2010 1.9tdi ABS Sensor issue

[Cornish_Lad]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can give me a few pointers, re the wife's 2010 1.9tdi ABS Sensor warning light ?

Last weekend, the orange ABS light decided to show itself on the dash board - so I get my usual garage to have a look at it.  A scan with an OBDII reader pointed towards a problem with the sensor on the front right hand wheel.  So far so good .... so off comes the wheel, and my trusted mechanic decided to test the sensor somehow (maybe rolling road ?) and apparently the sensor is transmitting - so decided to clean up all the contacts, brush the wire pins inside the plug, and re-assemble the whole thing.

ABS light by then had gone out, so car was returned to me as there didn't appear to be a problem.  No charges either (he's a decent bloke) ...

Roll on two days later, when it's pouring down with rain, and the sensor decides to illuminate again .... so I get home, switch off, go inside to find my Carista dongle with the intention of again scanning to see what error code comes up, and at that stage the sensor goes out, and no fault codes are stored .... 

Roll on to today, when the sensor again decides to illuminate itself ...

I'm thinking (because of the intermittent issue) that maybe it's not the sensor, but more of a wiring / connection issue ?  Any thoughts ?  Anything I need to asking my mechanic to look at ? Could it be the actual ABS sensor maybe ?

 

All idea's gratefully received

Edited 8 August, 2021 by Cornish_Lad

[UrbanPanzer]

still points to sensor for me, could just be a sign its on it's way out.................although also worth checking there is no play in the wheel bearing either.

 

Offcourse you could also spend time "ringing out" all the wires etc etc, but still may be a sensor, and for the relatively small outlay I would be tempted to fit a new one (genuine) and see how it goes.

 

All depends on time / budget etc.

Edited 8 August, 2021 by UrbanPanzer

[Cornish_Lad]

Hmm - you're right UrbanPanzer ... I think the next logical step is to replace the sensor, and go from there .... for the sake of a £50 part anyway.

I've just been out to the car, and guess what, no sensor illuminated lol

 

 

[UrbanPanzer]

23 minutes ago, Cornish_Lad said:

Hmm - you're right UrbanPanzer ... I think the next logical step is to replace the sensor, and go from there .... for the sake of a £50 part anyway.

I've just been out to the car, and guess what, no sensor illuminated lol

 

 

 

 def not £50 buddy

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402419852706?fits=Model%3AFabia&hash=item5db217a5a2:g:BYUAAOSwJ0tfV1SC

 

[KenONeill]

30 minutes ago, UrbanPanzer said:

def not £50 buddy

Also @Cornish_Lad more like £15 for a cheapish multimeter? As long as it has a continuity test mode...

[Murdockman]

Had this on my old Fabia 2 and it was two things that caused the issue firstly the raised segments on the drive shat were rusty and sensor could not pick up correctly, a clean with a small file and some WD40 sorted this issue out, make sure you cover drive shaft rubber as would  make the rubber  boot swell,  the second issue was the connection on the ABS connection looked clean but like most VW/ Skoda connections the female ends had pushed back into the connection so was not making a solid connection when fitting together I managed to push female ends slightly more and held the back part of connector with the wires while pushing the connection back together , I also used some petroleum  jelly on connections to keep them good and free from corrosion and wet after doing this no ABS light

Also a friend had this sort of issue after having a front drive shaft boot  changed and turned out to be the sensor damaged when bearing was changed

[mrgf]

I had a rear ABS sensor issue which came, went on/off swapped, went, came (ETC)  specialist did test, swapped sensor, still happened, despite me telling them I had tried three (Two new, plus old one). Some while after, I switched back to my original light switch, from auto lights, and the fault went!

 

Thought I had found the cure until the deluge a day or so ago and on popped the light! Luckily, i just purchased an XTOOL v401 so I looked up the code and it gave the same R/L ABS sensor but also stated SHORT CIRCUIT. I have not seen this with my old, crap non_VW obd code reader and the mech guy had not mentioned it so I think the new scanner/ reader is more advanced. i also clumsily tried the ABS pump checking function which was bizarre... It sets off the pump, gives instructions and operates the unit to each for issues. You have to press the brakes at certain intervals etc but I was just winging it so not sure how well I did. It did not show any errors though so I too now wonder if there is water ingress or a poor connection at the plug. That would be the most likely thing, I think though the garage said they did a continuity test but that would have been in dry conditions. It has been working properly since early this year, until the major flooding, a few days back, where I did drive through a few very large puddles.

 

I might try popping off the rear wheel, looking at the connector and cleaning/adding petroleum jelly to the plug.

[mrgf]

...It appears to have dried out now and not coming on again... Hope it stays that way. My guess is just short circuit due to water ingress. 

[Cornish_Lad]

Mine's still intermittent - so I've taken the plunge and ordered the part that @UrbanPanzerrecommended (cheers for that link mate) ...

I know my mechanic friend / garage will only charge a tenner or so .... so fingers crossed it will solve the issue (I'm the type of person that hates any type pf dashboard light lit, regardless of the severity)

BTW I reckon that the wife's Fabia has been talking to my Yeti, as I've now got the same bloody problem on mine :( Either that or the Cornish potholes this year :(

Thanks for all the replies though folks !

[mrgf]

At least you get the lovely Cornish scenery, to go with the potholes... Here in Lonfon, we get ar5eholes and potholes!

 

I do love Cornwall.

[Cornish_Lad]

All sorted Again thanks to @UrbanPanzerfor the link ... received a genuine OEM sensor within 24hrs of ordering.

The old one was an awkward one to remove - it snapped off at the base, so had to drill into what was left, and lever it out ... came out eventually though.  All remaining debris removed, and also the raised segments on the drive shaft were also cleaned up (thanks to @Murdockman for the heads up on that area) ...

It's been 4 days now since the new one was fitted, had lot's of rain, sunshine and still no ABS sensor lit, so (fingers crossed) the fault has been cured.

Appreciate all the replies and helpful advice

[MikeHills]

I had this problem and found that the wheel bearing had slipped out of the hub. Ended up replacing the hub and bearing.