, and
it gently pumps the brake. Remember what Dad taught you
when he was teaching you to drive, pump the brakes
in the skid condition. Antialock breaks is sort of like
(01:50):
that on your shoulder.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And so it's an important warning light to check out.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Right, Yes, if you're used to driving with antilock break
and all of a sudden that light's on and you
go into a yeah, I don't need to fix that,
that's okay, and you go into a skid condition, then
you've got to start pumping your brakes in order to
correct the situation. If you know how to do that,
you know, certain generations know I know to me, it
kicks in instinctively, right, Yeah, the younger generation of drivers,
(02:19):
I don't know if they've been taught that, and I
don't know if they're ready for it, so they kind
of rely on it. So it's an important light to
pay attention to when you see it come on.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
What about traction control?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So traction control, you know antalog breaks is for stopping,
traction control is for going. Now, most traction control lights
are two squiggly lines parallel to each other. Sometimes it's
a tire with a dotted line underneath. Every car has
a little bit of a different light. You should look
in your owner's manual to verify. But traction control will
(02:52):
basically sense skid or we'll spin. Better word, we'll spin
while you're a accelerating and if you're on a piece
of ice and all of a sudden that tire speeds up,
it will slow it down to maintain traction and help
the car stay straight. All right. It might even apply
(03:13):
all the brakes in some form to slow the car
down completely because it sense you're going into a skid.
So one's for going, ones for stopping, but they work
in conjunction with each other. Now you can have a
dashboard warning light come on for abs anti lock brake
and that will a prevent the antilog brake system from working,
(03:33):
and then have that turn on a traction control light
because if ABS isn't working, traction control goes, hey wait
a minute, now what do I do? And it will
set a code telling you, hey, there's a problem here,
let's look at both systems.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
So both lights go on at the same time, is
what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
They could, Yes, sir, absolutely, And so.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
When that happens, I think, I think it's actually a
good thing because when two lights go on that normally
gets your attention.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Nothing scares people more than dashboard warning lights. One they
can live with too, they're getting nervous. Three they're on
the side of the road. So that's why a lot
of the manufacturers heck, you can have a check engine
light come on, not to change the subject, but you
can have a check engine light come on, and that'll
turn on ABS, traction control and a few others. So, yes,
you will start to see and as more of these
systems continue to grow and evolve, and they're all safety related.
(04:23):
This is all about safety, you will see more and
more lights come on to try and get people's attention,
to make them aware that, Hey, you've got to get
this checked out. There's no condition where an ABS or
traction control light is going to come on that should
be ignored if you at least have it checked out
by a mechanic and have them say, here's the issue,
here's what I have to fix, et cetera, et cetera,
(04:44):
et cetera.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
So here's the problem.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I think that a lot of people, when they see
lights go on, think oh, this is going to cost
me a lot of money. And when they see two
go on, they think that as well. So what let's
talk about abs and traction control lights? So they both
let's go on. How much is that going to cost them?
If there's a problem.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
It typically takes a shop somewhere between a half hour
and forty five minutes of their time. If they're a
two hundred dollars an hour shop, it's one hundred and
fifty bucks. So the question you've got to ask yourself
is it worth one hundred and fifty dollars of your
of your life to find out why my lights are on?
At least then you know they might even do it.
(05:25):
If you're a regular customer, they might even do it
as a note charge. Hey, Larry, here's what we found.
You know, it's an older car. Do you want to
fix it? Here's an approximate cost to repair. Or they
may look at it and say, here's the two fault codes.
We've got to go in and do some serious diagnosis.
It's a couple one hundred more bucks, et cetera. But
at least you know there's value and knowledge and power
(05:46):
in knowing what the problem is. And that's half the
battle today.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
So you just gave me.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
The price for the scan, then you said that you
have to do a deeper diagnosis, which would be more money.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
What if you had to fix it? How much is
that going to run?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Me? Well, it can run anywhere from a typical ABS
fault is a bad wheel speed sensor. There are four
wheel speed sensors on most vehicles, one in each corner
of the car, left front, right front, and so on.
The average wheel speed sensor runs approximately one hundred and
fifty dollars, and it's somewhere around an hour to an
hour and a half of the shop's time to replace it,
(06:23):
clear of the code and maybe in some cases calibrate
the system. So you could spend between four and six
hundred dollars to fix an ABS sensor from diagnosis beginning
to end. Now you can also have the granddaddy of
the wall headache. You can have a bad ABS controller.
An ABS controller is the central brain. Prices start at two.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Grand oh oh man, this is why we ignore. But
here's the problem. We should it. I know when the.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Lights go on, if you get it fixed, you might
save yourself bigger problems down the line.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Right. Yes, because it's a safety thing. Remember you you're
getting in most cases, you're getting an insurance deduction on
your vehicle because you have ABS brakes. I've never seen
it come up in court, but I often wonder if
the ABS system isn't working and you get into an
accident and the insurance company we're able to know, does
(07:17):
that dissuade them from having to cover that vehicle? Yeah,
for that case to come up.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, that's the chance you're taking. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Ron and Nanian, host of The Car Doctor, which is
available weekly on the iHeartRadio app, and owner of ra
Automotive
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