Xantia Antilock Braking System

[gwyn weallans]

Recently I have had trouble with the antilock braking system warning light on the Xantia. In a night of heavy rain the light came on when motoring. I kept going. Then looked at teh manual and it advised that the light should go on start up and come back on within two minutes if there was a fault. Well for the next three days it did come on and stay on steady. But then after a harsh brake the warning dissappeared. How can I be sure that the Antilock is working ok.

[Mandrake]

Well clearly if the warning light is coming on frequently then its NOT working ok.....

In theory if there is an intermitant fault (usually wiring to one of the sensors) then while the intermitant fault is not present (and the light is out) the ABS should work ok, and as soon as the fault appears the computer should detect it and bring on the light.

Any time the light is on solid you have no ABS - eg your braking reverts to that of a non ABS car where if you brake hard enough you will lock the wheels. At no time should your braking be any worse than a normal non-ABS car.

Note I said in theory. In practice "funny" things can happen with intermitant sensor/wire faults, I recently had a fault with the cable to the front right sensor on mine, and occasionally the light would come on while driving (or lifting in the morning) disabling the ABS.

However even when the light was out, sometimes I noticed irregularities in the braking - usually when pulling up at a traffic light I would notice the brake pedal chatter and once or twice I had a problem that has been reported by others on this forum of the brakes suddenly dissapearing for about a second as I came to a stop.

Since I fixed the faulty wire this hasn't happened.

Regards,
Simon