Abs light has come on after the car has been standing..

[Vince70]

Hi I wonder if someone can help...

My old/new beetle has been standing since I bought it about a week ago and I went to start it to move it after painting the sill and the ABS light has decided to stay on...

 

I went out a few times the following day after buying it and the car was fine and just wondered if it could be a simple fix...

 

I guess it serves me right really for buying a car which was built in the 21st century bloody modern rubbish (well modern to me at 14 years old lol)

[HH-R]

I think it's probably just a coincidence. Do the reluctor rings on the CV joints look OK?

[saucedoctor]

Sensors on that generation of VAGSHITE are very suspect. A strong possibility in this case, I'd say.

[New POD]

Earthing fault ?

[Vince70]

Thinking about it when I was respraying the car I put a thick rubber sheet (printing blanket) over the wheel and the wheel arch liner wasn't in place so I may have dislodged something underneath..

 

I do have a Micky mouse Vagcom lead which works on my Old A4 but when I last tried it on my girlfriends Beetle it didn't work, but it's worth a try to see if I can get a code.

[skattrd]

Does it have the fuses on top of the battery? If so try taking them out and cleaning them.

It probably won't work but it's easier than messing around with the rings & sensors.

[burraston2006]

Try disconnecting the battery for 5 mins. Sometimes this works-but make sure you have the stereo code first!

[twosmoke300]

As mentioned , the sensors arent great on these. But they are cheap.

 

If you measure the resistance across them all and the odd one out will show up , iirc they should be between 800-1200 ohms.

The connectors can be a little difficult to get the probes into so a spare loom end/ connector is handy. I think the one for the pad wear indicators is the same if you have a spare one of those kicking around.

 

Also another rule of thumb with abs faults is:- If the light stays on straight after startup with out moving its an electrical sensor issue , if it doesnt come on til your moving its usually (but not always ) a reluctor ring/ wheel bearing issue.

[Retro_Auto]

Earthing fault ?

I agree, the thick brown cable that earths the unit would be my first port-of-call. 

[Vince70]

Cheers for all your help it does look like a dodgy sensor as I managed to get my cheap eBay Vagcom lead working today and it came up with this..

A quick reset and all seems well at the moment...