P38 ABS Fault Question

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Mine has had this code stored and restored for over a year. Also, Ive replaced fuses and relays and pretty much all of the braking system and its in top shape. However, I dont pop a dash light. Really hoping you figure it out soon, its always in the back of my mind before a trip and its been bugging the **** outta me. Good Luck
 
Mine has had this code stored and restored for over a year. Also, Ive replaced fuses and relays and pretty much all of the braking system and its in top shape. However, I dont pop a dash light. Really hoping you figure it out soon, its always in the back of my mind before a trip and its been bugging the **** outta me. Good Luck
Oh! That's a bit worrying then that you have this same issue and have pretty much replaced the whole brake system and still have it. I see you are in the US. Here in the UK we have an annual statutory test called an MOT which if you fail means you cannot drive the vehicle on the public roads, not clearing this error message means my Rangie will fail this MOT test regardless of what state the braking system is actually in!
 
Oh! That's a bit worrying then that you have this same issue and have pretty much replaced the whole brake system and still have it. I see you are in the US. Here in the UK we have an annual statutory test called an MOT which if you fail means you cannot drive the vehicle on the public roads, not clearing this error message means my Rangie will fail this MOT test regardless of what state the braking system is actually in!

It comes and goes.. So even in the UK I might be able to sneak by MOT every once in a while if I were to reset it lets say...right outside of the testing facility..

My money is on the fusebox. Since that is the oldest thing in my rig, in the most vulnerable area. Probably a broken or corroded trace Id bet...
 
Try the jump wire from a fused live to the ecu feed and start the car, as per previous post it could need the fault clearing as well. Don't replace anything until you can 100%rule out the live feed. ;)
It is easy to run on a money/parts chucking spree. You'll gain many new parts but the "win" factor is not guaranteed. :(
 
Try the jump wire from a fused live to the ecu feed and start the car, as per previous post it could need the fault clearing as well. Don't replace anything until you can 100%rule out the live feed. ;)
It is easy to run on a money/parts chucking spree. You'll gain many new parts but the "win" factor is not guaranteed. :(

Oh yea I second that! P38 brake parts are expensive! Now that I think of it..Ive experienced every common brake failure possible for the GEMS. And when checking the codes each time something failed, there was no ABS ECU fault code. Only when everything was finally in tip top shape did she start with this code storing. :confused:

The "win" is definitely never guaranteed...

Good Luck
 
Oh! That's a bit worrying then that you have this same issue and have pretty much replaced the whole brake system and still have it. I see you are in the US. Here in the UK we have an annual statutory test called an MOT which if you fail means you cannot drive the vehicle on the public roads, not clearing this error message means my Rangie will fail this MOT test regardless of what state the braking system is actually in!

Things are a lot more relaxed in the US. I'm guessing it varies by State but as far as I know if it has wheels and can roll then it is pretty much up to you if you want to risk driving it.
 
Good news! ABS Fault is now gone :):):):)

Seems a new ABS ECU (or 2nd hand one off ebay) was the thing that finally fixed it. Although I have the older Wabco C version that is supposed to be more reliable.

I think the whole no power message at pin 1 may have been a misleading code that Hawkeye was reading in this case. Its been a learning experience. I think there may have been some issues with the fusebox or may have had some brewing as the old one smells a bit like its had some burning going on, so I'm glad I replaced that and it wasn't a hard job. The Accumulator was also on its way out and now the brake pump doesn't engage every time I press the brake pedal and with the fusebox off it was really easy to get at. I also have a huge collection of relays as I must have bought around 8 new ones to try, even a proper LR one, as all diagnostics pointed to a faulty relay. But it was the £20 replacement ABS ECU off the auction site which seems to have resolved it.

Thanks to all for the tips and hopefully this thread helps someone else in my position at some point. Another positive is that in researching this my knowledge and confidence on working on the Rangie has grown hugely. MOT is booked for Friday and hopefully all goes well with that, then I have a long list of general maintenance jobs I then want to do to keep this beloved family pet running for a good few more years.
 
My money was on the fuseboz, if you had 3v on the power wire the latest ecu would have had the same problem.. I'd try the ecu on the new fuse box circuit. Did you try a jump wire from a fused source?
 
My money was on the fuseboz, if you had 3v on the power wire the latest ecu would have had the same problem.. I'd try the ecu on the new fuse box circuit. Did you try a jump wire from a fused source?
I would have tended to agree with you Mark.

I think the old fusebox had an issue but it looks like the ECU was also at fault. Old ECU was tried on new fusebox. Even with the new fusebox I was still getting the low voltage reading I'd seen earlier at the ECU plug and at the relay. The low reading I had got at fuse 27 though was now better with the new fusebox.

I then tried the jump wire but then got an extra Hawkeye error complaining there was voltage at pin 1 when ignition was off so I had to do some convoluted plugging and unplugging of the jump wire while turning the ignition on and off to simulate the relay action in between clearing faults with the Hawkeye. It was quite a difficult process and although I managed to get rid of the fault on Hawkeye after a few tries I was still getting the error on the dash display. I then returned everything to normal swapped around some relays - I did this a lot over the course of this repair as I was hopeful it was just a faulty one of these but still had the same errors.

Was about to give up for the day but thought lets just plugin the replacement ECU I had picked up and after that fault was gone on the dash. Plugged in my Hawkeye and the pin 1 fault was gone. There were a couple of sensor errors reported but I assume these were from the donor vehicle this had come from as when I cleared them, stopped and started the engine and retested they didn't come back.

I can only conclude from this that the pin 1 error from my Hawkeye was a red herring and the low voltage I was reading there was in fact correct. What I didn't do and probably should have after this all worked was go and do a voltage reading at the ECU plug pin 1 again to see if the low voltage was also still there. In my joy at the error finally going I fitted the ECU back in place and reassemble the passenger footwell again before I thought about that.
 
I would have tended to agree with you Mark.

I think the old fusebox had an issue but it looks like the ECU was also at fault. Old ECU was tried on new fusebox. Even with the new fusebox I was still getting the low voltage reading I'd seen earlier at the ECU plug and at the relay. The low reading I had got at fuse 27 though was now better with the new fusebox.

I then tried the jump wire but then got an extra Hawkeye error complaining there was voltage at pin 1 when ignition was off so I had to do some convoluted plugging and unplugging of the jump wire while turning the ignition on and off to simulate the relay action in between clearing faults with the Hawkeye. It was quite a difficult process and although I managed to get rid of the fault on Hawkeye after a few tries I was still getting the error on the dash display. I then returned everything to normal swapped around some relays - I did this a lot over the course of this repair as I was hopeful it was just a faulty one of these but still had the same errors.

Was about to give up for the day but thought lets just plugin the replacement ECU I had picked up and after that fault was gone on the dash. Plugged in my Hawkeye and the pin 1 fault was gone. There were a couple of sensor errors reported but I assume these were from the donor vehicle this had come from as when I cleared them, stopped and started the engine and retested they didn't come back.

I can only conclude from this that the pin 1 error from my Hawkeye was a red herring and the low voltage I was reading there was in fact correct. What I didn't do and probably should have after this all worked was go and do a voltage reading at the ECU plug pin 1 again to see if the low voltage was also still there. In my joy at the error finally going I fitted the ECU back in place and reassemble the passenger footwell again before I thought about that.
Jesus, all I can say is after that adventure.....


Well done mate. ;)
 
Can close this thread off by reporting that MOT now all passed. Initially failed due to some track rod dust covers and headlight alignment but these were easily fixed by the MOT garage for me so all legal again for another year. Onto the 'other' jobs I now want to do. I'm sure I'll be back in other threads for advice.
 
Can close this thread off by reporting that MOT now all passed. Initially failed due to some track rod dust covers and headlight alignment but these were easily fixed by the MOT garage for me so all legal again for another year. Onto the 'other' jobs I now want to do. I'm sure I'll be back in other threads for advice.
You are Flipping winning :D
Be on the road with you :cool:
 
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