Rover 800 Vitesse 1996 ABS problem

[DeverauxRover]

Hi everybody,

I've got a new problem now with my ABS system (mine is the Bosch system that goes with the engine ECU that is mounted on the firewall) now in so much that the ABS warning light does not come on at all. Does anybody have any ideas where to look??

I've checked the bulb and it works.
I've checked the dashboard fuses with a continuity tester and that's good with 10.6 v
I've checked the feed to the instrument cluster (light green & purple and the red and blue wires) and that also has 10.6 v once the ignition is in position 2 but no 1.6 v for 2 seconds as others have illustrated, whilst the system is running a check.

Does anybody have any ideas, or has anybody come across this before??

Thanks,

[scoobyh123]

Have you checked the fuses in the underbonnet fusebox?

[DeverauxRover]

Hi Dave,

Thank you kindly for your response!

I wasn't aware that there were under bonnet fuses for the ABS system on my model. I have read something about a fuseable link in the engine compartment fuse box, something to do with the 'over voltage relay'. Am I correct?

Thanks,

Lee

[scoobyh123]

Hi Lee - you're welcome. If you look behind the battery on the inner wing you should see a black, square (ish) cover and if you look at the front and back ends, there are clips to retain this cover. Remove it and hey presto - the underbonnet fusebox! Most of the fusible links should be obvious if they have blown but you may also find you need to oosen the screws and clen the contact points which you'll need Torx/TX-Start drivers for.
If it turns out not to be a fuse problem then i'll have to do some digging and work out a few tests etc for you to try and diagnose the problem.

[DeverauxRover]

Hi Dave,

Thanks again for the on-going support. I'll check the engine compartment fuse-able links and get back to you. I've noted that the Haynes manual is useless for my model and the factory production instructions (RAVE) only cover the post 1996 facelift model cars so I'm stuck somewhere in-between which is really frustrating.

Have you got Testbook?? Or do you know anybody that has it? My SRS is still not fixed and could really do with some help there...

Best regards,

Lee

[scoobyh123]

Hi Lee - the Haynes manual is pretty general and was written at a time when Rover dealers still existed and were helpful to the "home mechanic" so i inderstand your frustration as i have the 827 which is barely covered by Haynes (or should that be Hyenas??? ) either - it seems to focus on the basic 820i/Si models and even then isn't great.
I try and avoid SRS if i possibly can so i'm not the best person to ask and i've never needed Testbook so don't have that either. There are some on here that have had it and maybe still got it but whether theirs works or not i really couldn't say. I understand Best of British Rover in the West Midlands (Darlaston rings a bell?) have Testbook and i know a lot of Land Rover dealers still have it as they often get 20+ year old Landies in with faults so that might be another option. The Freelander shared several parts with the 800 including front CV joints amongst other things and several ECUs.

What's the problem with the SRS system anyway, there's a small chance i miight know the answer on that one but only small!

EDIT ***** link to Best of British ***** http://bestofbritishrover.com/

[rovercoup]

Lee it would help anyone trying to assist you if you post up your car with some details regarding model,engine,transmission and year.

From your thread you talk about ABS but then on your last post you state the SRS light is still on.

SRS is nothing to do with ABS brakes it is the fault light for the air bag/restraint system and depending on what year car you depends on fix. First thing is does the horn work? sounds stupid I know but there is a slip ring behind the steering wheel which is part of the SRS system

[scoobyh123]

Just a thought Lee - have you checked the earth for the ABS ECU? It's just forward of the engine bay fusebox so will be near the ABS unit under the bonnet. If you have a feed from the fuse (F16 dashboard box) on the Light Green/Purple wire to the bulb then the next stage in the bulb control has to be the ECU. If the ECU detects a fault it will put the bulb on except for when the ECU doesn't have an earth, in which case the ECU won't work and neither will the bulb.
Other cars that i've traced ABS faults on that have used the same Bosch 2E system or similar have usually had a fairly thick black earth cable.

Here's some information on the SRS system, hopefully useful :

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... 2NRMVdyaFk

Also here's a link to the other Rover Workshop Manual stuff that you can view online and/or download to keep a copy of thanks to Whitelion58 aka Tim on here.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing

Slightly more info there than in the Hyenas Manual!

[DeverauxRover]

Thanks Dave, and Steeve G!

Loving the help on here so far and all is greatly appreciated.
Okay, to Steeve. I have an 820 Vitesse Turbo Sport in White, the 199BHP version vin 230744, 1996, July I think. I've only had it since 2003 where it had 70,000 miles on it. Here we are in December 2015 and it has 87,150 miles on the clock. Now, in 2004 I took the car over to my parents in Spain for preservation purposes whilst I enjoyed my 827Sli. I went back to check on her in 2010 (understanding my folks would check in on her at least annually) and the car had been eaten by Rats, I mean everything. All of the wiring circuits, fuel lines, CV joints, seats, speakers etc. Basically anything that wasn't metal was gone. So I started to get parts and rebuilt her using the Heynas wiring diagrams and then managed to get the Rave CD with more accurate information. Once I'd put everything back together, I decided that I wanted air-conditioning so went about taking out the heat exchanger, blower motor etc. And replaced from a donor car. The problem was that once I'd re-soldered the wiring loom, the SRS warning light would always illuminate. Over the last year I bought 2 SRS ECU's AMR 4905 and plugged them in thinking it was the flat battery that was the problem. It wasn't. So now I'll have to take apart the SRS system and check every connection because the chances are that in re-assembling the dashboard after the Rat infestation, I've missed a Rat bite somewhere in the circuit. So in essence, what I'm asking is if anybody had Test-book to re=set my system after I've checked the circuit (electrically). But Dave has supplied some positive info for me to check once I've checked the circuit/system.

ABS, I totally understanding is a different system and manages the brakes under wheel locking conditions. This circuit I fixed after the Rats had had dinner but recently the ABS warning light would not illuminate. I've checked the ground by taking every ground (battery negative) off of the nearside wing and cleaning all of the connectors, which includes taking the nearside wing off to check that cluster of plugs just underneath!! and nearly the reason why my car went up in flames on Bonfire night! But for the love of the Rover 800, its safe, sorry for venting my frustration.
I haven't checked the fuse-able links in the engine bay compartment yet but I still have power going to the ABS warning light which I suppose still points to a ground fault. I will follow all of your advice from this point in and report back accordingly.

Seriously, thanks guys for your help...

Lee

[scoobyh123]

Crikey, you might have been better off buying a scrapper and taking the loom from that! If only to save time!

It sounds as if the ABS is either an earth fault or an ECU fault if the warning light doesn't illuminate at all. However, you will need to check all the fuses for the ABS unit, will double check which they are tomorrow and try to remember to post the list here for you.

If the SRS light won't go out, it's possible it's not sensing the airbags. Somewhere i've seen that a dealer-mod was to fit a resistor in series with the airbags to increase the measured resistance that the SRS ECU sees as if it's too low or high it thinks the airbag is either missing or defective.

I've already removed the airbag steering wheel and airbag from my coupe (Thanks Steve! ) and replaced it with a proper, non-airbag, Stone Beige leather steering wheel and horn pad and the column cowling and have just got the passenger airbag to remove and replace with a custome built shelf/instrument panel.

Which reminds me - did the rats feast on the impact sensors or their wiring? They are mounted on the front chassis rails just forward of where the inner wings meet the bulkhead, small yellow boxes with yellow wiring and an odd-shaped bracket. If so, the system may still see "dead" impact sensors. Along similar lines, if you have seat belt pretensioners, chances are the system will check those for resistance as well so maybe another chewed wire there somewhere.

[DeverauxRover]

Hello Dave,

You're absolutely correct, it would have been easier to replace the wiring loom but back then, if I remember correctly, a Spanish breakers yard near Barcelona wanted 300 euros for a fuel pump so I decided to repair what I could and get parts shipped over from the UK. I had 2 weeks to rebuild her in (all for the love of the 800).

The Rats left desserts (impact sensors) alone and concentrated on the main courses only (wiring loom, Recaro seats, brake lines etc) so they seem at least to be okay, visually, but I will take the entire system apart and try to replicate the fault light signal and find out why its on, and thanks to this site, hopefully re-set the system. Oh, mine doesn't have the seatbelt pre-tensioners, just the impact sensors.

Does anybody on here know a chappy called Eric? He lives in Illkeston. He's the only reason why my car's still alive. He has a farm yard full of 800's and breaks them according to your needs. He's possibly one of the nicest guys on the planet and his prices are ridiculously cheap! If anybody's struggling for parts, please check in with him before ebay because you'll be surprised what he's got. Contact details upon request and permission from him of course!!

Thanks again Dave for your help!

Lee

[scoobyh123]

Hello Dave,

You're absolutely correct, it would have been easier to replace the wiring loom but back then, if I remember correctly, a Spanish breakers yard near Barcelona wanted 300 euros for a fuel pump so I decided to repair what I could and get parts shipped over from the UK. I had 2 weeks to rebuild her in (all for the love of the 800).

The Rats left desserts (impact sensors) alone and concentrated on the main courses only (wiring loom, Recaro seats, brake lines etc) so they seem at least to be okay, visually, but I will take the entire system apart and try to replicate the fault light signal and find out why its on, and thanks to this site, hopefully re-set the system. Oh, mine doesn't have the seatbelt pre-tensioners, just the impact sensors.

Does anybody on here know a chappy called Eric? He lives in Illkeston. He's the only reason why my car's still alive. He has a farm yard full of 800's and breaks them according to your needs. He's possibly one of the nicest guys on the planet and his prices are ridiculously cheap! If anybody's struggling for parts, please check in with him before ebay because you'll be surprised what he's got. Contact details upon request and permission from him of course!!

Thanks again Dave for your help!


You're welcome Lee - i hope you get it sorted. I've heard of Eric, i can't think off the top of my head who mentioned him but i've heard of him.
Lee

[DeverauxRover]

Hi Dave,

I've just been speaking to him about your request for a blue carpet. He says that that's the one Rover part that he doesn't have but if he gets one, he'll save it for you. He said that he has a red carpet if you're interested? Grey, black and green also...

Lee

[scoobyh123]

Thanks Lee - it's the blue i'm after for a special project. Managed to get a green one for my coupé recently and that started me thinking and it definitely has to be blue for this project. All will become clear at some point during the project thread which i have yet to start.