Hi, I’m a new member with a problem plagued 98 Ranger, 4WD,4 wheel abs, so any assistance will be greatly appreciated. My ABS ‘light illuminated , and my scanner said a faulty abs/traction control module was the culprit. NLA fromFord, and the only one I could find was an NOS blemished unit. I installed it and the abs seems to work, however, now no speedo, and the abs light now flashes VERY rapidly with no pauses. Scanner now says the same as before plus faulty LEM module,which I doubt since all the accessories function as they should. Can anyone give some insight into this kerfuffule? Thanks for any help. Mike

 

Welcome to the forum

That's an odd one

4WABS module in 1998 Rangers wasn't used for speedometer, it was in Explorers in 1998, so wondering if your Ranger was built using Explorer setup, which is possible

1998 to 2000 Rangers did use the rear axle ABS sensor for its Speed signal, just tapped into the 2 wires and sent that signal to the GEM(body computer) behind radio and it converted the signal to the 8,000ppm signal the speedometer uses

Explorers did that same conversion in the 4WABS module using same rear axle ABS sensor, not in the GEM

Best GUESS
The "new" 4WABS module may be correct for 1998 Ranger, so doesn't have the speed conversion part
You may need to get a 1998 Explorer 4WABS module

Check if you have P0500 code from computer, that means no Speed Signal, computer, speedometer and cruise all got(shared) the converted speed signal from GEM or 4WABS so all 3 would be effected

Other possibility is that the "new" 4WABS module is shorting out the rear axle ABS sensor's 2 wires, so no speed signal is going to GEM so no speed signal out
You could unplug the 4WABS module and then see if speedometer is working again, that would also confirm if you have GEM speed circuit or not

 

Hi RonD, thanks for your thoughts. The replacement module is the exact p/n as the original abs and the speedo worked fine. Do you know if the replacement module has to be programmed to the vehicle? That costs on the order of 200.00, so, my dilemma is whether I should do that or return it to the seller figuring it may be defective which wastes the 200 clams. Might be smarter to send the original and have it rebuilt for about the same cost, then it’s just plug and play. Your thoughts?
Thanks, Mike

 

It can be programmed for Tire Size, but would still have a speed signal showing from past tire size, just off by a few MPH

Part number would be the same, its the software that would be different

i.e. all Ford computers have the same part number regardless of what engine, trans or vehicle they came with/from, 12A650