ABS light constantly on.... any advice?

[daveclark79 10]

Ok guys, need a little advice if possible. About 2 months ago I took the C out for a blast to pick up some alloy wheels, 100 mile round trip. after about 70 miles, the ABS light came on and when I was sat at junctions/lights with the clutch in, there was a strange noise coming from the front end, a kind of grinding come spring twanging noise that only lasted a couple of seconds. It would only do it once and only when the clutch was in and I was stationary. Got the car home and for the next month the ABS light would intermittently come on until I'd stopped the car. Then it sometimes came on from start, sometimes not at all and sometimes mid-way through a journey. The last month or so it has been on constantly. The mystery grinding noise has never returned but I thought that might have been a clutch release bearing and unrelated to the ABS issue. I have fault checked the car and it came up with 0513 and 0525 which are seemingly unrelated to an ABS issue. The pedal is a little spongy but the brakes feel fine. I have checked the connections on the ABS sensors etc and seem fine. Any ideaswere to go next?

[Philly-R6 0]

I think you have two issues: ABS and clutch.

 

The fault codes listed seem to be engine related:

00513 - Engine Speed Sensor (G28)

00525 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor (G39)

 

Regarding the ABS problem, you need the fault codes from the ABS module. Do you have access to VagCom/VCDS or such like?

The ABS light can illuminate for many reasons - a faulty wheel sensor, or failing the power-on tests on the modulator.

 

The only way to decide where to go next is guidance from the fault codes...

[daveclark79 10]

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to take it somewhere that has VAGCOM and go from there I think. Cheers

[Philly-R6 0]

You could ask if there is anyone with VagCom near you in the "VAG-COM scanning & help" thread - you are miles away from me!

[delfinis38 1]

You can test for a dead sensor with just a volt metre. Test all four sensors internal resistance. Can't remember the figure but if three are a constant and one reads something different that's the dead sensor.

[seanl82 23]

1.1 kOhm iirc. Easy to check but if its intermittent it may not be cut and dry. The ECU will store fault codes though so if you get the codes read on VCDS it should be much more definitive.

[daveclark79 10]

Thanks for replies everyone, found an ex VW mechanic local with the correct software to check.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Engine speed sensor isn't a fault, that'll always show up if engine isn't running when doing the test

[daveclark79 10]

Yeah, both of those fault codes have shown up since I bought it 3 years ago.