Help a lady out :)

Z

Zombieprepper

Member
Hi everyone,
Apologies if this is in another thread I’m still a newb with the forum.
Anyhow I have a z4 3.0 auto and it was my dads before hand, garaged and used like twice a year. Dad is ill so I brought it off him and I love it but I’m having a few issues as you do,some seem to be common from the sounds of it. And it’s been one after another so the past four weeks I’ve been spending to sort it.
Firstly- I had the wheels refurbed whilst away on holiday it’s very long story but it was a bodge job from the start and I had to take it to another place to sort out balancing and tracking. He had damaged two wheels too. So I ended up paying way more money.. never again, I’ll just get new alloys and be rid of split rims and run flats I absolutely hate them!

Secondly, my dsc light and brake light is on, it was intermittent with dsc at first but both are permanently on. Any ideas ? I looked on the forum and it seems that it is common.

Thirdly- yesterday when I started the car it sempt sluggish to start and i thought then ah no. Went to get petrol just down the road, at the pump went in to pay come out, not start no clicks no nothing but all electrics works. My first thought was it’s the starter motor. Got folks pipping hooters at me to which I flipped the bird because it was obvious that I was in a spot of bother! SMH no one came to help so I had to push the car back on my own into a parking spot. Thank god I’m a bodybuilder! So basically rang my dad to come he tried to jump start but nothing. Then I realised maybe dads car isn’t powerful to start it? So I had to walk to a garage round the corner and ask for help he came and said might be battery and confirmed dads car wouldn’t cut it so he got his machine what says if battery is ok or not. Mine was not.

Because it’s been garaged it had done battery no good and because I’m using it everyday I’d be none the wiser. Ok so let’s get a new battery. It came in an hour. Put it on and…nothing lol so my suspicions were correct that it’s the starter motor so ordered a new one and the guy is gonna fit it. I wish I could do these things myself. I only know so much via my dad having classic cars and sports cars over the years.

So that’s me, all the threes in a row. So sorry for long post but my main question I guess is the dsc and brake light. My front near side brake pad is low due to it been sticking could it be anything to do with that or is it a sensor?
Thanks
Tara
 
Like London buses eh? All coming along at once. tsk.

I presume E85 and not E89 model? What year was it made?
A good investment would be to get hold of a fault code reader that you plug into the OBD socket under the dash. As well as being able to read the fault codes associated with things like the DSC/brake warning lights it also helps you to reset these fault codes to see if they come back on again. This in turn helps you to determine if it's an actual fault or a false-positive fault warning.
It may turn up codes for which the dash doesn't give any indications also.
Carly or Creator C310 are popular choices. Have a butchers on amazon for either.

As you suggest it may be the brake sensor tripping if the pad has been binding to the rotor and wearing lower. I don't know if this would trigger the DSC warning at the same time however. But it could be symptomatic of a number of potential issues. Various combinations of dash lights can mean different things. It may be a good idea to get it into a decent garage or maybe your dad might know something?

These cars like to be used on a regular basis and 'exercising' on a fortnightly basis should be the minimum in my opinion.
If you haven't had the car serviced since it came out of your dad's garage then get it in for an oil-change at the very least if it hasn't had one for a while. Oil changes ideally should be done every 7500 miles with an intermittent oil service between 'official' oil service intervals. Check for any oil leaks too. The cam cover gaskets can and do fail regularly. Check all rubber hoses for holes and if they're still elastic. Old, hard hoses will spring leaks/holes faster than you can say 'overheating engine'!

The forum is a great source of info and there are many tinkerers and mechanics on here that will be only too willing to help out with issues.
When I bought mine it had a raft of issues that the forum knowledge was indispensible in helping me to sort out as a non-mechanic.

Good luck and keep us posted re. the fix!
:thumbsup:
 
Thank you for you reply, so I got The Reaper (his name) lol in feb and took it straight round to get a service so all that was good. Car had done 74k. I did buy myself a icarly as I read on here they can be a godsend at times and I did do a reading the day before it packed up to see if I could clear the dash lights but no it didn’t it come up with code 005E20 pressure sensor 1 are electrically defective. I’ll add a pic with description. I did mention this to garage guy and he shrugged his shoulders.. brilliant :/ and yes my car is E85 2005. I often look on this forum for info and it’s helped out no end on little bits and tips for me so far.
 

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Looks like it's one of your brake pressure sensors. It's an easy swap, I had the same issue on my car at a similar milage to yours. Put in a second hand one and it's been fine for the past 5 years.
 
No pressure sensors on the E85 models. As Chris said, probably the abs sensure. It"s used to measure the wheel rotation on each side of the car. If there is a difference over a significant time then the ECU does the maths and assumes an air leak, hence the pressure warning and lamp indication. Or you could just have a slow puncture and worn brake pads :) You should be able to reset the low pressure indication from the buttom low down on the centre console, worth a try, but that won't sort the abs.
 
Welcome :)
Your other problem does sound like a starter motor (probably solenoid) issue. It's very easy for any garage to fit.
Don't feel bad about buying a new battery as these cars need a good voltage to keep the electronics happy.
 
Thanks for replies, definitely no slow punctures, took it into tyre garage last week as it did have a leak due to when the refurb guy put new tyres on the two wheels one had a faulty valve and was chucking out air, pressure light come on so checked pressure in all tyres and it was extremely low put more in and could hear it hissing back out so that’s when I took it to ets to check all tyres and balancing and have tracking done. There was no balancing on the wheels the refurb guy hadn’t put on. I made sure they treble checked stuff and I got a bit paranoid due to the bad experience. The tyre had a red rubber seal missing from the valve that’s why it was leaking. Obviously I did a obd when tyres were sorted but lights still on and not reset. They did say brake bad worn on front so I thought it may be that. Got new pads to put on anyway so will just have to see what to do if that don’t work lol. Be glad when I’m shot of them bloody wheels anyway, pain in my arse run flats are

Thanks for the replies, all very helpful for me :)
 
I'm sure I have some ABS sensors in the parts bin if any good to you?

Not sure of your location but would be happy to help out sorting any of the persistent gremlins you have

Cheers

Stuart
 
buzyg said:
No pressure sensors on the E85 models. As Chris said, probably the abs sensure. It"s used to measure the wheel rotation on each side of the car. If there is a difference over a significant time then the ECU does the maths and assumes an air leak, hence the pressure warning and lamp indication. Or you could just have a slow puncture and worn brake pads :) You should be able to reset the low pressure indication from the buttom low down on the centre console, worth a try, but that won't sort the abs.
Click to expand...
This isn't a tyre pressure sensor code - it's for the breaking system pressure sensors, there are two of the sensors and they have to agree within a certain tolerance or a fault is generated. Code 5E20 is a Hydraulic Pressure Sensor fault and it's normally accompanied by a couple of others indicating which sensor is faulty but it appears that Carly integrates all the codes and is saying that it's sensor 1 that's faulted.

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 this thread , the 2nd & 3rd pages have the info necessary for the DIY repair

file.jpg
 
PerryGunn said:
buzyg said:
No pressure sensors on the E85 models. As Chris said, probably the abs sensure. It"s used to measure the wheel rotation on each side of the car. If there is a difference over a significant time then the ECU does the maths and assumes an air leak, hence the pressure warning and lamp indication. Or you could just have a slow puncture and worn brake pads :) You should be able to reset the low pressure indication from the buttom low down on the centre console, worth a try, but that won't sort the abs.
Click to expand...
This isn't a tyre pressure sensor code - it's for the breaking system pressure sensors, there are two of the sensors and they have to agree within a certain tolerance or a fault is generated. Code 5E20 is a Hydraulic Pressure Sensor fault and it's normally accompanied by a couple of others indicating which sensor is faulty but it appears that Carly integrates all the codes and is saying that it's sensor 1 that's faulted.

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 this thread , the 2nd & 3rd pages have the info necessary for the DIY repair

file.jpg
Click to expand...
Should have said no tyre pressure sensors. Good to learn a little more. :thumbsup:
 
Following on from Stuart (bigwinn)'s question. Where are you.
Near Lincoln then he's you man. Near Norfolk, let me know. :thumbsup:
 
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