A few mornings ago, we had a rare day here in Georgia. When I went out to start my car, the temperature was in the mid twenties, and there was a lot of ice on my windows. After I cleared the ice and got in to start the engine, I noticed that the ABS warning light was on. My brakes felt fine as always. I didn't slam them to test the ABS, but they felt ok in normal braking. I was going to take my car to the dealership to get it checked out, but the light turned off later that day, and I haven't seen it again since then.

Is it normal for the ABS light to come on in sub-freezing weather and then go away when it warms up again?

 

Temperature should not have an effect on the ABS system.
Imagain what us guys up north would go through if that were the case!

If the light comes back on, personally I'd have the system checked out by Nissan.

 

Certainly not... I (and anyone else who lives north of the Mason-Dixon line) have driven my car in sub-zero (F) temperatures and have never seen this.

Might indicate an incipient failure... a component that is close to failing when warm could appear bad in cold temperatures.

For any car sold in North America, temperatures in the mid-twenties are not extreme by any means. Even along the east coast, we often see a period of a week or so with a high temperature around 25. In the middle of the continent they'd call that warm... ask somebody from Minneapolis or Winnipeg...

A failure in the ABS system would not be expected to affect the brakes. You would not notice it until your ABS failed to kick in when needed. That's why they have the light.

Hope you don't mind a dumb question, but are you sure it was the ABS light and not the general "brakes" warning light? The latter can be triggered by low fluid level in the brake reservoir... this would more likely be temperature-related, since the fluid does expand and contract somewhat with temperature.

 

Yeah, it was the ABS light. I know, because it had "ABS" written on it. It was near the general "Brakes" light, though.

 

That'll do it.

Good luck with the problem! Hope you've still got warranty coverage.

 

It is probably one of your ABS sensors. Check plugs first. Trace each sensor to the harnes (about 2 ft from the wheel). It might got unpluged, cracked, whatever.

Go to dealer, they can hook up consult and tell you which one is bad. My passenger rear failed at 68k on a 2002 and it got goodwilled by Nissan.
I just washed the car and it came on. I thought i sprayed too much water in the wheel, but it was just a coinsidence.

 

ehh myn comes on and goes off about once a week ... the fix.. well turn off the engine and start her again.. the light turns off and were all happy

 

mine turned on the night I bought the car, and I've never seen it since (~2 years). Figured it was just a random error.

 

ABS is an add-on. It could completely fail and your brakes would operate just the same until you locked them up...then you'd notice a difference. But just day-to-day driving ABS does nothing to/for your brakes.

99% if the light went out there's nothing wrong, but bring it and ask anyway. Then if they do fail and you rear-end someone you can blame nissan

 

Probably one of the sensors got wet. Once the heat from braking dried it, next time you started the engine, it reset.

 

Thanks for the input, guys. I'll get it checked out soon, but I don't think anything's wrong. The light has stayed off for a couple of days now.

 

myn was on this morning on my way to work out.. on the way home it was off no big deal just drive farther away when its on

 

I've never had it happen to my max, but I had a problem like this on one of my old cars ('94 grand prix). When it was extremely cold, the light would come on at crank and stay on. Shut off the car, turn over the engine again and all was good. I wouldn't worry about it.