andymalham
Member
- Posts
- 38
2002 P38 4.6 V8 petrol/lpg 180000 miles.
I have had the three amigos pop up every time I brake for about a year now. Brakes still worked so what the heck.
Last week I was driving along and the message "ABS FAULT" flashed on the panel and the yellow light came on and stayed on. Brakes still worked. Pulled over and switched off and back on again and the fault went away. Whew. Next morning same message apart from when I switched on the three amigos stayed on. Had no brakes for about two minutes but then worked OK. Three Amigos stayed on all the way through the trip.
Read the forums and watched some videos which pointed to the ABS pump (Accumulator/ Regulator). Sure enough this either made a horrible noise but the brakes would eventually work, or it would make NO NOISE AT ALL. In this case the ABS FAULT would appear and the three amigos would stay on and I would have no brakes at all, ever.
Ordered a secondhand pump and accumulator. Fitted it OK and went through the bleeding procedure OK until I came to the part that required me to turn the ignition on. BIG PROBLEM. No pump noise and ABS FAULT on the dash. Had a quick fiddle with the fuse and ABS relay and found that if I pushed the ABS relay in just the right place it would run the pump. Couldn't get a relay locally so I took the top off it and cleaned and dressed the contacts. This worked so I carried on with the full bleed.
Complete success. Three Amigos now banished. The pedal feel is perfect and the brakes are really powerful. In fact it has never worked this well and I have had this car 5 years. Got an new OEM relay on its way as I don't trust the old "repaired" relay.
I have had the three amigos pop up every time I brake for about a year now. Brakes still worked so what the heck.
Last week I was driving along and the message "ABS FAULT" flashed on the panel and the yellow light came on and stayed on. Brakes still worked. Pulled over and switched off and back on again and the fault went away. Whew. Next morning same message apart from when I switched on the three amigos stayed on. Had no brakes for about two minutes but then worked OK. Three Amigos stayed on all the way through the trip.
Read the forums and watched some videos which pointed to the ABS pump (Accumulator/ Regulator). Sure enough this either made a horrible noise but the brakes would eventually work, or it would make NO NOISE AT ALL. In this case the ABS FAULT would appear and the three amigos would stay on and I would have no brakes at all, ever.
Ordered a secondhand pump and accumulator. Fitted it OK and went through the bleeding procedure OK until I came to the part that required me to turn the ignition on. BIG PROBLEM. No pump noise and ABS FAULT on the dash. Had a quick fiddle with the fuse and ABS relay and found that if I pushed the ABS relay in just the right place it would run the pump. Couldn't get a relay locally so I took the top off it and cleaned and dressed the contacts. This worked so I carried on with the full bleed.
Complete success. Three Amigos now banished. The pedal feel is perfect and the brakes are really powerful. In fact it has never worked this well and I have had this car 5 years. Got an new OEM relay on its way as I don't trust the old "repaired" relay.
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