Opinions and suggestions welcome please.

[mac_rouser]

Ok, my neighbour has a Peugeot 206 Gti 2003, it failed it’s MOT on a rather simple issue.

001 Antilock braking system warning lamp does not illuminate (3.4.16)
002 Rear brake pads less than 1.5mm thick (3.5.1f)

So, we have a situation where when the ignition key is turned and the preliminary checks display on the dashboard prior to starting the engine. The ABS lamp does not come on.

This is the prime reason for the MOT fail.
Checking the wiring it is possible to light the lamp, but not via the initial ignition turn.
So it seems the associated wiring to the lamp is not faulty.

After some tests etc., the Peugeot experts suggest the fault lays in one of the two ECU’s one is the main ECU and the other is the ABS related ECU.
They opt to change the main ECU, this fails to rectify the problem.
The expert mechanics have changed and checked numerous sensors and as mentioned the main ECU, following this they then change the second ECU, to no avail, so far at a whopping cost of almost £2000 so far.

Now they suggest they need to change the instrument cluster, gods knows what cost this would involve.

My personal view is the garage is taking the proverbial Michael, and charging exorbitant costs to the customer, whilst they carry out a series of trials and errors. Hardly the work of an expert, more like a fledgling apprentice.

I think it reasonable he should perhaps pay for labour as they delve and investigate, but I don’t agree he should pay for various replacement parts when the fail to resolve the issues, to my mind if the replacement part does not cure the fault, then there was nothing wrong with the original part in the first place, they ought to put the original part back on the car and put the new part back on the spares shelf.
The garage say these are specialist parts specifically ordered in, this seems extreme and a little ridiculous since his car is a bog standard off the production line model of which there are thousands on the road. Specialist parts my foot!

Incidentally, they have yet to change the brake pads which quite possibly could have been the fault that flagged the failing ABS lamp, since the sensors are reporting they are below 1.5mm. To my view this would have been the first thing I would have done, before getting into the marathon of why the lamp failed to light.

A suggestion made via a forum says .. Seems there is a junction box at the bottom of the engine compartment which gets full of water?? I wonder what the junction box is and it's exact location.

Opinions and suggestions welcome please.

[Capncol]

Firstly I would find a garage that diagnoses faults properly rather than the "poke-and-hope" method your current garage employs. I think I would at least be asking for a refund of the parts fitted that were not required.
ECU's can be sent off for testing and will cost around £40-£50 +vat to test depending who you use, and can usually be fixed for an extra cost, so there was no need to blindly change them.
Have the garage not tried a diagnostic scanner?
Do they even know what ABS system is on your car?
There are many things that can cause ABS failure. Unfortunately it would be pure guesswork over a forum. If you know where the ABS pump is, I would check you are getting power to it and it's not full of water.
Other than that you really need specialist tools & knowledge

Best advice, as always is to find a good garage from recommendations and try them.

The pad wear sensors are not linked to the ABS fault, and should be easily rectified with new pads & sensors.

[mac_rouser]

Hi Capncol
Thanks for your comments, I agree with what you say and I have already passed on a few pearls of wisdom to my neighbour, I am also at a loss as to the methods the garage is employing, made worse by the fact they are approved Peugeot dealers.
My thoughts on the pad wear sensors is if they are throwing up a fault which in turn is affecting the ABS lamp not illuminating at first turn of the ignition.
I do know where the ABS pump is and shall ask the garage to remove the covers to see if there is water ingress into the electrical conections.
At the moment I suggested to my neighbour to let the garage wait whilst getting several second opinions including your input
Again many thanks.

[Capncol]

Good luck, & let us know outcome.

[MrDerp]

mac_rouser, any solution appear to this yet?

My fiancee's 206cc (MY04) just failed its NCT (Irish MOT) for the same problem, ABS light not illuminating at ignition. I decided to go board trawling this morning before contacting a garage, precisely because I'm afraid of being fleeced for a bunch of unnecessary new parts.

We went to a main dealer for a service in the last month, and they didn't indicate any issues with the diagnostics. Surely an actual ABS problem with throw something up?

She has the car just over 2 years, and it passed the NCT (MOT) 2 years ago without an issue. However, the instrument cluster was changed (under the dealer's warranty) shortly afterwards to solve a bizarre inexplicable light. Is there any chance this could be ill-fitted or something?

Oh, one thing that might be relevant. She says the clock and radio stations were reset one morning a few months ago. Could there have been a loss of power to the system (I really know very little about this kind of stuff) that needs addressing? I'm reading a lot of stuff about 'BSI resets' online this morning.

[Capncol]

There is a guide to BSI resets on here at the top of this forum, but I don't think that's the problem.
Very first check is "has it got a bulb?" New dashes don't usually come with bulbs, and if the garage who fitted new cluster didn't fit a bulb in the abs lamp, it wouldn't work.
Sometimes, if you shine a torch up behind the dash, you can see if the bulb is missing as the torch light will shine through the aperture where the bulb should be, and dimly light the ABS warning.
Failing that, you may have to take the cluster out to check. At the same time you can check the plug connectors into cluster are secure.

[MrDerp]

There is a guide to BSI resets on here at the top of this forum, but I don't think that's the problem.
Very first check is "has it got a bulb?" New dashes don't usually come with bulbs, and if the garage who fitted new cluster didn't fit a bulb in the abs lamp, it wouldn't work.
Sometimes, if you shine a torch up behind the dash, you can see if the bulb is missing as the torch light will shine through the aperture where the bulb should be, and dimly light the ABS warning.
Failing that, you may have to take the cluster out to check. At the same time you can check the plug connectors into cluster are secure.

Thanks for this. Exactly the 'check the simple things first' advice I was hoping for

[shadow]

he has already stated the bulb illuminates by hot wiring it but not by ignition method

[shadow]

if it is a multiplex should it have SMD illumination and not bulb ?

[Capncol]

Was addressed to mr Derp, not mac_rouser