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abs sensor problem

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:38 pm
by andym3
Yesterday my ABS light, brake warning light & traction control light came on, my mpg guage stopped working aswell as my speedo! :headbang:
I have spoken to alot of people and everyone seems to think its the abs/speedo sensor on the nearside rear wheel! What you lot recon?
I put my computer onto the car and no fault code came up for it :? But a fault code did show for my camshaft position sensors! :(
So looks like I now need to buy & change aload of bloody sensors! Not what I need after spending over £1600 on the gearbox being refurbed!!! :x

abs sensor problem

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:41 pm
by andym3
Another thing, how many camshaft position sensors are there on my car? (4.4 V8 X-reg 2000) :)

abs sensor problem

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:44 pm
by Sanj
ABS sensors you can change yourself. Hopefully help keep costs down - x555 did his. Think you have one on each corner, not 100% sure though, sorry. Hope outlay is minimal for you - finger crossed!

abs sensor problem

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:50 pm
by pvr
It can be masked by a bad battery as well though, I would not just start replacing sensors based on that.

How old is the battery?

abs sensor problem

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:55 pm
by andym3
[quote=""pvr""]How old is the battery?[/quote]
Not sure, it was the battery that was in the car when I bought it! But it never hesitates to start, so it seems fine! ;)

PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:21 pm
by ITBarbie
PVR has a point re battery. It throws up all manner of funny things. You may want to try disconnecting it for say 15-30 mins and see if that makes a difference or maybe try another to see if that changes things. Mine was original but I've changed it (due to sat Nav).


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Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:21 pm
by IanP
I have those warning lights up on mine since replacing my engine, and they are caused by the steering wheel sensor as confirmed by BMW diagnostics kit. It does not show up on a multicar diagnostics. I am changing mine tomorrow :cry: and then it will need recoding to the car apparently :x . There is one on e bay for £50.
If you have had the battery off and turned the steering then it might just need recalibrating, there are some posts about turning the wheel from one lock to another which might reset it

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:26 pm
by andym3
[quote=""IanP""]I have those warning lights up on mine since replacing my engine, and they are caused by the steering wheel sensor as confirmed by BMW diagnostics kit. It does not show up on a multicar diagnostics. I am changing mine tomorrow :cry: and then it will need recoding to the car apparently :x . There is one on e bay for £50.
If you have had the battery off and turned the steering then it might just need recalibrating, there are some posts about turning the wheel from one lock to another which might reset it[/quote]
That wouldn't have made my speedo & mpg guage stop working though would it? :?

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:27 pm
by Powercat
Sorry to hear you have problems again,
have you tried switching it off, and turning it back on again, disconnecting the battery might reset everything back to normal,
anyway that's the first thing I would try.

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:40 pm
by andym3
I have plugged it onto my computer and deleted the fault codes but within seconds there back on again! :(

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:41 pm
by IanP
[quote=""andym3""][quote=""IanP""]I have those warning lights up on mine since replacing my engine, and they are caused by the steering wheel sensor as confirmed by BMW diagnostics kit. It does not show up on a multicar diagnostics. I am changing mine tomorrow :cry: and then it will need recoding to the car apparently :x . There is one on e bay for £50.
If you have had the battery off and turned the steering then it might just need recalibrating, there are some posts about turning the wheel from one lock to another which might reset it[/quote]
That wouldn't have made my speedo & mpg guage stop working though would it? :?[/quote]

Ah, forgotten about those :oops: , but google BMW steering angle sensor and see what comes up

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:13 pm
by andym3
Will do :thumbsup:

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:21 pm
by nujon
Before spending money, also try unplugging the sensor cables (in the wheel arches) and spraying the plugs and sockets with switch cleaner (I had the same/similar problem to yours with an MV6 and a C class - cured the problem permanently both times!)

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:55 am
by Pledge
For what it's worth, I had exactly the same problem with my old E39 5 Series. I had the ABS sensor(s) replaced and still not resolved. Turned out to be the ABS ECU. I had that refurbed (£100) and all well afterwards. Good luck.

Re: PROBLEM NO.2 :-(

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:29 pm
by Bench
It is worth remembering the ABS sensors can be cleaned. This solved very similar issues I had with my X5