Freightliner Trucks are one of the most famous and well-respected trucking companies in America. Since their inception in 1929, they have been a leading force within the trucking industry.
They have an excellent track record and pride themselves on the fact that they are constantly evolving and improving. They have an impressive line-up of models to choose from to suit your needs, including more recently two different options for electric vehicles.
Each of their vehicles will be equipped with a whole range of features as standard, assuring you of the upmost safety and comfort whilst travelling in your vehicle. They are known for their superior braking systems, intelligent systems, and powerful engines. ABS is installed as standard on all models, allowing you to be free from worry even when driving at higher speeds.
Though on occasion if your truck system highlights any issues within the braking system then the ABS light will automatically switch on, alerting you to the need for attention. As a safety measure, this cannot be switched off until the issue has been resolved.
How to Reset ABS Light on Freightliner?
So, the first thing you should do upon noticing that the ABS light has come on whilst driving your Freightliner Truck is to safely park the vehicle as it is indicative of a problem within the braking system.
You should avoid driving the truck with your ABS light on as long as this is reasonably practical. If it’s not safe to stop right away, then find the nearest appropriate and safe place to pull over as soon as you can.
Any issue that causes your ABS light to stay on needs to be thoroughly examined to try and find the possible cause. For example, it may be that your braking system is fine but the sensors that detect issues are at fault and need to be replaced.
Once you have examined how your vehicle is operating, you may decide there is an issue and you will need to get professional assistance. However, if you are sure there isn’t any issue with the braking system, then you need to how to turn off your ABS light. The only way to do so is to reset your system.
In this article, we will explore how you can do this and the equipment you will need to prepare in advance to ensure you can complete the task.
Preparation
The first thing you will need is a jumper wire. Hopefully, you will have one onboard your vehicle already but, if not, you will need to get to an electrical store or workshop or an automotive parts store.
If you are in any doubt, then you should ask the clerk. They may need your Freightliner truck’s exact model and year or manufacture to be able to correctly advise you.
If you cannot locate a jumper wire, then you can try a simple adapter kit for service connectors. Whichever way you go, the crucially important thing is to be sure the wire will work with DLC. This stands for Data Link Connector.
Once you have your equipment, you will then need to find the relevant ports to plug in your jumper cable. There are located in different places in each model and if you have the manual for your vehicle, the best thing to do is consult this for the correct location. If you cannot locate the manual, then the most common location is usually just below the glove compartment box within the truck.
Make sure your vehicle is turned off to avoid any risk of shock. Only then can you finally proceed to connect your wire to the connectors. Once securely connected, switch your vehicle on and the ABS light should start to blink. If it doesn’t, then we advise you double check the tightness of your connections.
Procedure
If the light is blinking, then it indicates that you should be able to reset your ABS light. There is a sequence of four steps to do this and you must make sure that you follow the steps carefully, fully and in sequence, to avoid any further issues.
- Depress the brake pedal gently without activating the gearbox or accelerator. You should hear an audible clicking noise from the DCL connections.
- Once you hear the noise, you need to depress and release the brake 8 further times. This should be done relatively rapidly. Don’t wait in between each press. The whole process should only take a few seconds.
- In some cases, the ABS lights might stay in for a few seconds before blinking a total of four times. Then they should switch off which indicated that the reset procedure for your lights has been completed.
- If the ABS light doesn’t switch off at this stage it may be that you have held the brake down for too long, or simply not been quick enough with the whole procedure. If this happens, fully release the brake pedal, turn the engine off before restarting the engine and then start the process over.
Remove the cables and your vehicle should now be good to go. If it isn’t and the light remains on your issue will require further investigation by a professional.