Citroen xantia hdi. ABS dashlight used to show intermittently when the weather was very hot (not here-in Spain). Towed a friend's caravan 220 miles last week and the abs warning light came on and won't go away. Nothing wrong with the brakes but the dash lamp would be an MoT fail - five months away so there's time to cure it if I can. Any ideas? (not the usual- I quite like the car). DaveK.
davek ( snipped-for-privacy@brentmere53.fsnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Failed cable to a wheel sensor's the usual.
Try driving through a puddle. My old Carlton used to do this after dry spells and correct itself when it rained. Luckily the MOT fell in the winter so it never failed.
Today I took the wheels off my BX to try and cure an intermittant ABS warning light problem which had turned into a permanent ABS warning light and no ABS.
After the wheels were off, took the sensors out, cleaned the crap off the sensy bits, ran a wire brush round the corrugated bits on the hub and checked the wires. Found a damaged wire sheath, patched it up with some insulting tape, plopped it all back together and hurrah! I now have working ABS.
Not sure its the same deal on the Xantia, but probably quite similar. Sensors from GSF for the BX are nearly £100. I didn't fancy that much. Give it a try, cleaning the old sensors is free!
(c:
Douglas
Thanks for that. Today I jiggled the connector to the ecu for the abs (bloody jargon!) and the light went out. Than it came on again. 'Bugger' though I, and it went out again. Found a place that repairs and reconditions ecu's of all types. Based in Gillingham. BBVA I think. £245 plus vat for mine so hopefully the light's off for good. DaveK.
Is is loose? I'd give both parts of that connector a skoosh of switch contact cleaner and a good wipe before I gave someone £245+VAT. Sounds like a bad connection somewhere to me.
It's possible although unlikely that the ABS's brain is at fault, the electromatronics inside are usually pretty hard to upset unless they get wet, hot or bashed.
Douglas
Thanks, I'll disconnect it and give the contacts a clean. Looks a bit time consuming,-the fuse box has to come out to get at the fixings. DaveK.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.