1998 Avensis GLS ABS light issue

[Mikey74]

Toyota Avensis GLS 1998

ABS light comes on after about 8 miles of driving in a morning, stays on through the day and then next day on start up is off until approx 7-8 miles then comes on again. Looking for a code reader but struggling to find one that will cover pre 2000. 

[Konrad C]

Having owned a similar car, I can tell you that you won't need a scanner. Your is not OBD2 compatible, even though it has the correct socket. You need a professional or Toyota scanner that has the protocols for pre OBD2 cars.

The good news is there is the paperclip method, where you can bridge pins 4 and 13 of the OBD socket, then turn the key to IGN, but don't start the engine.

The EML. ABS and SRS lights will flash. If they flash steadily with no pauses, no faults are stored. 

If any of the lights flash with pauses, then you have a fault stored, Morse code style for numbers.
      

A few times I had the ABS light come on. The first was when I broke the ABS wheel trying to dismantle the rear wheel bearing. I quickly replaced the whole hub (4 bolts) minutes before taking it to be MOT. Another time the ABS control unit died. I replaced that from a slightly younger car from the breakers. Just 6 bolts and unplug to remove. No need to bleed since hydraulic parts are not dismantled. If the ABS control unit is dead, the ABS light does not flash in diagnostic mode!

The other time was when I had the front wheels off the floor, car in gear, trying to detect which wheel bearing had failed. The speed difference with the stationary rears triggered the ABS light. Each time after the work was completed, you have to go about 15 mph before the ABS light goes out. The codes are still stored, but can be erased by pressing pumping the brake quickly, as described in the third image above. 
Here is a post from the past - 

 

 

[avetoy]

Perhaps it´s not that simple fault but you could also check the brake light switch from the pedal

and the brake light bulbs, are they working properly?

Carina E models had sometimes those faults causing the abs light to come on every now and then.

[Vanuda]

For the indicated short between 2 pins in the OBD2 contact , atleast on Toyota RAV4 2003 some bluetoth ODB2 adapters shorts these.

Did some troubleshooting on why my ABS light started to flash and it took a while before i found a similar post as this one explaining that i have entered a diagnostic mode ( by mistake ).

 

[Konrad C]

On 8/19/2021 at 3:19 PM, Vanuda said:

For the indicated short between 2 pins in the OBD2 contact , atleast on Toyota RAV4 2003 some bluetoth ODB2 adapters shorts these.

Did some troubleshooting on why my ABS light started to flash and it took a while before i found a similar post as this one explaining that i have entered a diagnostic mode ( by mistake ).

 

That is one to think about, though the OP owned a '98 Avensis, which though it had the 16 pin OBD socket, is not OBD2 compatible! Compatibility came with the facelift and VVTi engines that had pre and post cat' sensors. The pre-facelift Avensis only had one single O2 sensor. That is why the jumper/paperclip method was mainly used, by anyone who didn't have the specialist diagnostic equipment. 
I used to own a '98 Avensis GLS 1.8, so experienced some of the issues and used the paperclip method as the main diagnostic method.