Hi all,
just spent the winter months rebuilding the engine on my 1990 2wd sapphire, which is now up and running as sweet as you like. I now have another problem in that the amber ABS light now remains on all the time, despite the brakes being fine before the start of the rebuild! I have no ABS function, the brakes lock up under heavy braking. The pump runs fine and makes all the usual noises etc, I just cant understand why its just packed up through lack of use! The car is kept in a dry garage so water ingress would not be the cause.
I have tried to use a sykes pickavant ACR 4 reader with the ABS 3 pod and 30213000 harness but I am unable to get the harness to connect to the 5 pin diagnostic socket on the ABS module, this being a slightly different shape!
Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

 

several faults can cause the bas light to stay on.

what happens when you turn the key to position 1? does the pump run for a little while and then go off? if so, pump is ok and pressure switch is ok.

if you go straight from key 0 to 2, does the pump run as on key 1, and what happens to the orange light? does it go out when the pump stops? if so, and the light only comes on again after driving, you have a sensor fault.

if it stays on at this point there are several possible faults. sensor fault, ecu fault, level sensor fault.

my guess is that during the engine rebuild you have accidententally unplugged or disturbed the connection to the fluid level sensor on the reservoir (the flat 3 way connector). check it out.

 

thanks for your response, have checked level switch and all ok. With the ign key in position 1 the amber light comes on and stays on all the time, pump runs and clicks off when pressure is reached. key in position 2 the same happens. Amber light stays on all the time whether car driven or not.

I managed to get the fault code reader to work and it has flagged up 35 fault codes, the majority of these are speed sensor codes. there are however many more codes including:

Hydraulic failure
Solenoid valve inlet and outlet
Electric connection interference
Main valve
main relay circuit
g sensor
reservoir and pressure switch

I cannot clear the fault codes as these have to be repaired first and then drive the car above 15 Kmh. where would you start on something like that?

I really need to find out where I can get a list of the codes in order from 0011 I am not sure how many codes there are all together?

 

the orange light should not be coming on when only on key position 1, although the pump should run. i would first start by swapping out the ecu and see what happens. there are 3 different abs modules for cossies, yellow (3 door and early 2wd sapph), red (2wd sapph) and green (4x4). the colour refers to the multiplug and socket colour, and you need to swap it for one of the same colour, otherwise the multiplug will not fit as they are wired differently.

let us know how you get on.

 

the 4x4 has a red plug mate.

 

i keep getting confused with those bloody colours. that's the problem with owning a 4x4 estate, and the cossie is a 2wd that is bilt into a 4x4 shell that came with a full 4x4 loom that i later changed to 2wd. i don't remember what was what anymore.

the important thing is to get the same colour.

 

i had that problem and it was due to the drive shaft end nut beind loose , just check and make sure that they are all tight . if they were loose they would vibrate in the hub and sent bad vibes throught the abs sensor then to the abs ecu.
just a thought

ben

 

if it's just a sensor fault like that ben, the orange light should be going off when first switched on, and only coming on again once moving.

 

Greetings everyone,
thank you all for your suggestions much appreciated. I have now fixed the problem. I managed to get a print out of the "Auto Data" test procedure for 1990 2wd Cossie which provided me with all the resistances and test point voltages of the whole system, this however all checked out ok. Also working from the wiring diagram I managed to trace the fault to a broken wire in the loom which feeds one of the relays.



Abs ecu modules are in fact different, there are different colour multiplugs and sockets also the plug sizes are different so I dont think you can physically connect the wrong type unit.

Also there are major differences in the wiring and relays between the years on the Sapphire models. I dont know exactly what they are as I have only concentrated on the 1990 2wd model.

I live in South Devon and the local Ford Dealer wanted £86.50 + Vat to do a "diagnostic plug in" for the abs system.

MOT tomorrow and back on the road

 

vyper developments,

well done for finding the fault.

they are the same size but have some metal pins inserted in the loom plug that line up with holes in the ecu socket. you can fit the wrong plug to the ecu only by drilling out these pins. which would be stupid as nothing will work and you'll probably damage the ecu.