So I was on the road today all day ('05 Baja turbo A/T, ~86,000 miles) and suddenly the cruise control shut off and wouldn't resume (wife was driving at the time). Simultaneously, the ABS light lit up on the dash and wasn't functioning. It was blizzarding and slick for most of the trip, so yes I'm sure the ABS wasn't working. At a fuel stop a few miles later, I checked fuse 18 because it says it's for both ABS control and cruise control, but it was fine. So was every fuse I pulled in the cab block and every relay and fuse under the hood. Another stop in ~50 miles didn't reveal anything or fix it.

 

Then, about 250 miles later after a third stop, the ABS light stayed off and it's working again. The roads got genuinely slick by that time so I didn't try the cruise.

 

What in the world happened? Anything I should spend any time thinking about? I'm at my destination for a couple days and then I'll make the return trip home (~500-550 miles). Thanks for any help?

last time i had the cruise and ABS failing at the same time it was the alternator going on me, but again i'm talking about a 95 legacy... you may have corrosion on your battery terminals?!?

Hmm I am going to assume you tryed turning off the car and restarting? :-p Could have been a fluke and maybe a wheel sensor was clogged up with snow??

I'd have to go with the "Wheel sensor clogged up with snow" Idea. Im fairly certain most new cars will shut off the cruise if theres a CEL or ABS malfunction.

OK. My thoughts were running along the lines of a wheel sensor or possibly even the VSS. I hadn't thought of battery terminal corrosion. I did just take the battery out a few weeks ago to do the plugs and there was so corrosion on the terminals. So, I cleaned them up and sprayed them with the purple sealant from Permatex, which means I could easily have messed them all up!

 

Thanks for the ideas and info, guys. I guess I'll see what happens the next few days since the storms are still rolling across (I'm in E. Oregon right now).

You could read the codes from the ABS unit. There is an article on http://www.endwrench.com that tells you how to identify your abs system type, and then how to get it to flash out the codes. Even if the light isn't on currently it will show the historical codes (unless erased by disconnecting fuse/battery).

 

Some '05+ soobs have ECU reflashes available so that might be something to check into too.