Over the last 2-3 months, my 1.2 12v Silverline has occasionally put the ABS on after applying the brake pedal with light to medium force in dry or slightly damp conditions. The last time it did it was whilst going down my dry drive at about 3-5mph although it was only a light ABS kick.

When it does it at higher speeds of 30-50mph the car doesn't feel like it's slowing down at all for about 1-2 seconds while the ABS is hammering the discs. That's not a good feeling and if something were to come in front of me whilst that was occurring I wouldn't be able to stop. Once the ABS stops the brakes work fine again. This all happens whilst my foot is on the brake with constant pressure as I'm not pumping the pedal or anything.

I'm hoping this problem is fixed now after taking it in for a 40,000 mile service but I was wondering if anyone else has encountered it in case it happens again.

Happens on the Fabia Vrs too, or at least a few that I know of, including mine.

I think the ABS kicks in far too early on the Fabia vRS personally.

had a similar prob when i had a punto and it was some string wrapped around an abs sensor. abs used to come on on its own though. very disconcerting and probably quite dangerous! :eek:

Mine does the same thing (2.0l)

After I apply slight presure for about 30 seconds while going a slight downhill ABS gets hyper.

Could it be caused because the boost gets depleted of pressure? I say that because the pedal feels as heavy as when the engine is off.

I do believe anyhow that the barkes will still work, but you would have to use a lot of strength.

I'll try to replicate the condition when it's safe and let you know

If it's doing it at 5mph then get it checked - AFAIK ABS shouldn't activate under about 5mph by design.

Also, I've only felt mine about twice in 23K (both times it was well deserved :p ) so I'd imagine there's some sort of fault. If you're unsure it might be worth getting the dealer to have a nosey.

Had this on my polo; dealer diagnosed intermintent signal from both front sensors; changed them and problem sorted.

Thanks for the replies. I asked the garage to check it when it went in for a service on Tuesday. I'm not sure if they did anything as the mechanic wasn't around when I picked it up. However, given that it kicked in again this morning going down the drive at 3-5 mph I guess they didn't. So, I'm a bit concerned it's a sensor issue. It's still under MF warranty until September so I'll push for it to get sorted.

The 3-5mph on the drive is NORMAL. When the car first moves it gives a light application of the brakes, just to check everything out. I have found that if you are braking at this point the abs can kick in. If let if roll without any brakes as you first start to move you can feel a momentery use of the brakes. To test this out take the car out off the drive, then put it back on the drive and try it again WITHOUT restarting the car. I bet the second time you drive off the drive in the same way there is no abs.

Also have found on both my fabia's if you hit any deformation in the road as you brake the abs can kick in very early, but you can sometimes push a bit more and it will stop and revert to normal.

Last night I tried my brakes going down a mild slope. Indeeed it happened again, after 20 sec. of pressing the brake gently and then triying to brake the ABS kicked in, but after a harder press of the pedal, it stopped ok.

Will have the dealer check it anyhow.

Mmm, I had wondered if the low speed ABS kick-in was some sort of self test. I mentioned that to the dealer mechanic but he didn't confirm it was part of a normal start-up and drive off test sequence (in fact he just shrugged!).

It might be that the ABS is a lot more sensitive than on my previous cars - it's almost like it kicks in several milliseconds before you might start skidding rather than several milliseconds after. Probably isn't that, but it feels like it.

Anyhoo, it's in the dealer today to get checked out as I'd rather be safe than feeling very sorry.

i have experienced this on many of my lupo's/polo's, it's caused by the sensor rings on the inside of the hubs getting clogged up with road crud and leaves etc.

my 2.0 fabia seems to go crazy when braking if one wheel goes over a wet drain cover. it somtimes feels like it isn't going to stop at all.

i have experienced this on many of my lupo's/polo's' date=' it's caused by the sensor rings on the inside of the hubs getting clogged up with road crud and leaves etc.

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Seems to be a VAG small car thing then?

..... it somtimes feels like it isn't going to stop at all.

That's exactly the sort of thing I've been gettting, sometimes at 30-50mph whilst behind another car which is very disconcerting.