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[grud]

hi all i am new to this board,i have joined cos i have a problem my mechanic appears not to be able to solve at the moment..i have a 99 elite auto 2.5,its done 116000 m,ive had it for 7 yrs..the other day whilst i was driving two warning lites came on,traction control and the one above it the abs lite,the speedo also stopped working..i drove about 40miles and the lites went out and speedo worked again.
its been intermittent ever since..i took the car to my mechanic  who plugged in the hand held computer thing..it did not register any problems(it was working ok again at that point)he is unable to offer a solution so what do i do. iam  non technical i know nothing about cars, i keep it clean and have regular services and relie on people to put things right when needed,would appreciate any advice..thanks in advance..rod

[TheBoy]

hi all i am new to this board,i have joined cos i have a problem my mechanic appears not to be able to solve at the moment..i have a 99 elite auto 2.5,its done 116000 m,ive had it for 7 yrs..the other day whilst i was driving two warning lites came on,traction control and the one above it the abs lite,the speedo also stopped working..i drove about 40miles and the lites went out and speedo worked again.
its been intermittent ever since..i took the car to my mechanic  who plugged in the hand held computer thing..it did not register any problems(it was working ok again at that point)he is unable to offer a solution so what do i do. iam  non technical i know nothing about cars, i keep it clean and have regular services and relie on people to put things right when needed,would appreciate any advice..thanks in advance..rod

Welcome to the site.

I have a horrible feeling about this, being a post 98 car

Anyway, did he read the ABS ECU, not just the engine ECU.

The ABS ECU provides ABS (obviously!), Traction Control, and the speedo feed.  It may be that one of the sensors (4 - fronts mounted near wheels, rear mounted near diff) has failed or needs respacing.  But I would expect the ABS ECU to store a fault code.

It is not uncommon for the ABS ECU to fail on post 98 cars though

[Andy B]

.......
It is not uncommon for the ABS ECU to fail on post 98 cars though

[size=10]Shhhhh![/size]

[DaveL]

Welcome to the forum M8.
 8-)
DaveL

[tunnie]

have to be very unlucky with a 99 plated car being post 98, but not unheard of.

Did the car have any work on it before this problem occurred?

I suggest doing a 'paperclip' test, read the codes and post them up  

[TheBoy]

have to be very unlucky with a 99 plated car being post 98, but not unheard of.

Did the car have any work on it before this problem occurred?

I suggest doing a 'paperclip' test, read the codes and post them up  

All post 98 cars are susceptable...

Paperclip test will not reveal why ABS ECU is lighting up TC and ABS telltales...

[tunnie]

oops just realised my post made no sense what so ever    

I was thinking the car could have been pre 98  

Damn databasing revision, messes with the mind!  

[TheBoy]

oops just realised my post made no sense what so ever    

I was thinking the car could have been pre 98  

Damn databasing revision, messes with the mind!  

You shouldn't be on here - mother tunnie will find out that you are not revising and give you a good thrashing

[grud]

HI AGAIN..IF IT IS THE ABS ECU(whatever that is)what do u think that is likely to cost to replace?

[grud]

sorry me again...further to my last item..about four weeks ago i had the coil replaced...is this likely to have upset anything?

[TheBoy]

HI AGAIN..IF IT IS THE ABS ECU(whatever that is)what do u think that is likely to cost to replace?

Silly money.  I suspect a dealer would want £1500.  Get a (guaranteed) recon one if proven to be the ECU (Tech2 it first!!) for £250 ish, and replace yourself (guide in Maintenence Guides)

[Kevin Wood]

I suspect a dealer would want £1500.

 

That's a lot of cash!

Is this just an electronic box or does it include the ABS valve body?

Has anyone ever dissected a faulty one? Just thinking it might be worthwhile if it's a common failure..

Kevin

[MartinP]

I suspect a dealer would want £1500.

 

That's a lot of cash!

Is this just an electronic box or does it include the ABS valve body?

Has anyone ever dissected a faulty one? Just thinking it might be worthwhile if it's a common failure..

Kevin

I have a defective one ready to go to MarkDTM, when we are both going to be in the same area.

[grud]

THANKS FOR COMMENTS SO FAR,AS IM NOT TECHNICAL IT DOESNT MEAN TOO MUCH AT THE MOMENT
BUT MOST IMPORTANT TO ME....IS THE CAR STILL SAFE TO DRIVE??? I CAN JUDGE THE SPEED OK FROM THE REV COUNTER WHEN SPEEDO DOESNT WORK BUT I NEED TO USE CAR WHILST I DECIDE WHAT TO DO...WHAT DO YOU THINK ??

[Varche]

I too had this problem on my 97 2.5 elite. Not a cheap job to get fixed at a garage.

as far as safe to drive? My understanding is that the functionality of the brakes is exactly the same but the ABS bit is inoperative. So If you were Jackie Stewart and hit the brake pedal for an emergency stop it would probably be the same distance as with ABS, for us mortals the distance would be further as most people manage to lock up some or all of the wheels when doing an emergency stop.
 The traction control also doesn't work and cruise as well. The former I don't rate at all as a feature and the latter I found hard to live without. There are plenty of more knowledgeable people on the forum to confirm my view.

You need to get it fixed or dare I say "sell the car". If it is the ECu on the way out then the lights coming on problem becomes more frequent and they stay on for longer until it is all the time.

Can I ask, Have you been having regular brake fluid changes? My "mechanic" was adamant that the problem is caused by using old brake fluid which obviously absorbs water over time and corrodes the part in the ECU.

olive