ABS light + handbrake light + ABS activating constantlyu when braking

[Kapper]

Car: Skoda Fabia mk.1 Combi (6Y5) 2003
1.2 12v htp
242.000 km // approx. 150.000 miles

 

Hello, fellow Skoda-owners/enthusiasts.

 

Short preface (feel free to skip to the current problem):
My Fabia recently failed its Danish MOT because of an activated check engine light and a reading of emissions over the legal limit. Some time, before the MOT, I knew something was up, because the engine wasn’t exactly smooth, but after the fail I had to get it fixed.

To make a quite long story short: by reading post on this fantastic forum,  I diagnosed the problem to be burnt exhaust valves on a cylinder, took the engine apart, replaced valves and put it back together in my mother-in-law’s driveway – and now it purrs like a kitten. Having a master in musicology and very little experience disassembling engines – I was quite thrilled and happy with myself. 😊 What a great forum this is!

 

Current problem:

Here, I need to say that a couple of months ago, the ABS light came om permanently. Read some posts here and found the 40A fuse on top of the batt. to be blown. Replaced it – ABS all good until:

Om my way back to the MOT, my ABS-light came on, my speedo gave weird reading, which were way to slow and the ABS-system kicked every time I touched the pedal.

Pulled over, restarted the engine and everything was fine for the next 15 minutes. Then it happened again. Postponed the MOT and went home to investigate.

 

Using VCDS-lite, I found one ABS fault code:
00283 - ABS Wheel Speed Sensor Front Left (G47) 35-00

I also took a drive while recording the speeds of the wheels:
FL showed 1.0 km/h consistently, while the other 3 worked fine. 

I concluded, that the sensor was broken and had a mechanic replace it for me

 

When I picked it up, he said, that the new sensor worked fine, but the ABS still was acting up and told me to call him, if I wanted him to figure it out.

Been testing the car yesterday – here’s the current situation:

·         ABS light comes and goes – always accompanied by the handbrake warning light (regardless if the handbrake is on or off.

·         ABS system kicks in constantly – even at 3 km/h

 

I read this in a post in the forum:

”Use meths to clean the reluctor rings also..........could be that the reluctor ring has developed a "dead" spot on it which causes the ABS sensor to skip........when it starts triggering at stupid low speeds every time you hit the brakes you have this problem.......happened to me........and it didn't show up fault codes on three readers.......only showed up when the dealer looked at the signal outputs from the sensors.........so new wheel bearing/hub units...as the reluctor ring is built in!!!!!”
(https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/251770-intermittent-abs-warning-light/)

This made me record wheel speeds, and I found that the LEFT FRONT seems to act a bit strange from time to time – could this be a ’dead spot’?

I have attached some pics/data to illustrate – the FL wheel seems to dip in speed for short amounts of time (which I know it didn’t in real life).

 

 

I would love any tips, ideas, suggestions on how to proceed. How can I test this? Test other things? Can I inspect the sensor ring on the car? Clean it? Test wires/connections - how?

I’m somewhat limited in gear but I have VCDS-lite, multimeter and basic tools. I could just take it to the mechanic, but I fear, he’ll just start replacing stuff – ABS modules and stuff. Therefore, I am keen on investigating and narrowing down possible causes/solutions.

 

Thank you and have a nice day,
Cheers from Kasper, Copenhagen

 

 

 

[Kapper]

Forgot to mention:

I deleted the ABS fault code (00283) - there are no fault codes on the car since then.