Does your ABS light come on with ignition

[knotaclew]

My question is aimed primarily at owners of 2.0 HDI 2004, 2005, 2006 Berlingo owners and I want to know if your ABS warning light illuminates when you turn on the ignition to start the vehicle then it goes off along with airbag and low fuel light following self test after a few seconds?

Mine doesn't come on at all during day to day use of the car however I can force the light to come on at ignition, then off, then on again to highlight a fault by disconnecting a wheel sensor.  The fault can then be cleared with my iCarsoft diagnostic tool and when I check the ABS system again I get no faults.  So the system is working but perhaps not as it should, though saying that I don't really know if it is or isn't

This is linked to an earlier thread of mine concerning the checking of maxi fuses where I also talked about my ABS issues as I was convinced I had a MF issue.  But I really need to understand the general consensus of other owners experiences so I have separated out my ABS question under a new thread.

I've tried speaking directly with Citroen UK as to whether it is designed to illuminate at self test under normal use of the vehicle but they just refer me back to my local dealer.  When I speak to a dealer's service agent they are not really sure.  A specialist instrument cluster test/repair company implied that with a vehicle of my age it doesn't need to come on but I haven't found anyone else to concur with this statement, hence the new question.

Many thanks.

[td5]

I have a 55 plate 2.0 HDi Berlingo and the ABS light does come on with the ignition and then goes off a few seconds later. HTH

[Sol]

Mine does too, checked the other day after you mentioned it. Can't remember what the M59 did before but I expect it was the same. These lights are meant to come on as a check light so you know the bulbs work.

[mission]

Yup its supposed to come on and then go off again, unless there is something wrong ofcoure.

But you must be the first M59 owner bothered with a ABS light that doesnt come on, most of us are bothered by lights that wont go off

[knotaclew]

Yup its supposed to come on and then go off again, unless there is something wrong ofcoure.

But you must be the first M59 owner bothered with a ABS light that doesnt come on, most of us are bothered by lights that wont go off

Hi Mission,
Thank you all for confirming it should come on, that is a great help.  

Unfortunately for me, I believe (though I'm not sure) that the MOT requirements also test whether the light comes on initially then goes out and stays out.  With an MOT next month I am obviously very worried that if it fails on the light I will be sending a perfectly good vehicle to the scrap heap with no knowledge available of how to fix it and as I say Citroen UK & the dealers either don't know themselves or just aren't bothered.  As I say I can force it to come on but time is money and I foresee the MOT tester isn't going to allow me the time to prove otherwise.

I'll just have to cross my fingers that it passes and deal with the loss of the vehicle if it doesn't.  I'm out of ideas.

Many thanks all.

[mission]

Yup its supposed to come on and then go off again, unless there is something wrong ofcoure.

But you must be the first M59 owner bothered with a ABS light that doesnt come on, most of us are bothered by lights that wont go off

Hi Mission,
Thank you all for confirming it should come on, that is a great help.  

Unfortunately for me, I believe (though I'm not sure) that the MOT requirements also test whether the light comes on initially then goes out and stays out.  With an MOT next month I am obviously very worried that if it fails on the light I will be sending a perfectly good vehicle to the scrap heap with no knowledge available of how to fix it and as I say Citroen UK & the dealers either don't know themselves or just aren't bothered.  As I say I can force it to come on but time is money and I foresee the MOT tester isn't going to allow me the time to prove otherwise.

I'll just have to cross my fingers that it passes and deal with the loss of the vehicle if it doesn't.  I'm out of ideas.

Many thanks all.

Mmm not sure on the MOT rules, as im from the Netherlands we may have different rules. Id say it also depends on the MOT station, I have a company car with 4 warning lights on the dash (Brakes, ABS, Airbag and a red STOP ligt) that should all be a MOT fail, but never had an issue with it.

[jj9]

. . . I can force the light to come on at ignition, then off, then on again to highlight a fault by disconnecting a wheel sensor.  The fault can then be cleared with my iCarsoft diagnostic tool  . . .

After reconnecting the sensor and driving a few yards to reach the set speed at which the system becomes active (approx 10-15mph) the light should go out as ABS faults reset themselves.

Do you know if your ABS system is actually working? I don't mean what the dash lights are showing?

Unfortunately for me, I believe (though I'm not sure) that the MOT requirements also test whether the light comes on initially then goes out and stays out.  With an MOT next month I am obviously very worried that if it fails on the light I will be sending a perfectly good vehicle to the scrap heap with no knowledge available of how to fix it . . . 

Yes the MOT does require the light to operate as you describe above.
You may get lucky and the Tester may overlook that it's not working as it should, they tend to look more for lights that are on permanently.

"Sending a perfectly good vehicle to the scrap heap" . . .  Sir, have you taken leave of your senses   
In such a case you would apply some basic "electrical tinkering" behind the dashboard that would magically make the ABS light work as it should ! 


.

[Gryffindor]

I thought the whole point of it coming on briefly at first was so that the MOT tester knows that someone hasn't blanked off one that's always on.

[Sol]

As per JJs suggestion, you could connect it to the ignition lamp....till MOT time is over. But as he also points out, they're more likely to be interested in a lamp that doesn't go out, than one that doesn't come on.

That being said....

What is likely happening, is the instruments microcontroller is lighting all lamps up in lamp test mode, then the relevant controller (abs, BSI etc) can also light the lamp in the event of a fault.

So, your instrument PCB may be the faulty item. Not the abs controller itself. Hence it lights when you simulate a fault but not on startup.

[jj9]

Just wire the ABS light up to one of the other lights that comes on with the ignition then goes off, the air bag light would be my choice.

.