P38A F'ing p38's!!!!! (and Nanocom/ABS)

Really ****ing annoyed with my p38. To the point of thinking of getting rid.

Has been parked up maybe 2 weeks since last starting and moving it. It has a misfire and I want to do the coilpacks/plugs/leads on it. This isn't the issue this post is for!!!

Due to the misfire I hadn't been using it, hence being parked up.

Went to start it and completely flat battery, so jumped it no problem.

But now it has an ABS fault and TRACTION failure message on the dash with the ABS and TCS lights on.

When you start it up there is a ticking/clicking sound from the brake pedal and you can feel it pulsing. After driving 20 yrds or so this will stop with a beep and the warning lights.

WTF has happen while it has been sat on the driveway??



Have plugged the Nanocom in and I can see the engine stats (and misfires fine). But when I go here:

And look at the faults I get this:



Must have tried 10 or more times. Have wiggled and unplugged the connector. Twice I've had it show this:


Despite the warning lights being present on the dash. On one occasion when it returned no faults the dash actually beeped and flashed up Traction failure - WTF....




Anyone got any bright ideas on how to diagnose what is actually wrong?

Dampness.

J

The Abs Traction Control etc. etc. messages always show up when the volts are too low and/or the Alternator is failing. I have had this twice.
I think you can only chat to the Wabco when ignition is on but engine NOT running (or the other way round).
The phantom errors on the Wabco comms also disappeared when the alternator and battery were tip-top.
What P38 is it Mine's a MY2000 Thor with 4Wheel traction control I think that means Wabco-D so I guess yours is a Thor too?
Pulsing at the pedal is because it thinks one wheel is slipping or not turning at all and that suggests one of your sensors is on its way or has worked loose?
For me it has always been the D/S/F one that fails/goes iffy (don't know why).

marjon said:

Dampness.

J

Click to expand...

Has been mostly dry. Grey I admit. But certainly not damp.

DanClarke said:

The Abs Traction Control etc. etc. messages always show up when the volts are too low and/or the Alternator is failing. I have had this twice.
I think you can only chat to the Wabco when ignition is on but engine NOT running (or the other way round).
The phantom errors on the Wabco comms also disappeared when the alternator and battery were tip-top.
What P38 is it Mine's a MY2000 Thor with 4Wheel traction control I think that means Wabco-D so I guess yours is a Thor too?
Pulsing at the pedal is because it thinks one wheel is slipping or not turning at all and that suggests one of your sensors is on its way or has worked loose?
For me it has always been the D/S/F one that fails/goes iffy (don't know why).

Click to expand...

Thanks. Guess I’ll have to see what it does once back together with the new coil packs.

Yep it is 4.6 Thor. Early one being a 1999 model. I did try a few combos of engine on/off. Will give it another go once running again.

Is there anyway to ID which might be a problem sensor?

I could get some other data up on the time it did work.

300bhp/ton said:

Thanks. Guess I’ll have to see what it does once back together with the new coil packs.

Yep it is 4.6 Thor. Early one being a 1999 model. I did try a few combos of engine on/off. Will give it another go once running again.

Is there anyway to ID which might be a problem sensor?

I could get some other data up on the time it did work.

View attachment 247076 View attachment 247077 View attachment 247078 View attachment 247079 View attachment 247080 View attachment 247081

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I found that if it wasn't a "low-Battery-volts" issue screwing it all up it was usually a duff front sensor. I measured the voltage at the sensor and the good one was showing 5.3v the duff one 0v.
But I always got a permanent ABS Fault when the sensor failed and it could not be cleared. I could however swap it from one front wheel to the other and see the fault move to the different wheel on the nanocom.
Beware that the Nanocom reports "which wheel" incorrectly (certainly does on mine) and I have not managed to successfully update the software since purchase (don't know why).
I keep a spare "used-Good" Wabco-D ECU (getting rarer than rocking-horse Pooh) for fault-finding.
Good Luck.

300bhp/ton said:

Really ****ing annoyed with my p38. To the point of thinking of getting rid.

Has been parked up maybe 2 weeks since last starting and moving it. It has a misfire and I want to do the coilpacks/plugs/leads on it. This isn't the issue this post is for!!!

Due to the misfire I hadn't been using it, hence being parked up.

Went to start it and completely flat battery, so jumped it no problem.

But now it has an ABS fault and TRACTION failure message on the dash with the ABS and TCS lights on.

When you start it up there is a ticking/clicking sound from the brake pedal and you can feel it pulsing. After driving 20 yrds or so this will stop with a beep and the warning lights.

WTF has happen while it has been sat on the driveway??

Have plugged the Nanocom in and I can see the engine stats (and misfires fine). But when I go here:

And look at the faults I get this:

Must have tried 10 or more times. Have wiggled and unplugged the connector. Twice I've had it show this:

Despite the warning lights being present on the dash. On one occasion when it returned no faults the dash actually beeped and flashed up Traction failure - WTF....




Anyone got any bright ideas on how to diagnose what is actually wrong?

Click to expand...

The brake accumulator has lost its charge. The ticking you can hear is the ABS pump pressuring the system. It might be OK after a while (let the ticking stop before moving) or it might be either the accumlator has failed (once it stops pump the pedal and count how manybtimes until the ABS pump runs again) or it might be a brake line is failing and air is getting in. Where the pipes go over the cradle behind the fuel tank is a favourite spot.

Incidentally, I seem to recall the Nanocom has some some of the corners mixed up on the Wabco D section. There might be a patch to fix it or maybe they have a spreadsheet that does it for the export file.

Don't forget you can only connect while it's in diag mode. Once you've moved over 3?mph where the light would normally go out, you can't connect again until you restart