Proud new Mark 3 GTi owner with ABS light problem

[NickyJ]

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.

 

[Neaty]

welcome o the forum mate 

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 

i am not to clued up on ABS to be honest, but as you say could be the bulb that is out!

[adyh]

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 .

[HayleyS]

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!! 

Good luck with fixing the problem.
Cheers, Hayley. 

[Bazzer]

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. 

[HayleyS]

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

[NickyJ]

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!

[HayleyS]

Thanks. Great colour isnt it! lol 
Look forward seeing some pics! 

[adyh]

I can read codes if your in london .

[vwagain]

Hello and welcome   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   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   Vw said the bulb could not be replaced and wanted over £70, for a new unit   I ended up getting one from ebay for about a tenner

Stu