Tim Galaxy Fan

Hi folks, thought I would complete my tail of woe on the brakes on my MK2 galaxy coming on by themselves back from Jan this year. I really appreciated everyone's help and continue to be a fan of the forum, so I hope the sucessful conclusion of my particuar probem will help someone: As usual with older cars (mine's an 03 plate) there are statistically rare combinations of problems coming on at he same time, which are the most difficult to cure, and this was my case, My eventually found issues were: 1) A worn off side cv joint that was moving the drive shaft and ocassionally touching the ABS ring to switch the ABS warning light on. The mechanic ( yes I paid despite my reluctance - but this guy was good) noticed some scuffing on a part of the ring when he inspected it and figured out the cv joint wear. The other side was replaced the previous year. CV off side joint was replaced. 2) A faulty electrical connection between the ABS sensor on the ABS unit had to be traced down the wiring loom as the resistance was incorrect and this was the main cause of the problem. 3) The NS rear hand brake mechanism (which cannot be refurbrished) was also jamming the brake on intermittently). I replace both NS and OS. My car has done 80,000miles and at 13 years old it's probably one of those jobs that you good folks may need to do at this age. In tracking the probem I replaced: all 4 calipers, the OS brake hose, the OS ABS sensor, the master cylinder and the brake pads - all to no avail, however I have a wonderrful new braking system! I also wrongly reported the issue as both front brakes coming on: in fact the brakes that came on were the OS front and the NS rear, this, if I'd realised, was a clue to the ABS wiring issue as this is the safety braking system linked to the ABS unit - the front NS and rear OS brakes are on the same hydraulic fluid circuit as are the NS front and the OS rear brake, so in the event of a failure the two opposite side brakes still stop the car in a reasonably straight line. With the incorrect electrical signals being fed to the ABS unit, the unit interpreted the signals and started pumbing fluid into the OS front/NS rear circuit. I'd also like to thank all those that contributed to my issue, particularly sparky Paul and Brian H and for the advice to get vcds download which as luck would have it also works on my VW polo, I can now do a lot of stuff the garage was charging a fortune for. The car drives beautifully and stops like you would not believe! Regards to all Tim

Thanks BrianH, I'll get this kit and have a look and reply with results.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have just replaced the flexi, checked the front brake pistons NS and OS to make sure they are free, and changed the brake fluid. I spoke to a local garage and outlined the problem, the mechanic said if the brakes were binding I should crack the bleed valve and see if it releases the pressure on the brake piston and therefore the disc and allow the wheel to turn freely. As both the front brakes are now binding (OS much more than the NS) I tried this on the OS, and sure enough both the discs (which were binding), then moved freely I did not have to crack the NS bleed valve. What this shows is that both the NS and the OS pistons are moving as they should and somehow the fluid in them has a common connection somehow. I also lubricated the sliding pins for the brake calipers on both NS and OS but these did not appear to be and issue but both the calipers are sliding freely on the shafts. I took the time to reseat the ABS sensor and clean every bit of rust off the seat of the sensor. The gap between the reluctor ring and the sensor head is around 0.5mm After putting the new flexi on, bleeding the brakes and re seating the ABS sensor I went for a short drive (2 miles max) the ABS light went off when I reached 15 mph and I thought I had cracked it, then the damn ABS warning light came back on in another 10 seconds and the brakes started progressively to come on again, when I got the car back home and checked the heat of the disks the OS disc was much warmer that the NS disc and the back brakes were really cold. I had tried not to apply the brakes at all so the discs should not have been warm. I had not burned the pads, but the distance was really short had I driven for longer 'm sure the brakes would have become progressively applied, I did not want to risk any more distance. I am led to believe that somehow fluid is getting delivered to the front brakes that cannot be dissipated. I have not a clue what the problem could be, so am on the verge of expensive garage costs, can anyone help? Mastercylinder or ABS pump/mechanisms??? Regards Tim

Thanks Paul, I think you are right about the brake fluid, I did some more reading and when the water in the brake fluid turns into vapour it just makes the brakes spongy, which has never been a problem in this car. Needed a change it fluid in any case which I have now done. I had ordered new pads, (which were jiggered by the problem) and a new flexi. Unfortunately the supplier only delivered the pads, so I fitted these and decided to check out the old flexi by running a wire up it: it seemed fine. Put the car back together and took it for a short run out before ordering the new flexi, but the problem started again and only on the OS front brake: LHS was fine, so I'll order and fit the new flexi and try it out again to see if it is the cause of the problem Good point about the ABS sensor I'll take off the sensor and check I removed all the scale but I'm pretty sure I did this when fitting. When I fitted the reluctor ring I noticed the old one had so much corrosion on the drive shaft seat, it had expanded a couple of mm which cut into the old sensor and broke it. When I fitted the new reluctor, having removed all the scale on the drive shaft seat for the ring, the new ring slipped on quite easily - it was firm enough to prevent turning, and from what I'd read the slotted typed don't need heating to expand them so they shrink fit. Mine was the slotted type but I'm wondering if my old car has experienced so much corrosion that reluctor ring diameter is part of the ABS "warning light on" problem. Possibly the gap needed to generate induction current (between the sensor and ring) is too big. Anyone any ideas as to the required gap? I'll fit the new pipe and report back. Regards Tim Thanks for all the advice.

Just to clear up: Brian H rightly mentions relay 30 as the relay concerned, I mistakenly named relay 60 which is not correct: Audi VW relay 30 is the equivalent to Ford relay 109. Sorry for any confusion. Rgds Tim

Mine is a 2.3 petrol. So probably all fitted when the car was built. Thanks for the comments. Regards, Tim

Thanks for the advice, I'll replace the flexi as advised. I think the hose is OK as I passed brake fluid through it already and flow seems free but whilst the car's up on stilts it's better to be sure. Another thought occurred to me: I read somewhere that brake fluid absorbs moisture and should be replaced regularly say every 1 to 2 years. I have bled the NS caliper (full replacement of caliper) and the two rear ones when I replaced the rear brake pipes, however never the OS caliper. The issue happens when the brakes get warm and the moisture in the brake fluid is released as vapour, this forces the cylinder on to the pad and operates the brakes. The heat generation increases and more vapour is released. I'll replace the fluid throughout the system and cut into the old flexi and report back on what I find. Thanks for the help. Regards, Tim

Background My car is an 03 Ghia 2.3 in the time I've had it I've had a couple of ABS rings and sensors replaced. When the ABS light came on about 2 months ago, the garage diagnostic indicated the Off Side front sensor had a "mechanical fault", this could mean that the ABS ring or the sensor was at fault. As the common cause of ABS issues is the ABS ring expanding due to rust building up behind it I decided to first renew the ABS ring. This did not cure the problem and the ABS light was still on. I looked on You Tube and found that sometimes for certain fault codes a diagnostic tester is needed to reset the ABS light. As I had no issues with driving the car whist the ABS light was on, I took the car up to the Lake District, with confidence. The Problem: After about 10 miles of driving, I noticed the car starting to slow, as if the brakes were coming on. I stopped the car and sure enough I could smell break pad heat up particularly from the wheel where I had replaced the ABS ring. I decided not to risk the journey from Humberside to the Lakes and turned round to go home. However, the problem cleared and I decided, wrongly, to head up to the lakes. After another 100 miles ish the steering wheel began to wobble and the car slowed again. I pulled over and he same brake heat up and operation again had taken place without one touch on the brake pedal from yours truly. This happened more and more frequently, eventually I had to get the RAC out as the wheels had locked and I was burning the clutch to make it move against the brake operation. The RAC guy did a diagnostic and determined that the sensor was out, he checked the ABS ring and said I had fitted it right. The RAC took the car home and I duly fitted a new ABS sensor, thinking that this would be the end of the problem. After a couple of test drives all seem to be OK. The ABS light was still on and needing resetting. However on a short shopping trip (10 miles) the same issue happened again: severe braking of the front wheel. The issue seems to be focused on the OS front as the disc is starting to look scored compared to the NS one I spoke to a local Ford experienced mechanic and he said that he had known the securing clamps on the flexible portion of the brake pipes on the front wheels can become so puffed up with rust that they stop the flow of brake fluid away from the brake caliper, thus when the caliper gets hot the fluid expands and operates the brakes. I checked the flow rate of the brake fluid from the bleed valve and all seems OK, I took out the brake cylinder from the caliper and it came out easy as pie. I'm at a loss and need help - is it possible for an ABS issue to create wheel braking of this type. Wife wants to ditch the car but it really is a great machine and I would like to fix it. Thanks in advance Tim

Had the same problem with the relay: engine completely cutting out whilst driving, but all lights still working. At breakdown point the starter motor would not function: after several completely unresponsive attempts to start the car (03 Ghia 75K miles) the starter would then work and the engine burst into life and would function normally, sometimes for days. I got a diagnostic from a local garage but this fault did not show on their fault code tester, they said that there was some ignition issue but told me it was probably due to the immobiliser and suggested this issue sometimes happened when the battery in the key was low. I changed the batteries but problem soon resurfaced. Read several good posts on this site and decided to renew the relay, but the relay in my car was an Audi VW relay (relay 60) which is the same functionality as relay 109. When I examined the relay it was almost impossible to tell there was a problem, but under a magnifying glass it could be seen that the solder on two pins looked deformed and the pins moved ever so slightly in the solder. I cut the top off the relay and sure enough from the inside of the relay the movement and looseness of the pins was obvious. The smell of the relay was also that of overheating. Also explains the intermittent nature of the problem: the heat being generated was clear from the smell so a combination of temperature generated by the current flow through cracked solder and the thermal expansion was resoldering the connections. The the reason why I'm replying to this posting is I believe this could be a safety issue, as I found and Audi VW part in my car it led me to believe that this problem could have occurred before in this car, I've had it for 5 years of its 13 year life. Whilst you can get relays second hand I was pleasantly surprised that the local Ford dealer wanted to charge £23 and VW Audi dealer only £19 so I got the relay 60 and car has been fine ever since: my advice is - buy this relay NEW could save you an electrical fire in the dash. Hope this helps Tim