ABS/Traction Control Fault

M

mister

Member
Hi Guys,

Having the abs, epc, traction lights all on i searched some previous posts and went down the checking the wires going to the wheels, checking to see if they were worn. I cant see any worn wires but on the passengers side there is a wire strapped up with another and it goes nowhere (yellow part in the attached pic). There is a yellow part on the end of it and when i looked in it the bare wires are exposed. When I first bought the car it would randomly scream an abs fault but now it comes on regardless and i have little throttle power which i assume is limp mode. If the battery is taken off and put back on the throttle returns until the triangle warning light comes on. I am stuck with this car, its just been into the garage for a miss fire problem and when it came out it had this new fault. Anyone have any ideas? There are no fault codes either so i am completely stuck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks Guys
 
Not sure if the A2 has them, but many VAG cars have brake pad wear indicators. Because the pads cost more, people often scrimp and fit pads without the relevant connection. The wire could be for a brake pad indicator?

My Octavia had the same set of warning lights and kept going into limp mode. In that case it was a vacuum leak on a small hose at the front of the engine - I've no idea how the two are connected!

May be worth getting a diagnostic check done.
 
there should be some kind of fault logged.

However, I'd go for the easy solutions first.

1. Pull fuse 40. Start and see what happens. That removes power to the speedo (!), ABS and ESP. If they don't complain, then there's a different problem.
2. Make sure the earth points in the car - at the base of the A-pillars on both sides under the trim - are tight as the ABS unit earths itself there and if the connection's loose, that could explain a lot.
3. If the idle is still lumpy, make sure the throttle body is clean and then recalibrate it. Easy way to do this: warm then engine and then after cleaning disconnect and reconnect the battery. It won't recalibrate unless temp is over 80 or so.

Let us know what happens!

Bret
 
That wire that has been lopped is for the brake pad wear sensor.

Bret - whats the purpose of recalibrating the throttle body? and why does the water temp have to be over 80?

John
 
throttle body.... gets dirty. Very dirty. The AGR valve appears to kick some stuff into the inlet tract, resulting in a black, sticky mess all over the throttle body. So it might not shut properly or move freely.

Hence the suggestion to clean it. Lumpy idles are frequently cleared with this, along with low-speed issues - 50km/h @ 4th --> 1800rpm --> occasional felt "misfire" without it being that bad.
The clean is a relatively simple process and makes sense to do before investigating bigger issues. I'm not happy with the section of the engine below my throttle body, though - it's a black mess in there and I'd like to clean it somehow without taking half the engine apart.

The calibration process... sorry, it's over 5 C, not 80. Group 60, hit go, wait until it says ADP.OK. Turn it off for 30s afterwards.

Bret
 
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