RRC brake failure

turns out the previous owner had removed the ABS warning light bulb...

this possibly doesnt look good, maybe the previous owner was having these issues and just took the bulb out..

i'll have another go at the blink test now that i know which one the ABS light actually is

I'm not shouting at you, I'm saying it is vitally important you have a workshop manual. the ABS is safety critical, if you are not happy about diagnosing it and working on it take it to a garage. Don't be a hero, admit defeat if you can't sort it and take the financial hit - it is better than being dead and better than killing somebody else.

The system works at very high pressures and can be dangerous if you do something wrong. The other thing is that proceedures like bleeding the system are not straight forward. It is not unknown to need 10 or even 15 litres of brake fluid to bleed the system. Do a search for ABS and you'll see what I mean.

DeadTom said:

turns out the previous owner had removed the ABS warning light bulb...

this possibly doesnt look good, maybe the previous owner was having these issues and just took the bulb out..

Click to expand...

Unfortunately this is very common. people get frustrated by not being able to solve ABS problems and normally out of frustration and the fear of a large bill simply remove the bulb. In theory, removing the bulb is an MOT failure as far as I understand it anyway.

Check/test what you can if you can't fix it take it to somebody who can.

right, after bridging the black and black/pink wires on the blue plug i switched the ignition on and the ABS light stayed on for 5 seconds, then when out, and then cycled through the following:

1 long, 1 short, 2 short, 6 short

i tried switching the ignition off and on and it did the same series of flashes.

brake pedal position switch apparently...

i tried disconnecting the jumper wire so that it would display the next fault code, but it kept returning the same 2-6 code =/

Are you sure those are the correct codes for an RRC? Without looking at the workshop manual I can't be certain but I'm not aware of a brake pedal position switch on the early RRC Wabco system. Do a search and you should be able to find the code and what the fault is.

The other thing you need to do is keep going on the blink codes, you have to clear the memory. I assume you have got the procedure for doing this; if not get Haynes manual.

Coz I'm a nice guy and it's nearly Christmas:

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/rrc-abs-fault-codes-104544.html?highlight=ABS+fault+code

ah thats very kind, the fault codes i got were swiped from another forum, guess they aer for a disco or some such.

the procedure for clearing fault codes is just to remove the bridge wire, then repeat the process to get the next code isnt it?
ive done that but it keeps just giving me the 2-6 code.

also, stop light switch being faulty wouldnt cause all the issues im having would it?

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not yet, so apologies if I'm repeating here, but you SHOULD have a seperate ABS light - mine is a red light to the right of the handbrake light and all that. It stays on until the car travels over 7mph, then switches off.

So, if this ABS light does not come on AS WELL AS the handbrake light, either the bulb has gone, been removed, or there's a fault.

I'm afraid that is where my knowledge or RRC ABS ends, but HTH.

yeah that was mentioned earlier today, turns out the previous owner had removed the ABS light, presumably to disguise the failed ABS system for MOT puposes.

thanks anyway though

DeadTom said:

yeah that was mentioned earlier today, turns out the previous owner had removed the ABS light, presumably to disguise the failed ABS system for MOT puposes.

thanks anyway though

Click to expand...

That was helpful of him/her! Actually, that's quite dangerous too - bad form.:doh:

DeadTom said:

ah thats very kind, the fault codes i got were swiped from another forum, guess they aer for a disco or some such.

the procedure for clearing fault codes is just to remove the bridge wire, then repeat the process to get the next code isnt it?
ive done that but it keeps just giving me the 2-6 code.

also, stop light switch being faulty wouldnt cause all the issues im having would it?

Click to expand...

First, keep trying the blink codes until the memory is cleared, you don't know what other codes might be lurking.

A faulty brake light switch seems unlikely to result in somebody taking the bulb out so be careful. You are not likely to fix this in 5 mins. Take your time, do it right. As I said before the ABS is a safety critical system, don't cut corners, check everything, then check it again.