2003 Pontiac Aztek: ABS light or ABS activating

Filed Oct 25, 2014 · Brakes, Wheels · OR

I had a flat tire, rear driver side tire. I was unaware of the actual mileage that was on my car at that time. Pulled over and changed flat tire with spare doughnut tire (which is a joke). I proceeded to drive off and the ABS light immediately came on and said it was disabled. I continued driving to les schwab tire center in hood river, or.. They said the flat was not repairable and they were unable to sell me 1 tire since my vehicle is awd. I limped back home to portland on the 35 MPH spare tire. I was able to get cheaper tires through another dealer but when my new tires were put on my ABS never reactivated and to this day the light stays on saying it is disabled. It is the difference between driving a 1973 monte carlo vs a 2003 pontiac aztek. I have had several places check it out and they have said it is in the wheel sensors??? All 4? I had them replaced and it still says the ABS is disabled. What is the problem? And this went out over having a flat tire?? I do not have the money to take it to dealer. Please tell me what to do to get this fixed. It is annoying at best. Thank you.

Filed Oct 25, 2014 · Electrical, Steering · 125,000 miles · IN

I was driving at about 30mph when my vehicle just shut down w/o warning/symptoms. My lights still worked but the vehicle totally shut down and locked up otherwise and I coasted to a stop mid roadway. Key was stuck in ignition and in the on position and wouldn't let me turn key to any other position and key wouldn't come out so I sat until battery died which shut the vehicle off.when vehicle initially lost power and came to a stop I tried to put vehicle into park and attempt a restart which is when I realized the key and ignition wouldn't move and then vehicle wouldn't move out of park either.also at the moment my car shut down,I glanced down at dash and saw system warning message flash stating ABS error but was unsure if this was the only message it had flashed or if this was just the last one that I caught and they had possibly all flashed as part of the malfunction but had never heard of anything brake related cause an entire vehicle system to shut down totally and be dead as a result with total lockup of all controls.I had to have vehicle towed home and have had nothing but confusion from all of the tow truck drivers, mechanic friends, etc.as to what or why this would happen. They all suggested that it seemed to be my computer or electrical possibly because the car was totally dead and did not make any noise or click or anything but silence when attempting to power back and restart. I had my two kids with me and one was a baby in a torrential downpour of a rainstorm and this was my vehicle stranded mid corner in a blind spot with no way of moving car from danger of middle of road or even being able to remove my key so as to abandon the vehicle out of safety concern.this is not the only case of this happening to this vehicle from what I am reading on consumer reported incidents and complaints/investigations. This needs to be a recall and it is all electrical error related.

Filed Sep 19, 2011 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 101,000 miles · OK

In april 2011 on bumpy roads a grinding noise would come on and it took longer to stop the car. I called the dealer and was told it was probably the ABS system and could be a number of things, the computer module may be bad, the sensors on each wheel could be bad. I took the car in for service in may, had to replace the wheel bearings on one wheel and was told it was fixed $540. Then in june the car started doing the same thing, took it in again, was told another wheel needed new bearings $740 with a warranty. In august car started the vibrating and grinding again, you can hear a vibration like a motor or something comes on and then when you try to stop you have to push really really hard. At that point I went on line to check it out, seems lots of people who own either a 2003 pontiac aztek or a 2003 buick rendevous are having these same issues. The dealers are taking advantage of a defect in the car. All the blogs that I saw online are having the same problem. Many people have repacked the bearings on all wheels, replace sensors and the harness to the computer module and nothing seems to work and the dealers don't seem to know how to fix it once and for all. My car has always been worked on by the dealer. So far my dealer hasn't mentioned the computer sensor but I'm sure after I've replaced all wheel bearings they will get to that. Bottom line is if all these people are having this same safety issue, your dept needs to look at it. This is a safety issue with the ABS braking system and no one seems to know how to fix it. We are keeping our cars longer and they should last well over 100,000 miles with proper maintenance. So now I have a perfectly good car with a perfectly good engine, but no ABS braking system and it can't seem to be fixed!

Filed Aug 2, 2011 · Electrical · 76,000 miles · ND

2003 pontiac aztek has been building from ABS and brake lights and chimes to fuel gage losses all intermittent. Vehicle locks up and won't start or has started starting on its own in the garage. It is reminding me of being a kid in the 60s and playing pinball with all the lights and "specials" lighting up! Reading from online stuff I am in a group of many owners having problems that are the same. One common theme is the body control module! Is gm hiding their heads in the sand over this problem. I am going to be replacing my module as I don't want my car gasing us to death at night in my garage. Lucky my door to the garage was open today! I am totally disappointed that gm has not and the government has not made them set up and take care of these problems. No fire yet no damage yet no crash yet! And they are lucky if this hasn't hurt someone yet.

Filed Jun 27, 2007 · Electrical · NY

The ati-lock (ABS) light comes on intermittently. First started 6/4/07 took car to deal. Dealer state the sensors is corroded and will not be covered under you extend warranty. They clean the sensors and charge me $200 dollars. According to the work order I was not charge any parts. So just 200 for labor to clean a sensor pick up the car that night the dashboard ati-lock (ABS) light came on and stay on. Return car back to deal they had the car for almost 2 week and replace the wheel bearing assembly. They state this should fix the dashboard ati-lock (ABS) light . Pick up the car that night went to stop the car and the ati-lock (ABS) light came back on. Return car back to the dealer had car for 5 days said one of two things the emc or ecc some ati-lock (ABS) computer or the wires running from the sensor to the computer is shorted out. They jumped the sensors by passing the engine wire harness so there is a direct path form the ABS sensor to the ABS computer. The deal state that is was fixed. Currently have the car and test driving it now 6/27/07

Filed Nov 26, 2003 · Brakes · 13,000 miles · OH

On nov. 25 & 26, while pulling up to a red light (2 times) and only traveling approximately 3 to 5 MPH my pontiac aztek (2003) has felt like the brakes have released (disengaged while my foot was still on the brake pedal) and has caused me to stop 5 to 10 feet beyond the point where I intended to stop. The feeling was that of applying your brakes on a wet road and your ABS system kicks in. However, in this case, instead of a repeated apply, release, apply braking feeling, it felt as if the brakes released on the one time and then fully applied as it should have done.

Filed Jan 2, 2003 · Brakes · PA

Replaced ABS control unit module due to an internal short. Also, replaced front and rear brake rotors.