Hi all,
We've got a 1999 VW Bora 1.6(manual) with 53k on the clock. Coming from work tonight, as I was driving along the ABS light came on on the dash and the STOP warning flashed up. I pulled over, switched off and restarted and all was well so drove home 3 miles with the ABS light not reoccuring. Prior to pulling over and stopping I'd pulled out of a muddy track and quite possibly had skidded a bit when I stopped so used the ABS.
Can anyone advise as whether I have a problem or is it a glitch. Also, when the dash says STOP as the light comes on, is this set in stone and I have to or is it a warning that somethings wrong but you're ok till you get it fixed?
Thanks in advance........
PS Car is basically a Golf btw!
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Well what do you think STOP means?
STOP is something important needs looking at right away, Carry on at your own risk but if you cause expensive damage or have an accident dont say you wasnt warned.
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well thanks for that reply.
What the manual says (I've finally dug it out)
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words to the effect of - if both warning lights come on and the brake fluid isn't below min mark, the car can be driven carefully to a main VW dealer. As the "fault" may stem from the ABS, the rear wheels could lock early under braking.
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The fluid isn't low so I read into this I can drive it to a garage if indeed theres anything really wrong with it.
Can anyone (who knows) shed any light on this as my wife goes into hospital for an op on wednesday, my works vehicle is sat in a garage waiting for a main dealer part and we can't be without a vehicle especially at the moment.
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can you get the fault codes read?
ABS lights can come on for all sorts of trivial and unimportant reasons (Yes - I know that they can come on for real reasons as well)
Typically if the light is on then the ABS will be inoperative, although the normal braking will be fine. so just like driving a car without ABS (or at least thats how it works on our audi).
Typical common problems are sensor failure or reluctor ring failure - in which case I would be quite happy to keep driving it.
The vw abs controller and pump does have some known issues though.
pop into a vw specialist and ask them to plug in their diagnostics, that will tell you if its a pump/controller issue - which might need immediate attention, or a sensor/reluctor issue that you can live with for a few days.
You might try on vwvortex or audi-sport, a lot of the specialist forums have a section for people with the vag com kit to offer to read codes for people (on the basis of a beer token or even just as a favour).
If you are anywhere near Harrogate I'll do it for you.
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Could have been a bit of mud/water on one of the wheel hub ABS sensors. If the warning light's gone, it should be OK to drive. You cound take the whhels off and look inside of the brake disks to check for dirt build-up if you were keen, it won't hurt.
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Thanks you 2 guys - I'll get on the phone to the garage in the morning. Hopefully its something or nothing. Like I said, no lights on the 3 mile drive home. 200 miles from Harrogate unfortunately but many thanks for your offer.
great responses, cheers.
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Well worth getting it checked out, the ABS were a recal on *some* Bora/mk4 golf models, as they sometimes catch fire...
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