any MOT testers in the house???

[lchris21]

Morning one and All........

Took the missus Audi for its annual check-up this morning. Couple of niggling failures but one which really got my back up....!!!

There were a couple of front tyres, which I knew were borderline, but legal.......... fair enough I'm on my way to get them sorted today, plus a number plate light, already sorted that one, but the fly in the ointment was the ABS warning. I do all my own maintenance and servicing , its just the tyres slipped my mind during the Xmas period.......

I took the car myself to the station, no ABS lights etc, ........... so I can only assume they tripped it during the brake test??? Perhaps the low tread had an impact??? I know my golf used to get a bit jittery on the abs light when the tyres started to go?? Anyway, pointless arguing the toss with the guy, but it will be nice to know for future reference. Googling the web and the guidance to testers is not to rotate the wheels clear of the standing surface during the test????

Not a major issue just a pain in the backside to get the light reset now !!! We use Tesco vouchers in the local Halfords autocenter, but this is going to be my last visit (apart from the retest!!!) to the place as they always seem to find something to try and make a buck, but get a bit of a shock when I tell them I'll sort it myself !!!

A few years back the amount of times they've tried to sting me for a headlamp re-align was getting a bit embarrassing, to the point where I used to keep the allen key in the boot ready for the inevitable........that'll be £14.50/light plus vat sir!!! They now know not to bother me with that one !!!

 

[CRB]

but get a bit of a shock when I tell them I'll sort it myself !!!

My place was surprised when I said I would sort the 89LT rear axle leaking into the drums, myself, were fine with it, but said that if I had any problems, just bring it round. The Citroen place that did the bearings for me, were surprised that I was sorting it myself too. I did not, still do not, have the gear to do them again, but then again I should not have to.

 

[normspanners]

extract from testers manual
! is for rear wheels
2 is front
to do this you must raise the wheels clear of the surface
1. Rotate each wheel in turn and listen for. any sound indicating roughness in the bearing,
2.With the steered wheels clear of the ground, rotate each wheel in turn and listen for any sound indicating roughness in the bearing.

I have done hundreds of tests and never triggered the abs light, which normally doesnt operate at low speed anyway

 

[octo0072000]

ABS kicks in at either 3 mph or 5 mph from memory

abs lamp may go off once you have your tyres changed and a run around the block

 

[normspanners]

The abs light normally doesnt need to be reset, if the system is working correctly, the light should be out.
I think there is a fault, low tread shouldnt put the light on.

 

[atomant48]

ABS kicks in at either 3 mph or 5 mph from memory

abs lamp may go off once you have your tyres changed and a run around the block

I was replacing the reverse switch on my fiesta a month back, ended up with one wheel in the air and the engine running for some reason (think I was trying to get the water hot as it turned out not to be the switch but a rad hose that was leaking. Long story) anyway that brought the abs light on which I figured was from one wheel turning and the other not - it was in neutral but I guess it drags throug the box. I was quite worried but as said above, it cleared after a couple hundred yards down the road.

 

[Rocketman]

The abs light normally doesnt need to be reset, if the system is working correctly, the light should be out.
I think there is a fault, low tread shouldnt put the light on.

I agree seems a bit odd.

 

[Fazerruss]

I have had this on my wife's BMW. Its probably a faulty abs sensor. With all the suspension movement over time the wire will start to break. So as the tester will have lifted the wheels it will have put more strain and broken the wire completely. I have a code reader and it said "front left abs sensor open circuit". After replaced it and resetting the codes the light would not go out until I moved the car about 6 foot out of the garage. This told the ecu it was now working so the light then went out. Problem solved.
I think it may be just bad luck yours has gone now.

 

[lchris21]

cheers for the input all...............

swapped the tyres over and took it for a short drive but no luck, will try again tomorrow on a longer run to see if it sorts itself out.

tried my ELM327 with a bit of free OBD2 software but could not get it to talk to the car

used the same setup to clear an ignition module fault on my daughters C2 earlier this year, so I know it works. just got to get it to talk nicely to the Audi............will have another bash tommorow.............modern car electronics eh??? don't you just love em

 

[Rocketman]

By some miracle I have only ever replaced one sensor on my 1997 106 gti and I have had it since 1999.

 

[seanc]

See if you can find someone local with vagcom. It's quite expensive to buy (£200 or so) but it's a good bit of kit of Audi/vw/seats etc

 

[doubleboost]

If you rotate a wheel with the engine running
It can trigger the ABS light
Normally a short run up the road will re set it
I had a BMW Mini with the back wheels jacked up
Spinning a rear wheel (engine running) made the steering turn slightly left

 

[Fazerruss]

cheers for the input all...............

swapped the tyres over and took it for a short drive but no luck, will try again tomorrow on a longer run to see if it sorts itself out.

tried my ELM327 with a bit of free OBD2 software but could not get it to talk to the car

used the same setup to clear an ignition module fault on my daughters C2 earlier this year, so I know it works. just got to get it to talk nicely to the Audi............will have another bash tommorow.............modern car electronics eh??? don't you just love em

For VAG cars you probably need an interface with ftdi chip set but even then you will need abs/ srs software to talk to the relevant ecu

 

[premmington]

See if you can find someone local with vagcom. It's quite expensive to buy (£200 or so) but it's a good bit of kit of Audi/vw/seats etc

I can agree I have the full vagcom hex and can. It is very good for the money!

 

[lchris21]

managed to get a copy of Autosafe diagnostics freeware to establish coms with the car, but it would not pick up the ABS fault. It was communicating with the ecu as it linked up and started showing engine revs plus a few other outputs.............everything but what I needed !!!! the EasyOBD2 software I used successfully on the C2 was not happy, so I'll try it again tomorrow again on the C2 to see if its thrown a wobbly.

if that fails I'll look into the VAGcom stuff as I've got another VAG in the family stable to it might be a good time to invest???

 

[doubleboost]

I can agree I have the full vagcom hex and can. It is very good for the money!

I use VAG COM Very good & safe
The programme is free you buy the lead

 

[Fazerruss]

I use VAG COM Very good & safe
The programme is free you buy the lead

I've got an interface that will work with VAG cars but only low level software. Where do you get the free VAG COM software from out of interest ?

 

[Brad93]

ABS systems do a self test at a certain speed. For example a man fiesta tests at precisely 14mph on a gentle pull away. If your light hasn't gone out there is a problem somewherr

 

[Brad93]

The only free VAGCOM is pirated/stolen/ripped/keygen'd

 

[Brad93]

Standard OBD software only talks to the main ECU not the comfort modules or abs module etc. You need more advanced software for that.