DSC warning Light

[bamberjim]

Hi All

Not had the car long so not sure if this was a previous issue of not.. i did have the car cleaned on Monday so perhaps a water issue

sat in traffic for a couple of hours on Monday evening (foot mostly on the brake) and a ping and two warning lights came on

i looked in the book and it said DSC light and brake light.., went out in the car today and no warning lights on, then after about 20mins driving the lights came on again..

any ideas? possibly a sensor?

picture below

 

[PerryGunn]

Chances are that one of the DSC sensors has failed - or is starting to - there are two of them and they have to agree within a certain range. Get the codes pulled and, assuming it's the sensor, it'll tell you which one.

This often starts as an intermittent fault and then eventually becomes permanent - replacement sensor costs around £95 from Soapers and is an easy DIY replacement as long as you have (or can borrow) a 27mm spanner

If you look at the thread below, the 2nd & 3rd pages have the info necessary for the DIY repair

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13963

 

[hopz121]

Might be worth checking your tyre pressures too to rule that out.

 

[bamberjim]

Thanks Guys, now worries on the diy if thats the way to go, any idea on what the pressures should be on 225/35/19 & 255/30/19 (05 3.0 roadster) i did put 19's on Friday so possibly the issue cheers Jim

 

[PerryGunn]

Because you said

sat in traffic for a couple of hours on Monday evening (foot mostly on the brake) and a ping and two warning lights came on

I'd lean towards one of the the DSC sensors - this is exactly how mine first started to exhibit a fault, it'd be fine while driving around but if I stopped with the engine hot the sensor would heat up and generate the fault. After cooling down, a restart would reset the fault only for it to pop up again next time the sensor got heat-soaked - this got progressively worse and the fault light started to come on more frequently (i.e. the sensor didn't have to warm up as much)

I pulled the codes on my laptop and it indicated which sensor was giving an out-of-range reading

 

[jamie_z4]

I have these lights on at the moment, checked all pressure sensors & wheel speed sensors & no faults, they re appeared straight Away after a reset in inpa too so I'm at a loss until I can investigate further when it comes back from the bodyshop

 

[bamberjim]

Got to change the springs and wishbones at the weekend so will give the sensors a clean first, my initial thought is perhaps water got in from the Valeters jet washer! As came on the same day after it was cleaned

 

[spic]

I had/ have the same lights coming on and off, ran the codes and it said sensor 1 which I belive is the one at the front of the master cylinder and is for the rear brakes,so cleared the codes and left my mates garage, a mile down the road hit a sliightly sunken drain cover at about 15 mph on the nsr then the clocks lit up like a Christmas tree...abs, dsc, red hand brake, tyre pressure light and also the speedo stopped working, so went to the petrol station and checked the tyre pressures which were all at 25 psi ! So moved them up to where there ment to be but couldn't reset the light's, went back to my mate's and the codes were saying the nsr tyre was had low pressure ! So cleared all the codes drove down the road and they all came on again :| hoping it's just an abs sensor but to be honest the discs and probably pads too are shot on the rear so just going to change everything and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[bamberjim]

Set my pressures at 33 front & 36 rear and the lights can on again today, checked my brake fluid and it was brown so going to change that also. I plugged in my code reader but it said no error codes but I may need a better reader mine is a VAG Maxiscan 405. I had a quote of £54 to do the brake fluid so may get the to try to read the codes whilst it's in.. The pressure sensors look easy to do if it's them.

 

[jamie_z4]

Brake fluid no matter condition will not make those lights appear. You need inpa to read errors, a generic obd2 reader won't tell you nothin like this

 

[PerryGunn]

Set my pressures at 33 front & 36 rear and the lights can on again today, checked my brake fluid and it was brown so going to change that also. I plugged in my code reader but it said no error codes but I may need a better reader mine is a VAG Maxiscan 405. I had a quote of £54 to do the brake fluid so may get the to try to read the codes whilst it's in.. The pressure sensors look easy to do if it's them.

Read the codes with INPA and change the sensor before the brake fluid - you need to bleed the brakes after changing the sensor anyway

 

[Picnic Queen]

Set my pressures at 33 front & 36 rear and the lights can on again today, checked my brake fluid and it was brown so going to change that also. I plugged in my code reader but it said no error codes but I may need a better reader mine is a VAG Maxiscan 405. I had a quote of £54 to do the brake fluid so may get the to try to read the codes whilst it's in.. The pressure sensors look easy to do if it's them.

Read the codes with INPA and change the sensor before the brake fluid - you need to bleed the brakes after changing the sensor anyway

And make sure you put the wheels back on the right corners

 

[PerryGunn]

Set my pressures at 33 front & 36 rear and the lights can on again today, checked my brake fluid and it was brown so going to change that also. I plugged in my code reader but it said no error codes but I may need a better reader mine is a VAG Maxiscan 405. I had a quote of £54 to do the brake fluid so may get the to try to read the codes whilst it's in.. The pressure sensors look easy to do if it's them.

Read the codes with INPA and change the sensor before the brake fluid - you need to bleed the brakes after changing the sensor anyway

And make sure you put the wheels back on the right corners

Cowbag

 

[Picnic Queen]

Set my pressures at 33 front & 36 rear and the lights can on again today, checked my brake fluid and it was brown so going to change that also. I plugged in my code reader but it said no error codes but I may need a better reader mine is a VAG Maxiscan 405. I had a quote of £54 to do the brake fluid so may get the to try to read the codes whilst it's in.. The pressure sensors look easy to do if it's them.

Read the codes with INPA and change the sensor before the brake fluid - you need to bleed the brakes after changing the sensor anyway

And make sure you put the wheels back on the right corners

He's just called me a cow bag :-o I've no idea why

 

[bamberjim]

Any advice on we're to get Inpa reader ? Thanks Jim

 

[PerryGunn]

Any advice on we're to get Inpa reader ? Thanks Jim

Lots of places on eBay - you need a windows laptop (Win 7 works fine), order an OBDC cable with a one-click install disc for all the diagnostic software

 

[bamberjim]

Obdc cable.. I can't find that one, plenty obd2 ones

 

[PerryGunn]

Obdc cable.. I can't find that one, plenty obd2 ones

That's the one - it's my birtday, the wine's taking effect :drinkwine:

 

[bamberjim]

I have an obd2 cable for the maxi scan 405 can I use this or is a Bmw specific one needed.. But if a minefield out there!

 

[PerryGunn]

If it's a usb cable and it works with your scanner, the chances are that it'll work with a laptop and you just need a copy of the software - unfortunately I think all the decent 1-click installs are provided with a cable.

Perhaps there's someone on here with a copy for sale...