ABS light on dash, ABS not working (brakes lock), possible causes and where to look?

27th October 2012, 09:41

1996, R-reg VTR with VTS engine fitted destined to be a road legal trackcar. I was convinced the car was non-abs after having had the wheels fully locked.

But last night during swapping the gearbox we noticed the driveshafts are ABS one (with teeth on the ends) and the master cylinder is a 2-port (I had meant to check this sooner).

Plus the ABS light is on (guy I bought the car from said it was the rear axle warning light which him and his brother had swapped over & fitted a new one but when they connected all the plugs the light stayed on).

Any idea as to what could cause the above? Failed ABS pump? Gonna have a look at the fuse box in a second but that's about as far as I know where to look.

And in terms of getting it sorted I was considering just junking the ABS altogether but have since read that it will require brake pipes making/fitting, so tempted to try and get it working and see how I go with ABS on track..

Thanks for all advice.

27th October 2012, 13:41

funnily enough my vts has the abs light on, ive just this minute been to my local garage and he said it will be on normally due to a few missing teeth on the gearwheel on the shaft or if its completely worn/corroded. it could also be a failure in the circuit, or as you say a faulty pump.

only way to sort it really is trial and error im booking it in with him to sort - less hassle for me, i would suggest you do the same to be honest buddy get some one else to fix it for you, its bloody cold out now!

27th October 2012, 14:03

Cheers dude, I'll take it to my usual garage and get him to trouble shoot it for me to save time. We were working on the car from 18:30 til 22:00 last night and it started to feel like the coldest I've ever been, completely number fingers/hands, cold had gotten through to my hip joints from lying on the floor wrestling with the gearbox etc.

and then it started snowing. FML. I'm thinking easiest option will be to just get it working rather than stripping bits out and re-working the brake lines. Will report back.

27th October 2012, 15:26

http://www.saxosportsclub.com/index.php?topic=31097.0

27th October 2012, 16:37

Could be a dodgy sensor or a bubble of air in the ABS pump from bleeding?
And yeah replacing a gearbox in this weather is never fun, I did a rallye box conversion when it was -10 outside

27th October 2012, 18:10

Them msgs we exchanged a week or so ago is all you need

28th October 2012, 17:40

IIRC, this is the wiring for a mk1

And this should be the wiring for a mk2

You can see the pins are slightly different - mainly middle row - so just apply whatever one looks like your car.

31st October 2012, 19:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabbastard

IIRC, this is the wiring for a mk1

And this should be the wiring for a mk2

You can see the pins are slightly different - mainly middle row - so just apply whatever one looks like your car.

What's the relevence of this sorry if this is a backward question I just have the same issue abs light on so I'm a little confused

1st November 2012, 08:04

Check my link mate, and this will make sense.

2nd November 2012, 15:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrapso

What's the relevence of this sorry if this is a backward question I just have the same issue abs light on so I'm a little confused

Disconnect the plug that attaches to the ABS unit in the engine bay, and buzz out those pairs of pins to check each sensor. Youre looking at an impedance of ~1.1kΩ for a working ABS sensor. Anything that shows as a broken circuit is a goosed (or disconnected) sensor.