GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: NickyJ on 22 February 2006, 15:53
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Just wanted to say hi to everyone and that I am now the proud owner of an '98 Golf GTi in mystic blue.
After 3 months of looking and browsing this forum for tips, I found a good example to buy, all that is but the ABS light not illuminating when ignition is turned on.
To drive, I would say the ABS is working, although difficult to tell for sure. Is there anyway to find out if the ABS is not working properly or if simply the bulb has blown?
feedback appreciated.
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welcome o the forum mate :smiley:
as far as ur ABS is concerned the only thing i could think of is to slam on the brakes and see if u can feel the ABS working (should feel the brake peddle kick back at you) but in a safe and convenient spot mind you :wink:
i am not to clued up on ABS to be honest, but as you say could be the bulb that is out!
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If your ABS is not functioning you will find that not only do you not get the ABS effect whilst breaking , but also that the front/back brake balance is not correct .
This will cause the front end to 'dive' when breaking .
Check the bulb , but i reckon that you will probably find that the bulb has been removed , due to a fault on the ABS system .
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Cant help with your problem sorry.
But I was just wondering if you have any pics of your new motor? As you can see, mine is also Mystic Blue so id love to see some!! :grin:
Good luck with fixing the problem.
Cheers, Hayley. :wink:
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Your light should come on when you start the car, then go out after about 2 or 3 seconds. If it doesn't come on for a bit, someone's taken to bulb out (or worse - removed the panel the bulb sits on?) to mask a problem with the ABS system.
If you take the car to s Stealership, they'll be able to plug a diagnostic in to tell you what the problem is. Or if you can blag someone with 'VAGCOM', you'll get the fault codes read there.
You need ABS to live by the way. Oh, that and getting an MOT. :wink:
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Dont know if its any good to you, but we bought a little Diagnostic Machine from e-bay for about 30quid. It did its job, but then we lost it somewhere in the house! :embarassed:
Might be something worth having, you can at least use it for any future faults you may need to investigate. HTH :wink:
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Cheers guys, will do some testing when I get home with the brakes to see if the car "dives" with sudden breaking, plus check bulbs etc.
The airbag light comes on fine, and as I said, the car was MOT'd in December, so must be a recent thing.
Will let you know how it goes.
- Hayley, will post some picks when I have some, so you can see. Your car is sexy by the way, good choice!
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Thanks. Great colour isnt it! lol :grin:
Look forward seeing some pics! :kiss:
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I can read codes if your in london .
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Hello and welcome :cool: like has already been said, to test if the ABS works or not, find a quiet road and brake hard!!!! If the wheels lockup then it ain't working. But be careful about the unbalanced brakes!!!! When mine were faulty and i broke hard the back end would skip sideways :shocked: I bought one of those code readers off eBay and that told me i had a fault with the right rear sensor. I just cleaned it and removed all the rust from around it and once id cleared the fault code the light went out and the ABS started working fine again.
Oh, and on mine the bulb had been broken in the holder to mask the problem :angry: Vw said the bulb could not be replaced and wanted over £70, for a new unit :laugh: :shocked: I ended up getting one from ebay for about a tenner :cool:
Stu
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Adyh, thanks for the offer, I am in London, NW10, where are you based?
Stu, tried some hard breaking, but not at high speeds, and the car seemed to stay under control fine. Not sure what sort of speeds I should be breaking from. Could not feel any noticable push back on the break pedal though.
How does one get the cover off the ABS front cover to see if it has been messed with?
Nick
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Just pull the ABS/Airbag lamp unit out from the dash and unclip the connector. you can then carefully wiggle the back off(its held in with four clips) then remove the circuit board and the bulbs are in little holders at the front. On mine, someone had broken the ABS bulb holder off completely!!!!!!!!!!!!
You dont need to break from a high speed. Just stamp on the brakes enough to make the wheels lock or the abs to kick in(if it works!!)
Stu
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ok, off outside to check it out again....back soon... :smiley:
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Back again.
I went for a spin around the block, and applied the breaks on a number of occasions varying the force applied each time. Not once did the wheels lock or skid, or veer off. Does this mean ABS is working? Still yet to feel the peddle push back at all, should this be really noticable?
Did not take light cover off due to not being able to see much, so will check out in the morning.
:huh:
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Hmmmmm. My pedal doesnt "push back" or "pulse" as it did in my old merc. I dont think it does in the golfs. When my ABS kicks in, all i get is a rapid clicking/pulsing noise from the ABS pump but no pedal feedback. Do you hear the clicking/pulsing from the pump in the engine bay???
Stu
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Cheers stu.
Just went back out to pull off the light cover. The chip was there, but I guess it had come loose as when I put it all back togther and pushed it back, the lights both come on. Unfortunately, the ABS does not go out.
Hmm...At least we are getting somewhere now!
Is there anything I can do, like checking/cleaning the sensors before going to a garage?
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It's probably worth getting someone with vagcom to clear the faults and see if it comes back. Could be an old thing...
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It's probably worth getting someone with vagcom to clear the faults and see if it comes back. Could be an old thing...
What Dom said^^^. Id highly recomend you buy a code reader from ebay mate. Mine has saved me so much money so far its payed for its self many times over!!! You can read and clear the codes yourself and say goodbye to the dealer rip off prices for good :wink:  And if you dont understand what the codes mean(as i didnt at first) just post em up here and we'l help you to understand em and what to do about them :cool:
Il try and find a link to a code reader on ebay for you mate :smiley:
Found one mate. This is the one i bought.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8033952460&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr8_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT
Stu
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thanks for the link vwagain - it seems a sensible thing to do judging by your comments and also many of the posts on this forum.
Will order one today, although it will take a couple of weeks to get here as they are being shipped from Singapore. I have a lead on where I can use one for the time being.
Today, while driving the ABS light stayed on, but after a few hours, switched off. I though that maybe the problem had corrected itself, but when I switched the ignition on and off, the light remained off, but with no start up sequence like the airbag, I guess meaning the connection had worked itself loose again.
I am now thinking maybe the ABS light was not tampered with, and it is genuinely a faulty/loose connection.
:huh:
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Im on the isle of dogs mate . ive sent you a message.
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cool, have replied to your hotmail account.
:smiley:
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it's not worn pads is it?
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Rear right sensor came up on the tester .
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Just changed the right front on my vr6, done this one also previously on a 16v also. so maybe this one is prone to failure.
Anyway VAG-com wasn't needed, just a multimeter to find the problem!
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That was the one gone on mine strangly enough !!
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Mine was also right rear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :shocked: :huh: I see a pattern!!!!
Stu