Intermittent ABS light problem
Discussion
'Ello all!
I should never have said out loud that my wife's MX5 has been running faultlessly for the past 4 years because almost immediately after I said it the ABS warning light came on.
Strange one this as it is very intermittent. Sometimes the warning light remains on after I first start the car up (presumably there is an ABS self-check function that happens when the ignition is switched on). Other times all is fine until later on in the drive when the light spontaneously comes on. On other occasions it turns off if I stop the car, turn off the ignition and restart the car. Very strange indeed.
So far I've checked the following:
1. ABS connectors at the wheels
2. ABS connectors in the engine bay
3. Fuses
4. Tyre pressures
Everything seems fine.
I've been in contact with Sam Goodwins up in Nuneaton but they (obviously) can't diagnose the problem over the phone and apparently haven't got a diagnostic kit to plug into the car. I'm a bit reluctant to take it to our local Mazda dealer (Brooklyn's of Redditch) as they are likely to charge an arm, leg and kidney for hooking the car up to their diagnostic equipment and then still have no clue as to what the problem is.
So, I thought I'd ask here if anyone else has had this problem or whether anyone knows what it is like to be.
Many thanks for your feedback.
Regards,
Dan
I should never have said out loud that my wife's MX5 has been running faultlessly for the past 4 years because almost immediately after I said it the ABS warning light came on.
Strange one this as it is very intermittent. Sometimes the warning light remains on after I first start the car up (presumably there is an ABS self-check function that happens when the ignition is switched on). Other times all is fine until later on in the drive when the light spontaneously comes on. On other occasions it turns off if I stop the car, turn off the ignition and restart the car. Very strange indeed.
So far I've checked the following:
1. ABS connectors at the wheels
2. ABS connectors in the engine bay
3. Fuses
4. Tyre pressures
Everything seems fine.
I've been in contact with Sam Goodwins up in Nuneaton but they (obviously) can't diagnose the problem over the phone and apparently haven't got a diagnostic kit to plug into the car. I'm a bit reluctant to take it to our local Mazda dealer (Brooklyn's of Redditch) as they are likely to charge an arm, leg and kidney for hooking the car up to their diagnostic equipment and then still have no clue as to what the problem is.
So, I thought I'd ask here if anyone else has had this problem or whether anyone knows what it is like to be.
Many thanks for your feedback.
Regards,
Dan
@ Bluetone & OnlyMX5ives: Can you elaborate on the LED/wires procedure and also the black tape?
I'm not too concerned about driving the car as I've tested the brakes (with the ABS light on) and everything seems to function as it should.
Thanks again for your feedback so far!
Regards,
Dan
I'm not too concerned about driving the car as I've tested the brakes (with the ABS light on) and everything seems to function as it should.
Thanks again for your feedback so far!
Regards,
Dan
Hi,
LOL @ the black tape over warning light!
I should have seen that one coming! If all else fails I'll take that option.
@ Gustavo: Thanks for your comments - it has given me another angle to think about. I suppose an intermittant earthing problem could cause a warning light to come on without the diagnostic unit knowing about it. I'll have a close look at all the wiring this weekend (if it stops raining long enough).
I've just been on the phone with Brooklyn Mazda in Redditch and they would like me to part with £99 + VAT and an hour of my time for the privilege of hooking up the car to their diagnostics unit! Nearly fell off the chair when I heard the good lady confirm the price ... Don't think they'll be getting my business.
So, the search continues for somewhere that can read fault codes. Having looked around on the interweb I understand that MK-2 cars are not OBD-2 equipped (the proprietary connector under the bonnet kind of gave it away). So what protocol does it use and can I get a (inexpensive) scanner to hook up to it? I've looked at www.talktomycar.co.uk but they couldn't confirm whether any of their scanners would connect up correctly.
At this point in time I'm open to any suggestions as to (a) where to take the car to have it diagnosed or (b) where to buy a scanner myself. Any and all feedback gratefully received as always.
Many thanks so far to everyone who's contributed to this thread. I will get to the bottom of this problem but I refuse to fork out that kind of dosh to a Main Stealer!
Regards,
Dan
LOL @ the black tape over warning light!
I should have seen that one coming! If all else fails I'll take that option.@ Gustavo: Thanks for your comments - it has given me another angle to think about. I suppose an intermittant earthing problem could cause a warning light to come on without the diagnostic unit knowing about it. I'll have a close look at all the wiring this weekend (if it stops raining long enough).
I've just been on the phone with Brooklyn Mazda in Redditch and they would like me to part with £99 + VAT and an hour of my time for the privilege of hooking up the car to their diagnostics unit! Nearly fell off the chair when I heard the good lady confirm the price ... Don't think they'll be getting my business.
So, the search continues for somewhere that can read fault codes. Having looked around on the interweb I understand that MK-2 cars are not OBD-2 equipped (the proprietary connector under the bonnet kind of gave it away). So what protocol does it use and can I get a (inexpensive) scanner to hook up to it? I've looked at www.talktomycar.co.uk but they couldn't confirm whether any of their scanners would connect up correctly.
At this point in time I'm open to any suggestions as to (a) where to take the car to have it diagnosed or (b) where to buy a scanner myself. Any and all feedback gratefully received as always.
Many thanks so far to everyone who's contributed to this thread. I will get to the bottom of this problem but I refuse to fork out that kind of dosh to a Main Stealer!
Regards,
Dan
Just a quick update:
Many thanks to OnlyMX5ives for taking the time to check the fault codes this afternoon. None were stored so in a way that is good news. We'll now wait until the warning light comes on permanently before starting to swap parts out until we find the culprit.
So it would seem that ABS fault codes can not be pulled using the diagnostic plug under the bonnet. Would be interesting to find out if anyone could interrogate the ABS ECU and pull codes off it.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback!
Regards,
Dan
Many thanks to OnlyMX5ives for taking the time to check the fault codes this afternoon. None were stored so in a way that is good news. We'll now wait until the warning light comes on permanently before starting to swap parts out until we find the culprit.
So it would seem that ABS fault codes can not be pulled using the diagnostic plug under the bonnet. Would be interesting to find out if anyone could interrogate the ABS ECU and pull codes off it.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback!
Regards,
Dan
Ooohhhh, a thread from the dead - I love it! ;-)
I had forgotten about this thread so thanks for bringing it back up.
Just to complete the story of our saga, the problem was resolved by replacing the driver-side ABS sensor. How did I get to that? Well, it turns out that you CAN read the ABS ECU fault codes. I took the car up to Nottingham (5Speed) and he had somebody read the codes. Had to save some pennies but eventually ordered a genuine Mazda ABS sensor through MX5Parts and replaced it myself - beware, getting the connector through the wheelarch liner and to the correct place is a real PITA. Once the install was completed the ABS light on the dash no longer lit up and all has been well ever since! :-)
Unfortunately the next (unrelated) problem has reared its head: brake imbalance ... Oh well, if I can't tinker with the car I don't think I'd be too happy.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed valuable input.
All the best,
Dan
I had forgotten about this thread so thanks for bringing it back up.
Just to complete the story of our saga, the problem was resolved by replacing the driver-side ABS sensor. How did I get to that? Well, it turns out that you CAN read the ABS ECU fault codes. I took the car up to Nottingham (5Speed) and he had somebody read the codes. Had to save some pennies but eventually ordered a genuine Mazda ABS sensor through MX5Parts and replaced it myself - beware, getting the connector through the wheelarch liner and to the correct place is a real PITA. Once the install was completed the ABS light on the dash no longer lit up and all has been well ever since! :-)
Unfortunately the next (unrelated) problem has reared its head: brake imbalance ... Oh well, if I can't tinker with the car I don't think I'd be too happy.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed valuable input.
All the best,
Dan
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