Hello,

 

I have a Fabia 2.  

 

Sometimes the ABS light comes on, so I stop the car then restart it, and it is okay for a while (varies between 100 yards and 30 miles) until the same thing happens again.  

 

The light seems to come on after going over a nearside pothole.  Once when the car was parked for a couple of days after being driven in heavy rain the rear brake shoes seized onto the drum; they came unstuck with a loud bang and after that I thought the problem had gone away (it didn't come back for 200 miles).  So it looks to me like it might be the nearside rear sensor. 

 

I am thinking that I might remove the connector from the back of the sensor, and perhaps even remove the sensor (are they difficult to get out?) shake it around a bit, then replace it (i.e. the same connector).  If I do so, do I need to go through some big reset procedure, or can I just re-connect and hope it is fixed?.

 

The dealer wants £72 (inc VAT) to run the diagnostic............seems like a lot to me.........same dealer I bought the car brand new from.....only done 36,000 miles. 

 

David

Well I took the car (a Fabia less than four years old)  to Skoda (West End Garage at Sighthill, Edinburgh).

 

Initially it was booked in for a one hour diagnosis session (£72), which they siad indicated that a rear sensor needed replaced - they also said that they had checked the integrity of the wiring and the hubs.  I was not given a printout of the electronic diagnosis which they said indicated that the rear wheel sensor should be replaced.  So they replaced the sensor, charging around £200 all in (inc Vat labour, parts and diagnosis).  I breathed a sigh of relief that it it was not the ABS control unit, paid up and left the garage. 

 

Two miles down the road the ABS warning light on the dash came on, so I went straight back to the garage.  "Sorry" they said, "we can take the new sensor out and put the old one back in"  -  they would refund the money except the fee for the one hour diagnosis (despite the fact that it was wrong).  They also said that it must be an intermittent fault in the wiring loom between the sensor and the control unit and offered to find the suspected fault for the price of two hours diagnosis (£142) by removing the wires and wiggling them around to find the fault.  With little choice I said yes.  

 

The diagnosis found no fault in the wiring, so they have now said that it must be the electrical side of the ABS unit and they can repair that for around £500  (with 25% goodwill deduction from Skoda).  I asked if their electronic diagnosis had indicated that the ABS is at fault and the answer was no, it had made no such indication.  They just want to replace the electrical side of the ABS unit because "it can't be anything else".   The repair kit is not available - it is on back order - hmmm. 

 

What is going on? I pay for diagnosis that says the fault is in a sensor, it turns out not to be so they suggest changing a part which the diagnosis says is okay.  Doesn't seem correct to me, what should I do? 

 

The staff at the garage were very patient with me, lovely people that provide a courteous and pleasant service BUT I don't think the diagnosis was done with the efficiency and accuracy that it should have been done with. 

Edited 21 November, 201312 yr by Shamrock

You can maybe ask the Monkey Grinder, we seemed to have a new member join last week saying how good the Service was at that Dealership,

they may or may not have something to do with that establishment,

not heard from them since on here,

maybe they are still watching the Forum.

 

I hope you can get things fixed properly.

Being lovely is not much use to someone with a Car Problem needing resolved.

A professional and competent Service is rather more important.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/283429-monte-carlo-has-been-a-nightmare-any-advice/page-2

post #36

 

george

Thank you, I checked the post/thread you recommended above.  I have been using them on and off for a few years (the first time was at their tiny Broxburn branch before they moved to nearby Uphall) when I had a Felicia.  When I got my present Fabia on the scrappage deal (I handed the Felicia with 100,000 miles on it back to them) I went back to them because they had been so good with me in the past.  They were good when I took the Fabia there for a service as well, and they were very patient with me yesterday.

 

BUT the diagnosis doesn't seem to have gone very well, and the proposed solution seems to me to be a bit speculative - i.e. it might not be the right solution at all.  

Thats why there call main stealers.... there is not much to the abs system any ways. The sensor ring and sensors may get road dirt on and cause the light to come on...

I have checked with the dealer and the hubs and sensor rings were removed and swapped over (side-for-side) early in the diagnosis.  As the problem did not follow the hub/ring they must be okay.  They changed the sensor as well and that didn't solve it either so the sensor was not the problem either.

wiring or abs control unit then?

It is an intermittent fault so it is hard to know what to do.  

 

When an ABS Control unit fails does it tend to fail in an intermittent way, or it a case of it being either 100% working or 100% caput?  

 

Also, if the ABS unit has failed would it not be apparent when Skoda's computerised fault diagnosis equipment was connected to it? 

i would suspect wiring more than control unit as intermittent fault

 

is it worse in certain conditions? wet, cold, ?

Thanks bluecar1, 

 

I haven't thought much about weather conditions affecting it.  The first time it appeared was a very hot day in summer, after which it did not appear at all for a few months.  

Is a fault on the ABS control unit of a 2009 Fabia a common problem?  I know from this forum that there have been problems on Skoda cars in the past with the ABS control unit, but it can't still be a "known issue" after so long can it? 

Well I have done 350 miles of town driving since the Skoda garage did thier diagnostics on the car and the ABS warning light has not come on at all.

 

Looks to me like the issue could be fixed?  

 

Does anyone think that the ABS unit could be at fault here?  

BT syndrome?

 

ran diags, no fault found but problem appears to be fixed? (if we tell you NFF you can't blame us for anything we fixed)