ECU - Vauxhall Meriva - ABS and TC warning light

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G-McDog
G-McDog Posts: 48 Forumite
in Motoring
The Garage can't work out what's the issue.

The ABS and TC warning light keeps coming on. It's fine when you start the car, but after a bit (2 minutes worth) of driving it pops on!

I took it to the garage who replaced the sensor, but the lights still happened. They then replaced the wheel bearing. And the problem persisted. They've tested the wires which are apparently fine.

Now the garage has said it only leaves the ECU. Which they're suggesting needs to be sent off and either repaired or replaced!!

They said it's likely to be very expensive. Is there anything else the issue could be? The error code is saying faulty circuit for the front right sensor!

How much roughly is a new ECU, or a repaired ECU?

Any help would be muchly appreciated!
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  • ShandyAndy_2
    ShandyAndy_2 Posts: 295 Forumite
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    Speak to your local dealer, may be under warranty if a very common problem, what year is it? Meriva A or B?
  • G-McDog
    G-McDog Posts: 48 Forumite
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    ShandyAndy wrote: »
    Speak to your local dealer, may be under warranty if a very common problem, what year is it? Meriva A or B?

    It's an 11 reg. I think it's an A. I'm pretty sure it's not under warranty anymore!
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,552 Forumite
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    £250+ Its all well and good reading codes and replacing parts but what diagnostics did they do for them to swap the sensor and then the bearing?

    What did they say initially its the sensor or the bearing and the sensor is easier so lets do that first? Where it should have been it could be the sensor or the bearing but lets test it just in case they are OK.
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • G-McDog
    G-McDog Posts: 48 Forumite
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    forgotmyname wrote: »
    £250+ Its all well and good reading codes and replacing parts but what diagnostics did they do for them to swap the sensor and then the bearing?

    What did they say initially its the sensor or the bearing and the sensor is easier so lets do that first? Where it should have been it could be the sensor or the bearing but lets test it just in case they are OK.

    Is that £250+ to replace it?

    It went in for an MOT, and had a light on. They said it shows a right wheel sensor circuit fault. So they replaced the sensor. As I drove it home, the light came on again! So I took it back.

    It was the same error code. They then said it must be the wheel bearing. So they replaced that. The drove it around for a bit. Then the light came on again!

    They then tested the wires and they were all fine. So they said it must be the ECU. They're going to look into sending it off to get tested and fixed or replaced. They didn't know how much it would cost at the time and said they'll give me a call. I was just curious.

    The weird thing is it's fairly random when it comes on. The thing I did notice was that it doesn't come on when it's raining. Which is probably just a coincidence!! It rains, everything is fine, it's hot the light comes on quicker!!
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    G-McDog wrote: »
    The weird thing is it's fairly random when it comes on. The thing I did notice was that it doesn't come on when it's raining. Which is probably just a coincidence!! It rains, everything is fine, it's hot the light comes on quicker!!
    Classic symptoms of a fractured wire. It's not uncommon - they're flexing constantly through steering and suspension movement.

    A garage who've never come across this before are not mechanics - they're parts-swappers.
  • G-McDog
    G-McDog Posts: 48 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    Classic symptoms of a fractured wire. It's not uncommon - they're flexing constantly through steering and suspension movement.

    A garage who've never come across this before are not mechanics - they're parts-swappers.

    That's really helpful. They said they tested the wire and it was all working fine. Would you suggest taking it somewhere else?
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,552 Forumite
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    £250 just the part without labour, assuming your unit is servicable.

    And what will they want to replace next when a new ECU wont cure it?

    Find another garage for a 2nd quote. One where they have dirty hands.
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • G-McDog
    G-McDog Posts: 48 Forumite
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    forgotmyname wrote: »
    £250 just the part without labour, assuming your unit is servicable.

    And what will they want to replace next when a new ECU wont cure it?

    Find another garage for a 2nd quote. One where they have dirty hands.

    Thats' helpful. I'll get a second quote.

    To be fair, the garage hasn't actually charged me for all the parts. They charged me for the sensor (which was the first part they replaced) because that seemed to fix the problem.

    They didn't charge me anything for the second part (the wheel bearing) as that still didn't fix the problem.

    They've also said they'll refund me the cost of the sensor against the ECU cost, as the sensor didn't seem to sort it out!
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    G-McDog wrote: »
    That's really helpful. They said they tested the wire and it was all working fine. Would you suggest taking it somewhere else?
    Yes, absolutely.

    The wire may well be testing fine when they're just putting a meter on it sat on the ramp. But I bet if they wiggled and jiggled and bent it around the full range of suspension and steering movement, it'd sooner or later say open-circuit.
  • G-McDog
    G-McDog Posts: 48 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    Yes, absolutely.

    The wire may well be testing fine when they're just putting a meter on it sat on the ramp. But I bet if they wiggled and jiggled and bent it around the full range of suspension and steering movement, it'd sooner or later say open-circuit.

    Considering the difficulty of identifying the issue, would you suggest a vauxhall garage or not?
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