ABS Hydraulic Control Unit

[DanA 0]

My cars been in for a service today at the stealers. They picked up an Abs fault, the light was coming on intermittently so I knew this would crop up.

 

Anyway, turns out to be ABS Hydraulic Control Unit!! and it would cost me £900 to replace! :shock: I kindly declined this :lol:

 

As I say its an intermittent problem, usually after the cars been running for 10 mins a restart clears the problem. Is it possible its just a loose connection or something ?? Anyone else had to replace one before ?

 

Cheers,

 

P.S. I recorded the mileage and it had an extra 4 miles on it!! They did a brake fluid change, would they of had to test it ? or has it been used for the sandwich run :x

[Kevin Bacon 5]

4 miles is nothing to worry about and they probably covered that mileage just testing the brakes.

 

My mate went back to Autocavan once (bought out by G&S a long time ago) after it's servicing, only to find the mechanic doing doughnuts in the car park in his Beetle. And another mate had 50 miles added to his odometer in his Scoob and his SECS monitor recorded a max rpm of 7320....way past the redline.....so you did rather well there I feel!

 

As for the hydraulic pump.... they are commonly mis-diagnosed as faulty. Check all the wiring as best you can and do a lock up test to confirm the pump's operation.

 

If it is dead.... get one from a Golf VR6 from a scrappy.

[DanA 0]

Yeh, I expect that was them just testing the brakes... you just get a bit paradoid :) Esp. when you hear storys like that!!

 

I've done a lockup test and the abs works fine when the lights gone out after a restart.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Mate, Stories....I've got tonnes of them relating to shoddy mechanics......but I'll save those for when I reach 10,000 posts, which should be any day now :wink:

 

If the brakes don't lock-up during emergency stops, the pump is working as it should. You must have an iffy connection somewhere.

[GIXXERUK 0]

doesnt sound like the pump but if you do need one..............

 

http://norice.altrezia.com/index.php?p=vt&tid=1746

 

not mine btw

[dr_mat 0]

Did they tell you the exact fault code? The ABS systems do suffer from sticky valves from time to time. Most of the time they'll be ok, but then occasionally they'll stick during use or during the self-test.

It could still be the electronics controlling the unit, or the wiring itself tho.

It's a git to track down, right enough.. :(

[dr_mat 0]

Oh and the G60 pump won't work on the VR6, and some Golf GTi models with ABS have a different pump unit too, so be careful what you're buying - match the part numbers up!

(Ok they might work, actually, but they are NOT a straight swap.)

[GIXXERUK 0]

good call Dr

[Supercharged 2]

The late G60's and VR's of that age share the same pump (The pump is on its side) but some later cars (only VR's I think) have a different one which is upright...

[h100vw 0]

DanA.

 

You stand a good chance of finding a MK3 golf controller that will do. Post the number on the one you have and someone can cross check ETKA for a compatible one.

 

gavin

[yellowslc 0]

I would suspect an improper hyd system bleed first. If you do not depress the brake pedal 1" during the bleeding process, you are not evacuating the fluid in the main chamber of the master cylinder. This is where 90% of the contaminents reside. If you do not flush your system regularly and then flush with clean fluid you run into issues as well. Over time the moisture in the system attacks the MC seals. As stated prior, the contaminents will collect around the main chamber seals of the MC. Flushing these out with new fluid exposes the pits in the seals previously filled in with the debris. This equals "blowby" of the fluid and sub-par performance. Try re-bleeding first.

 

R

[DanA 0]

Thanks for the advice everyone - They didn't give me a fault code but i'm sure the abs works fine when I can get the light to go out. I'll have a good look at it when i've some spare time!

 

It sounds like it might be a good idea to try bleeding it too.

 

Cheers

[buttles 0]

had abs light come on after about 10 minutes driving. would reset with engine restart.

Turned out to be abs relay failing. 10 quid

[keystarG60 0]

Get a second opinion mate. My ABS light started flashing. My local dealer offered me a free diagnostic test(only reason i'd go to them). They found a load of triggered fault codes so just told me it must be either the control unit or pump. Unconvinced, i went to an independant local garage and paid for the same test. They diagnosed a faulty sensor. I replaced it. Problem solved. I understand the control unit is usually pretty reliable.

[Jim 2]

Going off topic, but there aint no better 'mechanics taking your car for a thrash' story than that one that came up a year or two ago, with the woman in the states who took her extremely powerful Ford Mustang (I think) to a garage and the mechanic posted up on the net about taking it for a thrash.. except that her car was really well known on the forum they posted on.

 

But as its OT, i'll leave the full story for Kev's celebratory 10,000 'mechanic horror stories' thread :)