P38A 4.6 GEMS '95 ABS DIAGNOSTICS

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PastyMuncher83

PastyMuncher83

Active Member
Posts
249
Location
South Somerset
How do all,

In the quest to solve the ABS & Traction warning on my Gems 4.6, MOT fast approaching and other than the lights brakes work perfectly, i have been looking into diagnostic tools to find out whats wrong.

With the exception of Nanocom, which my pockets are too deep to go for at the moment, is there any other diagnostic tools that are available to read ABS fault codes on a pre '99 P38?

I have seen a Carsoft tool which reads post '99 P38 ABS, DTC and other codes for less than a trip to the local dealership. But cant find anything for early P38's. Does anyone know if this is likely to work on ABS systems for the early P38'S? Only reason i ask is because i know they were quite far ahead of most cars OBD2 compliance.

I am tempted to replace the ABS ECU fora second hand unit, seem to go for around ONLY a tenner on eBay , and all the ABS sensors seem to be pushed in as far as they go. But from what i've read if i buy a second hand ECU that has already stored logged errors it wont solve the issue until its plugged into diag to delete stored faults?

Just to add yet another question to this thread :/ I have a '95 GEMS and a '01 Thor, if i invest in a Nanocom would it work on both Lucas/Bosch plaforms?

Thanks in advance :)
 
PastyMuncher83 said:
Just to add yet another question to this thread :/ I have a '95 GEMS and a '01 Thor, if i invest in a Nanocom would it work on both Lucas/Bosch plaforms?
Click to expand...
You can buy the nanocom for the gems and then buy an additional licence for the thor or vice versa, think it was around £50. I've recently bought one for mine and am impressed with what it can do. I was down your neck of the woods last weekend camping in cornwall.
 
Ah dammit missed you there then, maybe i should set up a stand on the A303 for any passing fellow P38 enthusiasts?!

How much was the Nanocom, if you don't mind me asking? They must be good as i havent seen any second hand ones for sale!
 
Check or replace the brake light switch on the pedal it has two sets of contacts and if this is not right it will throw up an and fault, the switch has to set for distance on the plunger., details are in Rave.
 
Now you've got me thinking because I get a warning for both rear brake lights not working even though they are. So maybe it is the brake light switch? I guess I would have to replace it then clear the codes and see if it cures the issue
 
PastyMuncher83 said:
Ah dammit missed you there then, maybe i should set up a stand on the A303 for any passing fellow P38 enthusiasts?!

How much was the Nanocom, if you don't mind me asking? They must be good as i havent seen any second hand ones for sale!
Click to expand...
I'm on my way to Penzance tomorrow, mines for thor so I'm not sure if it will work on your abs as mine is the later one with the traction control but happy to try it if you want to meet at some point.
 
Wazzajnr said:
I'm on my way to Penzance tomorrow, mines for thor so I'm not sure if it will work on your abs as mine is the later one with the traction control but happy to try it if you want to meet at some point.
Click to expand...

Gems is Wabco C. Motronic unit uses Wabco D. EDC unit does both. Don't know if it will connect selecting EDC from menu then selecting Wabco C.
 
PastyMuncher83 said:
Now you've got me thinking because I get a warning for both rear brake lights not working even though they are. So maybe it is the brake light switch? I guess I would have to replace it then clear the codes and see if it cures the issue
Click to expand...
Sounds promising, definitely worth a shot even just take old one out pull out plunger hold peddle down refit switch let peddle up.
 
PastyMuncher83 said:
Now you've got me thinking because I get a warning for both rear brake lights not working even though they are. So maybe it is the brake light switch? I guess I would have to replace it then clear the codes and see if it cures the issue
Click to expand...
By the way, I have a spare brake light switch in my bag with me.
 
wammers said:
Gems is Wabco C. Motronic unit uses Wabco D. EDC unit does both. Don't know if it will connect selecting EDC from menu then selecting Wabco C.
Click to expand...
I suspect my nanocom won't let me select EDC or gems as I don't have license for those.
I'm meeting another member first who also has gems so I can try it on his.
 
So quick update, tried plugging the thing into nanocom but it couldn't retrieve any values from the ECU. I didn't say it couldn't connect just couldn't get any info from it. The same nanocom was used successfully on a similar aged Gems the same day.
Changed the brake switch which was generously donated by Wazzajnr :), made no difference.

Fitted a tested working ABS ECU and made no difference. Will try and plug into nanocom again this weekend but not holding out much hope!
 
PastyMuncher83 said:
So quick update, tried plugging the thing into nanocom but it couldn't retrieve any values from the ECU. I didn't say it couldn't connect just couldn't get any info from it. The same nanocom was used successfully on a similar aged Gems the same day.
Changed the brake switch which was generously donated by Wazzajnr :), made no difference.

Fitted a tested working ABS ECU and made no difference. Will try and plug into nanocom again this weekend but not holding out much hope!
Click to expand...

Wazza has Thor so he'll have Wabco D. Won't read your GEMS Wabco C. Sometimes it takes a few times to connect to the ABS module. Cannot remember if key has to be on or off but it'll be in the Nanocom manual.
 
Grrrrrr said:
Wazza has Thor so he'll have Wabco D. Won't read your GEMS Wabco C. Sometimes it takes a few times to connect to the ABS module. Cannot remember if key has to be on or off but it'll be in the Nanocom manual.
Click to expand...
It will read Wabco C, I tried earlier that day on @cornishboater gems RR and it read fine. If you select thor on the start page and try to connect it gives an "unable to communicate with ECU" but if you select gems it connects and reads the Wabco C fine. On @PastyMuncher83 it didn't give a connection error but the value fields just stayed blank. Maybe I should have tried a few more times but I was pushed for time.
 
That's understandable will see how we get on this time. I stupidly had pinned my hope on the new ecu sorting it so I could get the thing MOT'd, didn't help that I then went onto try replace the wing mirror glass, not a fun job that I would recommend
 
Wazzajnr said:
It will read Wabco C, I tried earlier that day on @cornishboater gems RR and it read fine. If you select thor on the start page and try to connect it gives an "unable to communicate with ECU" but if you select gems it connects and reads the Wabco C fine. On @PastyMuncher83 it didn't give a connection error but the value fields just stayed blank. Maybe I should have tried a few more times but I was pushed for time.
Click to expand...

Thought only the diesel could read both C and D so that's good to know. It really is just the engine modules that are locked then.
 
Yep, I guess so. If you try to connect to the gems ecu it starts telling you to stop being a tight wad and buy a license but it certainly connected to the Wabco C. I went in and read the product code so it was deffo reading it.
When I tried connecting to mine via gems it said unable to communicate.
If I get time I'd like to try out all the other modules on diesel and gems to see what exactly is locked and also I'd like to try a gems nanocom on my thor and see if it's same the other way.
 
Wazzajnr said:
Yep, I guess so. If you try to connect to the gems ecu it starts telling you to stop being a tight wad and buy a license but it certainly connected to the Wabco C. I went in and read the product code so it was deffo reading it.
When I tried connecting to mine via gems it said unable to communicate.
If I get time I'd like to try out all the other modules on diesel and gems to see what exactly is locked and also I'd like to try a gems nanocom on my thor and see if it's same the other way.
Click to expand...

I wonder if some of the early Thors still had Wabco C? That might explain it.
 
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