ABS lights

Them fookin lights are on again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

get some black tape and put it over the dash light

And now they are off again ffs. my mate in work had the same problem and he recons it's down to non-original brake pads apparently originals have a coating on the back of the pads which reduce movement in the calipers also they have a spring type gadget which does the same thing the non-originals dont have these and thus you get movement of the pads in the calipers which ****s about with the ABS sensors and triggers the lights, don't know how true this is cos he comes out with some ****e most of the times but it might be worth getting the wheels off at the weekend for a good look round.

yes your right sounds like complete ****e ! but hey i know nuthing

The stuff on the back of the genuine pads is nowt but anti squeal coating, nothing like piston locating springs on disco 2, plus the sensor is in the hub assy not the caliper.

If the pads were moving in the caliper you would hear it and feel it by way of a clunk every time you press the brake pedal.

Thanx guys thats ****ed on his theory

Squirral - Did you ever get any final solution to ABS/HDC/TC lights coming on? Mine did it for the first time yesterday, just had a quote from Land Rover to fit a new ABS wheel sensor - £329 fitted Part direct from LR is only £60!!!

Not sure if you got anything sorted locally - I'm also on the Wirral (Heswall) so would be interested to hear!

My personal theory is that it isn't actually the sensor - my braking judders around 50mph and when I'm breaking at slow speeds I can hear the brake disc rubbing like it's warped. I reckon this variation in signal is causing the error. Anyone got any thoughts on this, or is it easy to see yourself if your discs are warped?

Cheers
James

I've just had this on my Disco 2 (2002, 93k miles). The repair man (Andy White, Edinburgh) put testbook on it, and it's an intermittant low output from the LR rear ABS sensor. Apparently it can be the sensor or the hub. The hub assembly comes with a new ABS sensor for approx. £220 complete, but you can buy the ABS sensor on it's own for approx. £42. The new ABS sensor was fitted yesterday, and the ABS light has not come back on yet... Fingers crossed - if the ABS light comes on again, I'll need the whole hub!
So, the advise appears to be to try the ABS sensor first at £42, then the hub later if it's still a problem...

hi had the same problem thought it was all sorts of things checked every thing took it down for diagnostics and cleared the 1 fault since then lights have stayed off for now ,but dont count on it . discovery 2 150000 miles

Hi James, the first time they came on it was the sensor so had mine replaced at landranger in deeside they can replace the sensor on its own but will not guarantee the work so had the hub replaced at a tad cheeper than the dealers, Then second time turned out to be a brake disc warped, they would only come on when coming to a stop and I also got the shudder at about 50mph, the guy's at landranger told me to replace the discs and if they still came on the next thing to look at is the wheel bearings curing the problem through process of illimination as the sensors can be sensative if there is any signs of wear. I replaced my discs with drilled and grooved ones with teflon pads (turned out to be cheaper than originals)it now stops on a pin head and the lights have been off for a few months now. The guys down in Landranger are a good bunch of lads, Grayham who looks after mine certainly knows his stuff and can point you in the right direction without it costing you an arm and a leg. Send me a message if you want a chat I'm only down the road in Neston.

Ian

MartinK said:

I've just had this on my Disco 2 (2002, 93k miles). The repair man (Andy White, Edinburgh) put testbook on it, and it's an intermittant low output from the LR rear ABS sensor. Apparently it can be the sensor or the hub. The hub assembly comes with a new ABS sensor for approx. £220 complete, but you can buy the ABS sensor on it's own for approx. £42. The new ABS sensor was fitted yesterday, and the ABS light has not come back on yet... Fingers crossed - if the ABS light comes on again, I'll need the whole hub!
So, the advise appears to be to try the ABS sensor first at £42, then the hub later if it's still a problem...

Click to expand...

Glad that seems to have worked for you Martin - Good luck!

I am in two minds. They have identified the sensor via testbook, but in my opinion this is just the thing at the time (for me) that sent a glitch/blip/crackle that upset what is an obviously over-sensitive system. I spent hours today on google and found lots of stories of various componets being replaced only for the lights to return and the dealers to then recommend another component to try. A little bit 'horror stories' I know.

I really believe that, if you had access to testbook, you would just keep resetting the fault codes, and carrying on. I think the SLABS ECU is over-reacting to stimuli caused by vibraation, cold, magnetic fields, etc.

I lot of records of this (admittedly from the US) advise getting a guarantee on the work you get to rectify this particular fault that specifies that if the fault should return within, say, 12 months, you would get a refund on the previous repair.

My lights are now out. I reckon I could go hours, days, weeks, months or years before they come back. I wonder which it will be?

Sorry if this sounds all too cynical, I don't mean to go against any work anyone's had done and I really don't claim to know better than the LR technicians!!! This is just me spouting my theories!

Check this out -search results-

I've also got a LR technical bulletin here that only refers to checking the wiring looms (basically) when detecting sensor faults on testbook

Three things, 1 the latest version of the SLABS Ecu is a darn sight better than what came before.(If you buy a new one make sure its the latest number - cant remember it) 2, sensor faults are often a result of snapped connectors close to the actual sensor itself - esp where they bend as the steering moves etc - viewed on a scope you get a perfect waveform till you go on full lock and drop a wheel in a pothole,then it goes haywire.
3,when a new sensor gets fitted,throw away the little o-ring that seals it into the hub.Replace it with a small ring of silicone,this allows the sensor to seal right down to the hub - this is absolutely critical,if the sensor is not 100% seated or gets its bracket bent by the o ring pushing up,the output will be low or erratic.
Unless the SLABS Ecu is playing up the fault codes are usually accurate - finding the fault is sometimes a bit of a challenge.

Many thanks for the helpful replies!

Eightinavee, I guess you will be right, it's just that I didn't get that convinced by the dealership when they just said "Oh, faulty sensor, needs replacing.. £320 thank you". They couldn't elaborate on their thoughts behind it or even tell me which wheel it was! I'd also paid to have my tracking done. I don't think they've touched it as the steering wheel is still misaligned, and the steering still veers to the left I didn't get that coluor printout of the tracking like you used to get either! £180 charge for all this! Thanks for the helpful tips re: connectors etc - I'm going to have a good check out this weekend and see what I can see. The techincal bulletin I have also mentions checking earthing points etc. on the harness to ensure a good signal. Bulletin Here

Sqwirral, glad you've had good experiences with that place in Deeside - I'll give them a shout. Interested to hear that you had a warped disc too, I'm going to check mine out this weekend. The shuddering is quite violent when braking hard around 50-60mph!

James