Another newbie technical question

[Shizuyori]

Hi, this my first post so hi to all :)

I have a problem with my Mitsubishi Galant G8 (02 plate, Equippe 2 Litre, manual), the problem is that my ABS light has come on whilst i was driving up the motorway and i'm kinda hoping someone here maybe able to help

I have thought of everything i have done recently and nothing comes to mind as to why the light's come on.

I had a mixture of my brake pads and discs replaced back in september but braking has been good, ive checked air pressure and brake fluid but both are fine.

When my car is idle (engine not running) i had noticed when i pump my break pedal that the pedal starts to firm and is harder to push until i start the engine, now with the ABS light on this doesn't happen assuming that the ABS is no longer working.

Can any of you give me any related advice?

Thanks in advance

Dave

[aboo]

Hi & welcome to CVR4. I'm, sure someone will be along soon that will have a answer for you.

[Gowf]

Yeah it will do that. Does the light go out at all? It is either going to be a sensor or a snapped ring most likey. It may be other things, but these are the easiest and cheapest way of sorting it. I would pop the shafts out of the hubs and check to see if they are cracked. If not then your looking at sensors, in which case it may be easier to see if the code can be read from the ecu.

Oh, and welcome!

[Shizuyori]

Hi and thanks both of you, i wasn't expecting a reply tonight :D

[edit] i've been told by a recovery guy (a friend of a friend etc) that the sensors are possibly(?) magnetic and could have picked up some stuff that could be getting in the way, the light doesn't go out by the way...well it hasn't so far

[elnevio]

/Welcome

Plenty of non-VR-4 owners on here - and several non-Mitsi owners too!


Good luck with the fault-finding - I can't be much help with it though :(

Anyway, /Wyhy

[crazydriver81]

Hi and Welcome to the club!


First check: electrical!

The ABS relay is in the engine bay (passenger side-near ABS pump), as well as the fuse (engine fuse box). Check and replace the fuse and see what happens


second check: mechanical!

You have to check the condition of the ABS sensor rings (tooth rings) at the driveshaft (wheel side) for dirt or cracks or missing teeth

Maybe it's worth to get the fault code pulled from ECU. Ask your friendly Mitsi dealer, this should assist you to find the fault.

[bradc]

Does it come up as soon as you start the car and never goes out, or is it only once the car starts moving?

[the mad hat man]

Just a thought, but this is also the handbrake on warning light, isnt it? Could this be a cause? I dont mean leaving the handbrake on, but can the wiring short?

[crazydriver81]

no, the handbrake sign is a different one. This lights indicates either a pulled handbrake or low level brake fluid ;)

[Shizuyori]

Hi and Welcome to the club!


First check: electrical!

The ABS relay is in the engine bay (passenger side-near ABS pump), as well as the fuse (engine fuse box). Check and replace the fuse and see what happens


second check: mechanical!

You have to check the condition of the ABS sensor rings (tooth rings) at the driveshaft (wheel side) for dirt or cracks or missing teeth

Maybe it's worth to get the fault code pulled from ECU. Ask your friendly Mitsi dealer, this should assist you to find the fault.

thanks i'll be checking most of these out this weekend hopefully


Does it come up as soon as you start the car and never goes out, or is it only once the car starts moving?

its on now immediately and never goes out however it came on while i was moving

again thanks everyone whose trying to help me get to the bottom of this :D

[bradc]

Ok, I don't think it is an ABS Ring then. On my car when one had a chipped tooth the light would only come on after reaching 90kmh or so. This makes sense because obviously it can't detect that the ABS Ring is missing a tooth unless the car is being driven.

[Turbo_Steve]

I assume you've checked the brake fluid etc?

You may have simply had a sensor fail. I've had this before.

[the mad hat man]

Feedback for you guys - and a big thanks. :D

it appears the problem was a battery on its last legs - at least the battery died and after the replacement was fitted - no more warning light. For some reason the alarm no longer beeps on unlocking the door (the lights still flash), so next Q is - can the alarm sound be reset - or is that a Mitsubishi jobby?

[mattnz]

You have two usernames? I'm confused :/

Is it a Mitsi alarm?

Anyway, as it happened when you changed the battery, I would imagine that you've managed to blow a fuse.

[elnevio]

No, Confused is Confused, but the mad hat man may also be Shizuyori, or they're two people with the same car! :rolleyes4


Is it the Cobra 'alien fob' alarm that you have?

[the mad hat man]

Sorry - I should explain - Shizuyori is my son.

I think he has the Cobra "Alien fob" alarm fitted.

[elnevio]

Haha - thanks for the clarification.

There is a way of changing the setting so that it bleeps (or not, as the wish may be) and I thought I had the manual for that. Sadly, I don't, but the process may have been posted before. Pretty sure you need the extra key tab thing, or the PIN, though, to be able to get into the system menus.

[Shizuyori]

thanks guys, sorry i didn't post back, been a bit busy recovering...from work

anywho my alarm key is this http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/attachments/f95/131374d1251074437-fs-cobra-alarm-remote-fob-fob-010.jpg one.

and to clarify... the abs light no longer comes on since the battery replacement but maybe that is because dash was reset...i dont know just a guess either way when i pump my break pedal now it does..umm stiffen (??) although not as stiff s what i used to be before my brakes where replaced. I haven't tested the abs though doing an emergency stop.

phew..think that gets things into perspective a little :S :)

thanks again everybody

[pitslayer]

The brakes will go stiff, your pumping fluid around the system with vacuum pressure etc, its normal, you only have to worry when you pump the pedal and doesn't go hard, or hits the floor and stays there, or doesn't even move.

Never heard of the ABS light coming on due to the battery though, seems fairly odd, I think I would still be getting the system checked out, seems and odd light to come on for something that really isn't battery related.

[White Lightning]

Sorry, I'm still confused! Who's Confused? :p

Welcome to CVR4 guys, glad to see your problem is sorted (at least for now) :)

[the mad hat man]

Connected up diagnostic - no faults logged - so it all looks good.

Thanks for your help.

[the mad hat man]

Maybe it wasnt as good as we thought - the ABS seems to cut in under braking. By braking I mean any braking, not just heavy braking. Is this likely to be a sensor problem? Do you have any ideas what we can check for? how can I check sensors or sensor position?

[Nick Mann]

Very likely to be a sensor problem. I'm not sure if evoscan will show you or not, but a dealer should be able to show you which one is playing up.

[Nick Mann]

Should also have said, it could well still be a toothed ring issue too. It sounds like it thinks one of your wheels is slipping so is activating abs. So one of your sensors is giving a dodge reading, either sensor or ring fault. Most likely!

[the mad hat man]

Thanks Nick - I have a generic fault code reader, but it doesnt pick up anything - are yu saying it has to be a mitsu****ty reader at the stealers?

[HMG1K]

Sorry, I'm still confused! Who's Confused? :p)

Who is the service manager. /Welcome

[Nick Mann]

The vr4 is not quite odb2 compatible. So we use software called evoscan to see what the ecu is doing. Generic odb2 stuff doesn't read the vr4, I understand because the code is not quite right as it was written just before the odb2 system was finalised. So for a vr4 it is evoscan or a dealer. I would not be surprised to find that your car falls into the same category as the vr4 from that point of view, although I don't know for sure.

[the mad hat man]

Thanks Nick
All i need is a copy of Evoscan then and a cable ;).

[elnevio]

Or you can use a paperclip (or short bit of wire) to obtain the fault codes from the ECU!

[the mad hat man]

Assuming it is a sensor problem, do yu have any preferred suppliers. From googling the part(s) it looks like they are circa £225 each :eek:.

[the mad hat man]

Problem found to be split nsf sensor ring. Surprisingly easy fix - and all for £1.75 and a bit of Coppaslip :).

[TAR]

LOL.... didn't take you long to fix that then!!

:happy:

[the mad hat man]

6 hours - and 3 years to get it diagnosed properly :o ;)