Help with what to do about car repair

AdrianC

arcon5 wrote: »

Wouldn't a faulty pump leave the abs light on all the time

As the OP said...

zuliano wrote: »

The ABS light has come on a stays on, though it has been intermittent

Once the ABS ECU logs a problem, it'll disable the ABS and kick the light on. It'll then stay on until the ignition turns off. When it's turned back on, it'll do a self-test and, if all reads OK, turn the light off. If the fault recurs, the light'll come back on and the ABS be disabled again.

By "intermittent", I'm taking it to be a fault popping up on some trips but not others, then the light staying on until the end of the trip.

OP - I wouldn't worry about driving the car to the specialist, even though the ABS light is on. The brakes will still work, it's only the anti-lock which won't.

zuliano

mrmot wrote: »

Check the strip fuses that bolt in on the battery cover, one of these supplies the ABS pump and after time it fatigues and cracks which can lead to an intermittent problem. You may need a magnifying glass or lightly push on the centre of the fuse with a plastic pen. It's an easy fix for £3 or free if there's an unused spare fuse that can be moved over.

I've seen a main dealer fit a pump and fail to fix the problem and have the customer suspicious about us as we only replaced the fuse to fix it.

I am absolutely clueless about car mechanics. So really this question is asking who would be the best reliable mechanics that won't charge the most for such a job. One other garage yesterday said that a VW dealer charges £100 just to test it, and then would most likely replace the ABS pump, and all in all the bill could come to £700/800 (or more)!!
I REALLY do trust the first local garage who tested it and told me it was the ABS pump, and they said they didn't have the VW programming equipment to fixt it. They have always seemed really fair, and they did not charge me for the test. BUT I am still hoping they are wrong that only VW can fix it

zuliano

tberry6686 wrote: »

Wouldn't be the first time that has been said and been completely wrong, they could easily be correct as well. ABS pumps, when they fail, are not normally intermittent, sensors and connections on the other hand often fail this way but are normally much cheaper to fix

The pump and ECU module are expensive (probably around £1000) while cables and sensors are relatively cheap - better to confirm it is the pump first than risk throwing cash away.

So your saying that they could have made a mistake? When I told some guys at the fish mongers (who love my mum and I trust them) about this they recommended a place fairly near them which does testing and charge about £7-00 for it. I was put off because I thought that I already had had it tested and like said thegarage--who I also trust-- said it was the ABS pump. But you are claiming to get a second opinion? Is that what you would do in my position?

zuliano

csgohan4 wrote: »

Doesn't the car have a warranty if it is only a few years old?

Sorry, it is more than a few. It is 2004

zuliano

AdrianC wrote: »

As the OP said...


Once the ABS ECU logs a problem, it'll disable the ABS and kick the light on. It'll then stay on until the ignition turns off. When it's turned back on, it'll do a self-test and, if all reads OK, turn the light off. If the fault recurs, the light'll come back on and the ABS be disabled again.

By "intermittent", I'm taking it to be a fault popping up on some trips but not others, then the light staying on until the end of the trip.

OP - I wouldn't worry about driving the car to the specialist, even though the ABS light is on. The brakes will still work, it's only the anti-lock which won't.

Yes I realize we can drive it. My mum only uses it really to take dogs to a park, and I only use it for some shopping trips. So it is rarely on a motorway. BUT the garage we had it tested at said that it does however need to be fixed otherwise the car won't pass its MOT. Although the MOT isn't till next year, there still then must be some resolution to this problem

AdrianC

zuliano wrote: »

So your saying that they could have made a mistake? When I told some guys at the fish mongers (who love my mum and I trust them) about this they recommended a place fairly near them which does testing and charge about £7-00 for it. I was put off because I thought that I already had had it tested and like said thegarage--who I also trust-- said it was the ABS pump. But you are claiming to get a second opinion? Is that what you would do in my position?

All a seven quid "test" will do is read fault codes. For anything more in-depth, you're going to need full diagnostic kit (which is FAR from cheap) and at least an hour's labour. Even that won't be absolutely fool-proof, because all it will tell you is what the computer reports the results of the testing are.

tberry6686

Personally, I would be getting out my multimeter and checking the sensors and wiring connections first (although I appreciate not everyone knows how to/are willing to do this). Most code readers will only look at certain parts of a car and if you need to go more in depth to find a problem then you need manufacturer specific equipment/software but this does not come cheap which is why not all garages have it.

arcon5

AdrianC wrote: »

As the OP said...


Once the ABS ECU logs a problem, it'll disable the ABS and kick the light on. It'll then stay on until the ignition turns off. When it's turned back on, it'll do a self-test and, if all reads OK, turn the light off. If the fault recurs, the light'll come back on and the ABS be disabled again.

By "intermittent", I'm taking it to be a fault popping up on some trips but not others, then the light staying on until the end of the trip.

OP - I wouldn't worry about driving the car to the specialist, even though the ABS light is on. The brakes will still work, it's only the anti-lock which won't.

Yes you're right. I've completely misread the op

mrmot

zuliano wrote: »

I am absolutely clueless about car mechanics. So really this question is asking who would be the best reliable mechanics that won't charge the most for such a job. One other garage yesterday said that a VW dealer charges £100 just to test it, and then would most likely replace the ABS pump, and all in all the bill could come to £700/800 (or more)!!
I REALLY do trust the first local garage who tested it and told me it was the ABS pump, and they said they didn't have the VW programming equipment to fixt it. They have always seemed really fair, and they did not charge me for the test. BUT I am still hoping they are wrong that only VW can fix it

The most difficult part is opening the bonnet, locate the battery, lift the cover where the red cables disappear into and closely examine the strip fuses.

battery
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/attachments/ownership-reviews/33543d1320920562-volkswagen-polo-trendline-tdi-white-2011-08-28-13-42-34.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vwforum.com/forums/f11/charging-flat-battery-polo-mkiii-62802/&h=556&w=1000&tbnid=qZ2EgctDYGSHOM:&docid=FTdoKqxzWyWLSM&ei=WNIGVpOcBomya9bsq7AE&tbm=isch&ved=0CCUQMygFMAVqFQoTCJOo47iZlcgCFQnZGgodVvYKRg

fuses
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/scruffydubber/G833TUC/SDC113442.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?257902-Golf-Mk2-PD-TDI-Conversion&h=768&w=1024&tbnid=g284RGADKp_wtM:&docid=AgzzZDz785g_CM&ei=WNIGVpOcBomya9bsq7AE&tbm=isch&ved=0CCgQMygIMAhqFQoTCJOo47iZlcgCFQnZGgodVvYKRg

zuliano

I am appreciating this help, but I must make it clear--all this talk about ME doing the stuff being suggested is out of the question. Car mechanics and whatever this testing on computers is alled is NOT my thing. I neither have the equpment (and cannot afford it) nor the expertise to do it. So please let me remind this thread that my main question is how to find an alternative help to test and fix this problem other that a VW dealer who charge, I am informed, the dearest. For example the chage £100 just to TEST the car, and anothert garage said they could end up charging £700/88, even onto a £1000 which would be an absolute nightmare for my mum, and me. After all these forums is supposed to be about that 'moneysaving'. That is all I am really wanting to know. I know that a chaep way would be me testing etc, but NOT if I don't have a clue how to do it and it could all add up to even more wastage of money--that IS tight. Very.