Author Topic: Don’t totally despair if the ABS light comes on  (Read 4591 times)

Offline prt57

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Don’t totally despair if the ABS light comes on
« on: 09 August 2018, 09:56 »
Last week started the car no problems and instead of the normal little noise from the ABS pump as you reach 15 mph for the first time the orange ABS light popped up on the dash. My car is a 1998 1.8T on 127,000 miles and I have owned the car from new.
Tried repeating the fault and the same every time.
I was concerned as a new pump is pricey and it could have meant the end of the road for the car  if I was thinking with my sensible head.
I removed the fuse from the side of the dash and the light came on straight away on turning the key so not that and the fuse had continuity anyway.
Ontop of the battery there are 3 x 30 amp fused with 2 relating to the ABS. This fuses were the originals and you could see the fuse links were intact as these 20 year old items were not totally enclosed at the top.
I pulled them all out and I could see a bit of black oxidation where the spades were held in the fuse holder.
I gave them a bit of a clean and wiggled then up and down to try to clean the internal connections. Went for a drive and no ABS light and I could here the pump noise at 15 mph.
Stopped the car and pulled out the fuse on the right and the fault was back. Back in and perfect. So a trip to VW for 3 new fuses for free and no further problems.
So in conclusion, if your ABS lights up check the battery based fuses for oxidation before expecting the worst.

« Last Edit: 09 August 2018, 09:59 by prt57 »