ABS light

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egg
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ABS light

Post by egg »

Hi all. Hopefully a simple one. My ABS light on 2.0 16v Xantia has decided to stay on (most of the time!). Does it spell disaster, or are there simple checks/things that I can do? Any pointers appreciated.
NiSk
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Post by NiSk »

It usually spells poor electrical connections to one of the wheel sensors. A messy job tracing the cable from the sensor back to the ECU and pulling any joints apart, cleaning them, greasing and reconnecting. If you check the resitance of each sensor at the ECU (pull off the big connector and measure with a multimeter) or if you're lazy, drive into a Citroën dealers and get it diagnosed.
It can also spell knackered ABS sensor (somewhat dearer) or even knackered ECU (much rarer, much dearer).
//NiSk
Paulxmski
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Post by Paulxmski »

[quote]<i>Originally posted by Paulxmski</i>

Hi egg,
Pesky ABS light is a menace on these cars as it is going off sometimes sounds promising. I have an XM but I believe principle is the same. A notched disc on the drive shaft near the wheels and a sensor reading off the notches. Possibility is that the connections to the sensors have become disturbed. I believe they sit under the back seat and are like radio ariel wire. I don't know about this because I have never looked there. Also there are connections on the inside front wings I believe at least there are on the XM and these also can give problems. So it is a case of tracing all the connections, and eliminating that first. Another thing to do is to take the wheel off and clean the notches with very slightly vaseline/greasy rag, bearing in mind there is only .5mm between sensor and notches.If nothing happens and you still have the problem then you might try buying a sensor that you know works and substituting that on each wheel. There are very many posts on the forum about this problem I know because it was one of the first questions I asked so do a search on ABS.
All the Best.
egg
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Post by egg »

Thanks guys. Sounds very time consuming, think i'll be writing another cheque to my friendly mechanic (he loves the car, mentioned something about paying off his mortgage early!).
If I do nothing does this just mean I lose the ABS, but that everything else should be ok?
Paulxmski
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Post by Paulxmski »

Hi egg,
don't write a cheque until you've done the simple wiring checks it's not that bad. Get another mechanic if that's his attitude a lot of Cit mechs think Cit owners are sitting ducks that's what this forum's about. Actually the ABS is a luxury extra and the brakes are not affected by not having it. If you have an instruction manual they print it in bold, well at least in my XM manual they have, however the MOT inspector will almost certainly fail it if it stays on all the time. On my previous XM it was staying on all the time, except on the day I took it for the MOT and then it started going off and coming on and the inspector passed the car.
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