Please help me end my ABS nightmare! - Fixed...ish!?

[n3p 3]

Hi all,

 

With MOT looming a month away I've finally decided to do something about my ABS (I know, a little late!). The car in question is a 95 Corrado Storm. I had initially booked my car in at JMR but foolishly forgot about it, felt so bad for John and now my time has almost run out and I'm getting tired of ripping my dash to bits!

 

A little background as to what's happened.

 

After replacing front ABS sensors all worked fine for about 2 weeks. The car then suddenly started activating ABS when slowing down at junctions etc (very annoying). Stupidly left it for about a week (not a daily car) and when I next parked up there was a sort of electrical hum/buzzing noise. When attempting to drive the car the ABS went haywire, kicking in all the time. Being stranded, I found that removing some fat ABS resistor (real technical jargon there!) got rid of the buzz, which returned when reconnecting it.

 

Fast forward to now, if I reconnect the resistor nothing happens at all, the ABS light is constantly on. Luckily buttles scanned the car for me (top guy) which returned the following codes:

 

1) 00280 Differential Lock Valve 2 (35.00)

2) 00532 Supply Voltage B+ (35.00)

 

The codes were cleared, went for a little spin and re-scanned, which seemed to remove the 00280 code but left me with the 00532 code.

 

I replaced the 79 relay (rip off from the stealers!), both this and the 179 click when i turn on the ignition so i'm assuming they are ok? Also checked the wires as best I could and all of the fuses. I will also be getting some more relays from lilfuzzer, if they don't work then it's good to keep spares.

 

Could someone answer any of these questions please?

 

1) I checked to see if there were any signs of water damage on the ABS ECU but the whole area and the ECU itself is clean and bone dry. If the scan gave me codes (i.e. the 00280 code) does this mean that the ECU is still working, as in responsing to a scan or have I got it completely wrong?

 

2) I've also read that 00532 can mean a weak battery, wouldn't this also affect other aspects too, i.e. starting etc? Because everything else is working fine.

 

3) Are there any relays in the fuse box area which relate to ABS too? or the relays in the engine bay? The plastic cover says "ABS" on it, but it's also packed with AC relays.

 

4) When i removed the resistor as mentioned above, the electrical connection was obviously left unconnected. I *may* have hastily topped up my coolant, where some could have dribbled down the expansion tank...could this have goosed my ABS?

 

Any help would be much appreciated, this is driving me nuts now! Tempted to just remove the whole ABS system as it's a ballache! I do have a spare ABS pump in the garage if that does need changing, although I'm really not looking forward to doing that job, looks like a right pig.

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

Edited June 28, 2011 by n3p

[VR6Pete 0]

Next to the heater motor behind the passenger side shelf under the glove boz, there are 3 abs relays and 2 fuses, one of my fuses had corroded away giving me that error your seeing, it's also worth noting that just because the area around the abs ECU is clean doesn't mean it hasn't had water damage as I thought just that until i removed the plug and found a lot of corrosion to the point where one of the terminals had snapped off!

[n3p 3]

Hi, thanks for the reply. 3 relays you say? Odd, I only have 179 and 79...Which is the other one? Only the 79 relay had a fuse on it though. I'll replace it for another one tomorrow and see if I have any joy though. Good point about the ECU, the connectors are annoyingly on the wrong side for pulling out easily! So will the scan still pick up errors if the ECU is faulty?

 

I'll check the ECU connection again tomorrow and see if I have any luck.

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

[VR6Pete 0]

I defiantly have 3 relays 2 of which have 30amp fuses by the relay on my 1994 VR6, not sure If setup would be same on others though!

[buttles 0]

Hi Nick, if you want to come round again we can try my ABS ECU. Your relay holders looked pretty manky. Did you give them a good clean when you replaced the relay? A new scan with good relays might show the B+ code has gone and the fault has come back as the valve as we discussed. We can also check the wireing from the relay to ecu plug. Neil

[n3p 3]

Hi Nick, if you want to come round again we can try my ABS ECU. Your relay holders looked pretty manky. Did you give them a good clean when you replaced the relay? A new scan with good relays might show the B+ code has gone and the fault has come back as the valve as we discussed. We can also check the wireing from the relay to ecu plug. Neil

 

Neil, that would be great! Just let me know via text or PM when you are free and hopefully something can be arranged...shouldn't take too long either. I've only recently learned though that there are different ABS ECU part numbers which may not work if a different one is tested. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

 

By the way, my ABS ECU part no is 1H0 907 379 E.

 

Nick

Edited June 5, 2011 by n3p
half asleep

[davidwort 0]

just been looking at abs parts myself this morning (duff front left sensor), ETKA only lists two, with and without the electronic differential lock, I'm pretty sure if it's a VR then it will be the version with EDL (1H0 907 379E), which is at least a fairly common part as it's used on mk3 golfs and passats from 1994 to 1997.

[n3p 3]

just been looking at abs parts myself this morning (duff front left sensor), ETKA only lists two, with and without the electronic differential lock, I'm pretty sure if it's a VR then it will be the version with EDL (1H0 907 379E), which is at least a fairly common part as it's used on mk3 golfs and passats from 1994 to 1997.

 

Davidwort!

 

Thanks for clearing that up, I like the number 2. The ECU should be the same as buttle's then, although his actual calipers are fecking huge...but that's a story for another time!

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

[buttles 0]

Ahhh...... Caliper envy. Yup, late VR ABS ECUs should be the same

[n3p 3]

Ahhh...... Caliper envy. Yup, late VR ABS ECUs should be the same

 

More like Corrado envy!

 

Many thanks to Neil aka buttles for taking some time to stand in the rain with me and try to sort out the ABS. Top, top guy! The good news is that the 00532 code disappeared, presumably from replacing the relay. With this though the initial scan found 8 fault codes, all pertaining to inlet and outlet valves. Neil kindly sprayed the connector going to the front of the pump with WD40 several times, with multiple scans. The range of fault codes were between 1-6, so we think it is from this connection.

 

It appears that if the connector on the pump side is indeed goosed i'd have to replace the whole pump. Does anyone know if there is an alternative to doing this? Anyone know of any tests I can do on each pin?

 

The one fault code which wouldn't go away was 00275 (ABS outlet valve - right rear). Can someone confirm that this would still be coming from the front connector or is it related to somewhere else?

 

Every time the ignition is on a relay from the fusebox area clicks repeatedly, which stopped when Neil turned off the ABS control via his scanner (or something along those lines). Anyone know what that could be?

 

Any help would be mucho appreciated.

 

Neil also spotted and fixed a seized ISV which was great, the car runs smoother (btw Neil - it stalled a few times at junctions on the drive back but evened itself out later on, I'll drive it again later to double check).

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

[n3p 3]

VR6Pete, thanks for the tip you were right - it appears the ABS ECU is pretty fecked!

 

After a weekend of rain I found the passenger footwell soaking wet, advised by lord buttles that it was the fan inlet seal (spot on). Not only had the water leaked in, it had also fried my brand new 79 relay (the thing was red hot!), leaving me with the B++ supply voltage error again. Changed the gasket, still leaked but only today discovered a hole next to the inlet where a gromit should have been. Poured some water down it and hey presto, wet floor. Used sealant so I'm hoping that it stays dry.

 

Anyway, I've bought yet another 79 relay from VW but unfortunately this, paired with lots of attempted ECU cleaning and WD40ing doesn't seem to get rid of the damned ABS light.

 

Anyone know if I have to have the B++ supply voltage error cleared first or should it be picked up automatically? If it's the latter, then I'm guessing my ABS ECU is dead.

 

Sorry for rambling, just hope this can be of some help to anyone in the future with similar ABS issues.

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

 

P.s - Picture of the ABS ECU attached :(

[lilfuzzer 1]

Hi mate you sourced the right ecu?

 

Just give me a shout if you want them wires and relays still

 

Thats strange that they should all be the same as there must have been a cross over since the one from the L reg ended in C.

[n3p 3]

Hi Chris,

 

Haven't found one yet - Anyone know if the ECU ending in E will work?

 

Relays would still be handy but probably won't need the wires. However, if you've chopped them already then may aswell take them!

 

Nick

[n3p 3]

Quick update,

 

Tested Buttles' ABS ECU in my car and vice versa - despite being waterlogged it still worked fine! We then plugged the connector loosely to the spare ABS pump I had, ABS light went out which was a bit odd, but still a relief. Despite the constant on/off rain we changed the ABS pump today (well, Neil did most, I was good for being the umbrella bitch and removing wheels). ABS light is now out and working! Sometimes it kicks in when approaching junctions but we're getting somewhere. Oh, and I need a new caliper as the bleed valve sheared off.

 

All in all a good day, big thanks to Neil aka Buttles for all of his help.

 

P.S - how comes "ABS" in search returns nothing?!

[n3p 3]

Quick update - ABS kicking in when coming to a stop turned out to be a poorly fitted sensor. Again, thanks to Neil for spotting that! So, 2 relays, 1 pump, 1L of brake fluid and a ****-load of rain later and the nightmare is over! Well, hopefully!

 

One last question if anyone could help? ;)

 

When I put Neils fully working ABS ECU into my car, when turning on the ignition you can hear a click/donk as the ABS light goes out. With my waterlogged (but working?) ECU it doesn't, although everything seems to be functioning like it should. Anyone know what the click/donk is?

 

Cheers,

 

Nick

 

Forgot to add:- fixed it in time for the MOT, thought I'd give it a wash and somehow managed to crack the windscreen! FFS

[davidwort 0]

Sounds like a relay somewhere, does his car do the same with his ecu?

[n3p 3]

As far as I know it does.

 

When I initially turn the key I can hear the 79 and 179 relays by the glovebox clicking, then when the ABS does its test procedure it makes a mechanical clunk sound in time with the light going out. From what I can hear it seems to be from the engine bay. Any ideas?

 

Nick

[davidwort 0]

Only a guess, but perhaps it's cycling the abs pump as part of it's test, p'raps one of the experts on here has proper knowledge of the vr brake system :)

[MikeVR6 0]

Well done for persevering with this and keeping the thread updated. I'm sure this will help someone else.

For me it's too late. My ABS had similar symptoms and after numerous sensors, pumps, relays and ECU's I opted to have the entire system removed. Otherwise the car wouldn't go through MOT and would only be good for spares. I've changed car now to a Storm and I'm terrified anytime the ABS light blinks!

[Jim Bowen 1]

Dreading sorting mine out, don't know what is wrong with mine but MOT guy has let it pass for 5yrs without the light even coming on, all i know is my dash bulb has been cut out and the wire on top of brake fluid bottle under bonnet isn't attached.

 

quite tempted to remove it all, whats it like without any?

[MikeVR6 0]

I didn't drive the car much after removing it. My heart wasn't in it anymore and I sold her on. But it didn't make much difference from what I remember. The ABS system was fairly rudimentary on these cars.

I wish I could have got away with that. But in N.Ireland the MOT centres are operated directly by the Driver Vehicle Testing Agency and very strict. :(