....the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory
or
All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.
So, my Passat's been shouting:
stop brake fault service manual
at me for a while, on and off. I assumed that this probably meant that one of the myriad sensors on it had gone tits and VW were about to feel the need to rape my bank account for a new one, so I borrowed a VAG-COM lead from my boss and finally ran a complete check on it this evening.
It bought up nothing. No error codes at. all.
So we took it out for a spin, while I checked over the channels being hosed into the various control units.
Interesting to know that my car not only knows the wheel speed of each wheel, plus the lateral G, plus the steering angle, plus the estimated BHP and torque being output by the engine, as well as a huge range of other variables, but I still wasn't seeing any bloody issues, although it was still chiming from time to time, most often when slung into a roundabout, quite hard, normally hard enough to activate the ESP.
I finally came back in and posted on an appropriate forum and got a number of suggestions.
Now, when I've not checked the oil level in my barge and it's burnt some off it comes up 'check oil level' and shows an oil can graphic.
That makes sense - I check the oil and top it up.
Keeping things nice and consistent, what would you make the dash flash at the driver, if the brake fluid needed checking?
That's right: stop brake fault service manual.
What in all that isn't holy possessed some fooktard within the VAG empire to relay that 'all your sensors are belong to us!' message at the driver when the brake fluid needs topping up, eh?
Common sense suggests something similar to the 'oil can' graphic and 'check brake fluid' in the display, but oh no, we go for 'stop brake fault service manual'. It's not even a sensible phrase - should I stop braking, or stop the car? Is there a fault, or should I service the car? Should I service the car, or look in the manual?
AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!
So, if you're in a late 90's VAG group motor at some point and you have the legend 'stop brake fault service manual' flash up, check your brake fluid - it might just save you some time, aggravation and a whole load of electronic chiming.
And that is the application of Ockham's razor - brakes were mentioned and a brake warning light flashed up.
Step one in 'old car' mechanics: Check brake fluid level.
Step one in 'new car' mechanics: Panic about the many sensors on your car.
Still, how cool is it that my car knows what lateral G it's pulling?
