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R19 ABS light illuminates after 1 mile

pjc

Member
Hope I am posting this in the right place!

R19 cabby (phase 2) ABS light comes on after 1 mile. Brakes work fine. Switch off engine and restart and again ABS light comes on after 1 mile. Any advice on what to look at would be appreciated.

thanks
 
i know this really is not something you want to hear and i wont try and diagnose the problem but most of the r19 abs units are notoriously problematic, youll notice in a lot of projects on here folk commonly revert to standard brake set up over the abs which is referred to by some as the widow maker, that said yours could simply be a busted sensor or anything like that
 
Yes all tyres are the same. The abs light illuminating after 1 mile started a few years ago just after the rear calipers were replaced (by Nationwide autocentres) and has happened all the time since this. At the time they said that they had cleaned all sensors? It's driven fine since then (apart fro the abs light) and has passed mots (because the light does not illuminate when they just test it in the workshop). Just started to drive it a little more recently and that has sparked off my renewed interest to get a bit more of an understanding about what could cause this and rectify if possible. Last week at the mot (it passed - but only just!) they mentioned that the rear pads were low so when I arrange (or get to have a look myself) at the rear brakes, is there anything specfically to look at?

thanks to both for your responses....
 
I assume it's the Bosch system (late K-reg onwards)

Put a multimeter on all the sensors at the yellow connectors. Should all be roughly equal at 1000 ohms-ish. These will almost certainly be OK as the system sees them check out fine when it first starts and turns the light off. But check the tips haven't been knocked off/bent or anything stupid like that.

The problem is arising once you move off because then the system is seeing (or rather thinks it's seeing) that the wheels are not turning at the same speed. I'd suspect a corroded or split toothed ring which would send erratic signals that the ABS computer wont like.

Or, if someone has replaced a rear disc or a driveshaft with ones off a ph1 or very early ph2 car, then they would have Bendix type rings which are different and will cause this problem. But since you say you know when it started we can probably rule that out unless they replaced the rear discs at the same time as the calipers were done

Bendix rings have something like 48 teeth, Bosch has 36 iirc. Those numbers may not be correct but obviously all rings need to have the same number of teeth, so have a look.
 
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Thanks for the info - it's an "N" reg. The rear discs were also replaced by Nationwide Autocentre when they changed the calipers.
 
if the discs were changed then it appears they probably fitted the wrong discs, well more specifically the wrong tooth count discs.

Basically the ECU sees the rear wheels are spinning at a different speed to the front wheels, it cycles a few hundred times then it will flag up the MIL.
 
I have Bosch ABS on mine and got the wrong disks once (i.e. ones with Bendix rings). That caused the ABS light to illuminate as soon as vehicle speed crossed approx. 20 km/h even if only driving say 100m..

iirc, the rings are 26 (bosch) and 44 teeth (bendix).
 
Thanks for the update, wish I had investigated this before now! If the discs are the wrong ones, does that mean that if the right ones are fitted then the calipers also need to be changed?
 
No, calipers are the same.

In fact, even the discs are the same. The ABS rings are just pressed on around the outside of the central bit on back. If you can get the correct Bosch rings, you can knock off the Bendix ones and tap the Bosch ones on.

tbh there are probably no rings there at all as the discs don't normally come with them. Hopefully they at least fitted the type of discs with the machined bit that can actually accept the rings though...
 
have you ever come across rings available separately, Neal? I asked high and low and never succeeded in finding rings without being prefitted.. Actually I also couldn't find discs with Bosch rings without getting them from renault... Bendix discs where available as aftermarket parts though..
 
Be careful there - that's a 'front' ABS ring. I'm not sure they have the same internal diameter as the rears. They may well do, but don't take it for granted.
 
I put a link up a while back for the rings, do a search.

As for the light on after 20km/h, thats the second self test BUT it won't always cause it to flag up. depends on the revision of the ecu.

Neddy cars can't have the light coming on because theres an issue with speed signals from as low as 20km/h, otherwise all these corsas, clios etc that sit there doing burnouts would all have their lights on, that and wheel speed can vary quite a bit in cornering etc.
 
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