ABS Light and Code Scanners slighlty off-topic

[whitecity]

A little bit off-topic but here goes. My wife has a '99 mountaineer and the ABS light is on. I took it to the local Autozone and asked if they could read the code, the counter guy said they couldn't read ABS codes just "check engine" codes.

My first question is, is he right? do they take different scanners or something or should I go to Autozone and ask someone else?

If they do can somebody recommend a relatively inexpensive scanner that would work on the Mountaineer and on my '99 Powerstroke?

I hate the idea of taking it to the local dealer, they seem to find enough other stuff that has to be fixed to cost me $500/trip.

[GrampyJim]

The AZ guy is right. The ABS module is a "proprietary" module and does not fall under the OBD2 mandate.

In the FWIW department.... the shop is simply the messenger. It is your truck that is telling you how much it wants to spend to be happy.

OTOH, the shop could see stuff going bad and remain silent..... the truck would, eventually, find a way to tell you it's hurtin'. Doing it this way usually makes the final tab bigger.

Many on this forum seem to like the AutoEnginuity. I have no experience with it, myself.

[Bubbagm]

More than likely a sensor went bad. Most tire stores have an ABS code scanner, they charge around $45 to scan it. If your in the Portland / Vancouver area, I have the Auto Enginuity program, we could hook it up. Like you got tired of the $50-100 just to find out whats wrong, then more $$$ to fix it. Now when something goes wrong, I know what it is, and decide if I want to do it, or pay to have it done.