ABS not working on 93 UK Spec FD

[dre]

Driving home last night from the Ace Cafe meet down the A12 and the ABS warning light came on. Tried to do an emergency stop to see if it had really failed and locked up the front wheels. Got home, checked the 60amp fuse under the hood, it was fine.

What else can i check?  :confused:

Has anyone else had probelms with the ABS on the FD and is it likely to be the ABS unit itself??

[G@NDY]

Hello mate, i cant comment on the FD im afraid but the similar thing happened to me in my old car (MR2) in the end i took it to the dealer to diagnose which sensor was at fault. it turned out to be a rear one and it was very easy to change and surprisingly cheap for a jap car part It will be interesting to find out how you fix it, so good luck and keep us posted matey.
(sorry i couldnt be of any more help)

[Kieron]

On an MR2 its usually the relay, if you quickyl turn on and off the ignition it clears that fault  :wiggle

On the FD, I cant comment, mine is also ****ed. the light doesnt come on but the abs makes a strange noise and it feels like the pedal is going to fall off  :confused:

Sorry i can\'t be of much help, useless post really  :yes

[dre]

Thanks guys  :wiggle as soon as i get to the bottom of the problem i will post my findings.

[nikp]

On an MR2 its usually the relay, if you quickyl turn on and off the ignition it clears that fault  

That\'s interesting because on a long journey my ABS sometimes fails, and if i turn the ignition off and then on again, its absolutely fine again. Also, at the same time, the windscreen wipers stops working!! But they work again after the off/on jobby. Must be on the same circuit/relay.

[dre]

nikp - that\'s got me thinking, last night my wipers were not all that, seemed like they were struggling. Will check the relay/circuits for any shorts when i get home tonight.

 :cheers

[nikp]

My wipers do that too. I have even had them go to the point where they moved half way up and stopped! Interesting - you seem to share some similarities of my problem!

Keep me posted on what you find! However, if it is a relay, you may find it works when you test it. Relays can be fickle things!

[dre]

yeah very interesting. Is your\'s a uk spec FD too??

There are a lot of wires that run down the front left wing of the car that are to do with the wipers etc. I\'m gonna check those first for cracks etc.

[nikp]

No, mines a jap FD - but i would imagine that the wiring is basically the same.

[dre]

Yeah i would have thought so - i\'ll check it all out tonight and report on what i find tomorrow.

[nikp]

Nice one - be good to know if you find anything.

[mrfitz]

Hi Dre,

I\'m now a bit of a guru on the ABS side of things, having replaced almost every single part of the braking system in an attempt to get mine working again.  I put together a binder, about an inch thick all to do with the ABS system.  I\'ll see if I can dig it out again.  Do you have any bulbs gone in the rear clusters?  Is your rear wiper/washer still working?

Mark.

[dre]

Started the car up last night and guess what, ABS was working fine. Warning light had gone off. Took it for a spin, then warning light came on as i was on my way home. Turned the car off, turned it back on and as if by magic warning light is off again and ABS is working fine.

MrFitz, any help would be most appreciated. My front wipers are not sounding to healthy but everything else is fine. Any ideas what i can do next??  :cheers

[nikp]

dre - can you do a test for me the next time this happens? When the ABS light comes on, can you try your front wipers? As when mine comes on, the wipers stop. So, with mine the fault is not actually any of the ABS components, but part of the circuit somewhere. So i\'d like to know if yours is the same - then at least we\'d know if we\'re trying to solve the same problem!

[dre]

nikp - I tried this last night. ABS warning light came on. Put the front wipers on intermitent and they were working but moving slowly and making a funny noise. Do you think if i left them on long enough they would eventually stop??  :xconfused