Abs fault ( the lemon strikes again)

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Bern768

Bern768

Well-Known Member
Posts
247
Location
Weymouth
After all my hard work last week for the mot the lemon has graced me with new faults , abs and traction fault plugged it in today quickly and fault states rh front abs sensor short to another done a quick search and a lot of people have said abs ECU, is there any common places for wiring to rub through that I should now about before I start digging to deep ? Both front sensors are new and the fault occasionally doesn't come on straight away , done 30 miles this evening before it came on and stayed on since :confused:
 
What year is yours, the early wabco b/c ecus are as cheap as chips and rarely give any trouble, the later wabco d is £140 second hand and can give the odd bit of trouble but more often a cable or sensor problem
 
It's the later wabco d unit in mine did whip the cover off under the glove box and the plugs look good doesn't appear to be wet or any green on the terminals
 
This fault can show if a sensor is completely dead or the cable is broken/disconnected. Was it a cheap sensor?
It can also be a dead ecu :(
 
They are aftermarket sensors but branded ones that are sold in most motor factors etc not the eBay specials, hopefully I will get chance to plug it in today and dig a bit deeper fingers crossed I find something before I reach the ECU o_O
 
Flossie said:
I'd try pushing them fully home first incase ones worked its way out a bit?
Click to expand...
I'm not an expert, but i think yes you'd get a light on but you need a break in the wired side to get the 'short to another sensor' error.

Break could be anywhere including the sensor itself
 
kermit_rr said:
I'm not an expert, but i think yes you'd get a light on but you need a break in the wired side to get the 'short to another sensor' error.

Break could be anywhere including the sensor itself
Click to expand...
Yes, I thought about it after I posted and realized I shot from the hip and just saw/read the light on thang.:oops:.
 
Well i have an update on this.
My new sensor has apparently just failed with the same error! I'm still getting a voltage/speed reading so it's definitely plugged in
 
kermit_rr said:
Well i have an update on this.
My new sensor has apparently just failed with the same error! I'm still getting a voltage/speed reading so it's definitely plugged in
Click to expand...
If you are getting a voltage/speed reading from the sensor. I would suggest the fault lies elsewhere. The P38 ABS sensor is a very simple device, basically just a coil of wire round a soft iron core.
 
Datatek said:
If you are getting a voltage/speed reading from the sensor. I would suggest the fault lies elsewhere. The P38 ABS sensor is a very simple device, basically just a coil of wire round a soft iron core.
Click to expand...
Anyone want to help diagnosing abs and traction control errors after replacing both front abs sensors a few weeks ago ? Car has been fine since up until today when one of my rear tyres was much lower on pressure than the other 3 so I blew them all up but I doubt that caused the traction error message. I also drove through some massive puddles last night but again no faults came up at the time.
 
I had the same fault message on mine ("Wabco-D" variant) 3 times now. Each time it has been a failure of the OSF sensor.
Check the following:
5V at the sensor plug.
The ABS sensors should be showing a resistance of c.1200 Ohms.
When mine have failed they all go completely open-circuit.
 
Another cause of spurious traction Control & ABS faults on the dash is a failing Alternator.
My previous 1999 P38 had this twice. On each occasion I would get faults after going over a large pothole, the slip-rings(?) on the alternator were worn into trenches. New alternator cleared the fault till the alternator failed again (free replacement).
 
Last edited:
DanClarke said:
Another cause of spurious traction Control & ABS faults on the dash is a failing Alternator.
My previous 1999 P38 had this twice. On each occasion I would get faults after going over a large pothole, the slip-rings(?) on the alternator were worn into trenches. New alternator cleared the fault till the alternator failed again (free replacement).
Click to expand...
During my 6 years of ownership I know that you can get all sorts of error messages with a poorly charged battery - auto gearbox faults and all sorts but this is the first time i've had abs and tc lights stay on. I had to destroy the original front abs sensors to remove them from the hubs as they were seized in when I had to remove both front hubs to do all 4 balljoints. The replacement abs sensors were aftermarket. When I had an E39 I swapped both worn slip rings for 2 good rings carefully removed from a commutator with duff windings.
 
alanlucas said:
During my 6 years of ownership I know that you can get all sorts of error messages with a poorly charged battery - auto gearbox faults and all sorts but this is the first time i've had abs and tc lights stay on. I had to destroy the original front abs sensors to remove them from the hubs as they were seized in when I had to remove both front hubs to do all 4 balljoints. The replacement abs sensors were aftermarket. When I had an E39 I swapped both worn slip rings for 2 good rings carefully removed from a commutator with duff windings.
Click to expand...
I fitted after market sensors to both mine with no problems .Make sure they are pushed fully home until they touch the reluctor ring.
 
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