Out and about Saturday morning on my 1997 coupe, I was going over a bridge that was being worked on. A seam between bridge sections caused the car to fill as if I had hit a small pothole which caused the ABS message to come on. After turning car off at post office and restarting message cleared, is this common or might I have a problem with wheel sensor?

 

I had that with a faulty wheel harness. Check for codes.

 

Wheel Speed Sensors

Code C1221 - 1228 indicate that one of the wheel speed sensors is either sending a bad signal or no signal. Start by checking the connections. The wheel speed sensors are integrated into the wheel bearing/hub assembly. The wire coming out of the back is the connection for the wheel speed sensors. Verify that the connector are not broken, damaged, or corroded in any way. Pay particular attention to the female end.
The wire coming out of the wheel speed sensor connects to and 18" jumper harness, then to the main harness. It is very common for people to have a weak female pin in one of those connections. If all of that checks out good, swap the jumper harness from side to side. For example if the left front is bad, swap it over to the right front. And install the good one from the right front to the left side. Then clear the trouble code. If the trouble code is now on the right side, you know the wire harness is the problem. If the code is still on the left side after swapping the jumper harnesses, you know the problem is inside the wheel speed sensors.
If all the wires check out good, it's time to take a trip to Auto Zone for a new set of bearings. You can buy replacement AC Delco bearing from your dealer if you want to, or get the exact same bearing in a different box for half the price (~$150) from Auto Zone, you decide. The bearings should be replaced in axel sets, so if your left front is bad, you have to replace the right front too. While you’re at it, this is a good time to upgrade the lug studs and add spindle ducts.
The best place to get replacement wheel bearing/hub assemblies is Auto Zone. You're looking for the Timken brand ones. They are exactly the same as the OEM AC Delco bearings, but sold for about half the price (~$150 vs. $300+ from Chevy).

 

Thanks for the information as to what my problem could be, its great being a member of this forum and how quickly other Corvette owners respond to posts and offer advice and know how, again Thanks Marty

 

Its normal, quick stop, pothole etc. it keeps wheels from locking up.........

 

I take it the failure occured when you didn't have your foot on the brake. On 97s this was common with the first design EBTCM. You probably had a excessive wheel speed variation error. I flat spotted a number of tires while autocrossing my 97 due to this problem. GM released a new design EBTCM in 98 that resolved the issue. At the time I was one of the few complaining about the problem since most people babied there cars.

Bill

 

Actually, this problem is due to the location of the ABS brake module located on the rear k-member of the C5s from 97-98.

When there is a large JOLT of the rear wheels, either pot hole, bump on the road or wheel chatter from extreme grip. The module gets shook up, and freaks out, thus disabling the ABS for it feels there is a problem. The next issue, is that if you REALLY press the brakes...all 4 wheels lock up and you spin the car. I autocross my 97 excessively and this is the results there of.

In 99, GM moved the ABS brake controller up front (in front of the alternator) and redesigned the electronics. This was a result of the problems experienced, mostly by the T1 guys when the C5 first came out.

There are no REAL fixes for this, and relocated the ABS module up front is a very time consuming job.

I do not know if the newer ABS control modules will work with the 97/98 systems, I'll be asking here if anyone knows it it can.

I have replaced my bushings on the control module itself, where it mounts to the rear K-member. And replaced the unit with another unit of the same making. I'll be putting another chatter bushing between the mounting brake and the k-member to help absorb and vibration, hoping this will fix my problem.

Good luck! and i hope its just a loose wheel bearing.