Abs, brake and traction control lights on

Justino · Post by **Justino** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 5:15 pm

The unit is 2 parts, the ecu, and pump (or hydro unit). The electric motor that powers the pump generally fails, a minor fault but not easy to fix. I had this last year. I sent mine to BBAReman for checking and repair. Never again, they decided both the ecu and hydro unit were at fault, and non repairable and offered me a 2nd hand unit for £800. I smelled a rat as seemed highly unlikely both components failed simultaneously so I asked them to return the pump. However what they returned wasn't mine, it looked like scrap, and had to threaten police involvement before getting compensation as they said they had no others that could be mine, ie the did an easy fix and sold to someone for £800 probably. Fitted a 2nd hand one for £400 in the end.

Beedub · Post by **Beedub** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 5:47 pm

hold crap!! sounds like a nightmare!!

touching wood mine stays ok .

Z8Cookie · Post by **Z8Cookie** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 1:15 pm

I've got the three lights as well. My code reader won't show the codes either, but it will "force clear" and that has made the lights go off. But they soon come back on. Did anybody ever find out if it's possible to tell if a wheel abs sensor is faulty and show which one?

Justino · Post by **Justino** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:09 pm

It could be a wheel sensor, I checked with INPA and it will show you a read out from each wheel as you drive - you can then see if one is showing a different reading, and hence needs cleaning or changing, but given the volume of others with this issue it is normally the pump. What happens is the electric motor which powers the pump fails due to the bushes wearing. What is annoying is the component that fails is probably a 10p component.

Other things that can bring the lights on are steering angle sensor, or the pressure switch in the master cylinder, there may be others, but thats what springs to mind.

If you can get someone with INPA to read the codes, it will quickly be apparent what is the issue.

Justino · Post by **Justino** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 4:17 pm

Beedub wrote:hold crap!! sounds like a nightmare!!

touching wood mine stays ok .

Left a very sour taste, what is annoying is I was going to use ECU Testing but my Indi suggested BBA Reman would be better. When it all went wrong, they changed their story and said ECU Testing would have been better.

I do wonder how many others have fallen for this. They claim is was a simple mix up, ie they sent my pump and ECU to another customer, but couldn't tell me who, so sounded like BS to me. When I escalated they blamed inexperienced staff. If you have ever watched Rogue Traders or Watchdog, this is often the MO of less than scrupulous operators. They also said they needed to run everything past a Director, but again wouldn't give me their details. I think I was talking to the man who made the decisions, it was just part of the script to suggest a Director had to make the decision.

I may be wrong, but given the grief this generated, I think it is worth letting people know so they can come to their own conclusions, Google has a few interesting reviews.

Z8Cookie · Post by **Z8Cookie** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 5:26 pm

Justino wrote:It could be a wheel sensor, I checked with INPA and it will show you a read out from each wheel as you drive - you can then see if one is showing a different reading, and hence needs cleaning or changing, but given the volume of others with this issue it is normally the pump. What happens is the electric motor which powers the pump fails due to the bushes wearing. What is annoying is the component that fails is probably a 10p component.

Other things that can bring the lights on are steering angle sensor, or the pressure switch in the master cylinder, there may be others, but thats what springs to mind.

If you can get someone with INPA to read the codes, it will quickly be apparent what is the issue.

Cheers, good info.

Adammpearce · Post by **Adammpearce** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 6:29 pm

I had this problem last year when the battery was low- I too have a basic obd dongle, but this did not really help too much.
I looked into it a lot at the time, and worst case it's the ATE ABS Traction control unit. Obviously these would cost a small fortune to fix at the Bmw garage, but it is possible to have them refurbished for about £150+ labour.
However I took it to a local Bmw specialist with the proper obd kit, he cleared everything and re-calibrated the steering angle sensor and that fixed it for £30.

monaco_blue · Post by **monaco_blue** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 7:54 am

Justino wrote:The unit is 2 parts, the ecu, and pump (or hydro unit). The electric motor that powers the pump generally fails, a minor fault but not easy to fix. I had this last year. I sent mine to BBAReman for checking and repair. Never again, they decided both the ecu and hydro unit were at fault, and non repairable and offered me a 2nd hand unit for £800. I smelled a rat as seemed highly unlikely both components failed simultaneously so I asked them to return the pump. However what they returned wasn't mine, it looked like scrap, and had to threaten police involvement before getting compensation as they said they had no others that could be mine, ie the did an easy fix and sold to someone for £800 probably. Fitted a 2nd hand one for £400 in the end.

Sounds like you're talking about http://www.bba-reman.com/uk/index.aspx ?? Google "bba reman" and their reviews are dire - sounds like one worth giving the barge pole treatment. Sorry you had so much aggro but hopefully your post will dissuade others.

DPG · Post by **DPG** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:08 am

monaco_blue wrote:
Justino wrote:The unit is 2 parts, the ecu, and pump (or hydro unit). The electric motor that powers the pump generally fails, a minor fault but not easy to fix. I had this last year. I sent mine to BBAReman for checking and repair. Never again, they decided both the ecu and hydro unit were at fault, and non repairable and offered me a 2nd hand unit for £800. I smelled a rat as seemed highly unlikely both components failed simultaneously so I asked them to return the pump. However what they returned wasn't mine, it looked like scrap, and had to threaten police involvement before getting compensation as they said they had no others that could be mine, ie the did an easy fix and sold to someone for £800 probably. Fitted a 2nd hand one for £400 in the end.
Sounds like you're talking about http://www.bba-reman.com/uk/index.aspx ?? Google "bba reman" and their reviews are dire - sounds like one worth giving the barge pole treatment. Sorry you had so much aggro but hopefully your post will dissuade others.

Weren't these the guys on one of the Wheeler Dealers episodes?

Lower · Post by **Lower** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:18 am

Justino wrote:The unit is 2 parts, the ecu, and pump (or hydro unit). The electric motor that powers the pump generally fails

ECU testing have told me something similar, ie its the pump that normally fails. They can repair 80-90% of them and driving with it working intermittently doesn't cause any further damage. I've got my wife's previous car sorn'ed in the garage that needs a service and an MOT so i'm going to get that sorted this weekend and then take my car off the road for a week whilst i get the ABS pump sorted by ECU testing.

Beedub · Post by **Beedub** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:20 pm

so when this item fails are you guys removing yourself,then taking to this ECU place to be fixed them re-insalling yourselves?

Z8Cookie · Post by **Z8Cookie** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:17 pm

Beedub wrote:so when this item fails are you guys removing yourself,then taking to this ECU place to be fixed them re-insalling yourselves?

I am wondering how big a job it is. Looks messy with all the pipes full of brake fluid I guess. Then bleading again after re fitting.

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:20 pm

But better than the £1800 or so I paid for it, and that included the £1k discount!

mj2k · Post by **mj2k** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:22 pm

Beedub wrote:so when this item fails are you guys removing yourself,then taking to this ECU place to be fixed them re-insalling yourselves?

We took the whole car in to sort my wife's. Was a long 2 weeks with the possibility of just 1 car, but leveraged a few favours & got one from the car pool at work to cover us. Part was removed & sent away to be fixed.

Justino · Post by **Justino** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 8:53 pm

Lower wrote:
Justino wrote:The unit is 2 parts, the ecu, and pump (or hydro unit). The electric motor that powers the pump generally fails
ECU testing have told me something similar, ie its the pump that normally fails. They can repair 80-90% of them and driving with it working intermittently doesn't cause any further damage. I've got my wife's previous car sorn'ed in the garage that needs a service and an MOT so i'm going to get that sorted this weekend and then take my car off the road for a week whilst i get the ABS pump sorted by ECU testing.

You just have no traction or DSC, which makes for interesting driving in the wet

- back to old skool cadence breaking etc etc

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Abs, brake and traction control lights on

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