Brake warning light on dashboard.

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bongoroy63
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Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by bongoroy63 » Sun Dec 29, 2019 5:39 pm

I had the ABS warning light come on on the dashboard just before Christmas.
Does this light come on when the brake pads are low as a warning to change them or is this likely to be something more sinister?
I’ve never had this before so a little bit concerned. I can cope with changing the brake pads. I know some will say ‘just have a look at the pads’ but I really don’t want to be taking the wheels off this time of year if I don’t need to.
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by g8dhe » Sun Dec 29, 2019 9:47 pm

ABS is the Anti-lock Braking System, its when one wheel (or more) locks and starts to skid, it releases the braking and allows it to gain a grip again, hence the rapid juddering when it operates. It doesn't tell you anything about the brake pads themselves at all.
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bongoroy63
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by bongoroy63 » Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:48 am

Thanks for the reply. 2 further questions:

1/ The ABS light is permanently on. Should this be the case if what you say is correct?

2/ How do I diagnose the problem?

The brakes do feel a bit spongy, this is what made me think it might be the brake pads wearing down.
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by Roy748 » Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:55 am

I recently had the ABS light illuminated on my citroen berlingo, turned out to be a worn wheel bearing triggering the sensor. Might be worth examining.
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by g8dhe » Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:10 pm

If the light is on then the computer is reporting a problem you need to read the error code from the diagnostic socket;
http://www.philmcfadden.co.uk/MazdaDiagnosticBox.htm
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by Ian » Mon Dec 30, 2019 3:20 pm

95% of the time it is a sensor that needs replacing. To establish which sensor is faulty use the diagnostic instructions as above. Alternatively you can test each sensor by using a multi-meter on the sensor leads. If you don't get a reading of between 1600 and 1640 ohms you have found the culprit.
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bongoroy63
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by bongoroy63 » Mon Dec 30, 2019 6:32 pm

Thanks Ian, that sounds like a plan.

Nothing is ever straight forward with a Bongo is it? I have a basic diagnostic tool and this afternoon I decided to give it a go. No, it’s a completely different fitting isn’t it?
Do garages have a variety if fittings for different vehicles? I thought they were all the same!!
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Re: Brake warning light on dashboard.

Post by TheLongRoad » Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:05 pm

bongoroy63 wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 6:32 pm Thanks Ian, that sounds like a plan.

Nothing is ever straight forward with a Bongo is it?
Just defending the old Bongo’s, any older (or newer) vehicle can suffer an ABS sensor failure. However, at least the Bongo computers store history data that hopefully tells you which wheel to check. Sometimes you just need to unplug and clean the contacts then plug back in. Then clear the fault code and take the Bongo for a spin :wink:
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