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2006 Focus ABS light issue


dayus
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So here's the timeline so hopefully someone here can help me have some idea as to what's going on. I'm being very specific because it's partly a copy and paste from a document I'm keeping on the topic in case I need to complain to the company formally.

Sunday 14 August

Took into garage due to ABS light coming on intermittently.

Result.

3x new bearings bearings, two front and one rear, one set of brake pads that were flat. All parts seen and the replacements were fair.

Friday 26 August

After about a week the ABS light came back on regularly so I returned it to be looked at again. I later received a call from them apologising and saying that the new bearing on the driver's side collapsed and it was a faulty part, they replaced it for free. I picked up the car later that day, and after about 5 miles the ABS light came on again and so I returned it to the garage just before closing time. I told them they could have it until Sunday as I was away on Saturday.

Sunday 28 August

I called at around 1040 to check on the car. I spoke to the manager and she stated specifically that it's not the sensor but the ABS was still coming up. She said that they thought it was the ABS wire and that they would fit another one today. She then apologised and said she totally forgot that they had it. She said a wire would be ordered.

So I then called at 1453 the same day and was told by the same manager that she's just changed the sensor on the hub now but the light is still coming on (is there a different sensor to the one changed yesterday?). For some reason the wire hasn't been ordered (but I'd forgotten about what was specifically said earlier, thankfully my phone records all calls so I can check) and she says again that might be the issue. Double checked that it wasn't dangerous to drive and was told it's fine, it's just the signal not getting through apparently.

So I pick up the car and because I work away we agree that I'll bring it back in on Friday for the new wire. HOWEVER after I've picked up the kids, one of them mentions hearing a noise as we go round a corner, so I turn the radio off and almost every time I'm not going dead straight I'm not hearing a grinding sound, we think it's driver's side front, it's exactly the kind of sound I'd hear and go to a garage saying I think I've got a dodgy bearing. It's had two brand new bearings in the last two weeks.

What on earth is going on? Can I have got two dodgy bearings in two weeks?

 

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26 minutes ago, dayus said:

Can I have got two dodgy bearings in two weeks?

Faulty brand new ball bearings: Never heard of that before!!

Faulty Garage workmanship: Heard Plenty about that!

Re the ABS sensors: I think you have two options: Try another, trustable, garage. Or use Forscan to try to diagnose it yourself. It can display the speed readings from each sensor, as well as all the error codes from the ABS module.

If interested in the Forscan route, ask here. It is a bit technical, but not difficult once you have got the hang of it.

 

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I should also mention, I may have 'forgotten' to turn off my dash cam and listened to the mechanics as they were checking it on the Friday and also today. Unless they were great actors they weren't !Removed! me over, they are honestly following what they are seeing. So rather than waste money on a new garage (they're not charging me anything after the first payment for the bearings etc), I'd like something to at least suggest to them when I take it back tomorrow. 

The codes from friday were the following.

C1234 - Right front wheel sensor input signal missing

C1142 - Right front tone ring missing tooth fault

Since then they've replace the right front bearing and the right front ABS sensor. Now I have gone from an intermittent ABS light to it being on permanently and now I've got a grinding noise.

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17 minutes ago, dayus said:

I may have 'forgotten' to turn off my dash cam

Useful thing to accidentally dowink.png

If the sensor is ok, then the next suspect is the wire from sensor to the abs unit. These have been known to fail sometimes. I assume that is what is to be changed on Friday. Fingers crossed!

If the sensor or wire is faulty, then I think C1142 can be disregarded. Bad signal can look like bad tone ring teeth.

See (& hear) what they say on Friday, about the bearing. And that they check it is not something else, a CV joint, or something rubbing. Forgive my skepticism, but we do get to hear rather too many garage horror stories here. There are some very good mechanics around, but some not so good. But it does sound a bit of a mess: "Collapsed bearing", saying deffo not sensor, then sensor changed and forgetting the wire.

I think these bearings have to be pressed in. If tight, or incorrectly pressed, that can damage the bearing.

Interestingly, a bearing collapse is a major event where the cage disintegrates, and the balls can move to one side or escape, and there is big movement. This is quite likely to damage ABS sensors. But you would have heard & felt that, it would not just be a rumble. I guess it is just a figure of speech.

I have seen a few references to links between bearing change & ABS faults, but since your ABS fault pre-dated the bearing change, this may not be relevant.

 

 

 

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So here's an update... it's not been fun.

So the grinding noise turned out to be one of the brake pads having snapped. They originally just said it was a faulty part but now it seems the hub was the issue and it was causing the bearing to push out and that in turn caused the pad to snap apparently. They found that out after fitting a rear wishbone before then fitting the hub, they've not charged me for the hub because they weren't sure they hadn't caused the problem with that, and I've not been charged for the replacement bearings or brake pad. I've still paid more than £800 so far for three bearings, a set of brake pads, a wishbone and an ABS sensor.

So yesterday they replaced the hub for free and now the bearing isn't being pushed out, when they test drove it that was fine, there was just the ABS light coming on because the sensor needed changing. Today they changed the ABS sensor and I went to pick it up. On the way back from the garage the ABS light came on again. It's going back in this afternoon and they're looking at it again tomorrow.

Basically I've taken it in because the ABS light was coming on, they've done loads of stuff and it's still no better, although they have replaced some bearings that needed replacing. This has all been recorded and written down in a complaint to their head office. I'm going crazy here!

 

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On 28/08/2016 at 11:53 PM, dayus said:

She said that they thought it was the ABS wire and that they would fit another one today. She then apologised and said she totally forgot that they had it. She said a wire would be ordered.

 

38 minutes ago, dayus said:

Today they changed the ABS sensor

Sounds like they have changed the sensor twice, and forgotten to change the wire that was supposed to be being ordered!

I would be interested to know what a "snapped" brake pad means! Maybe it is one of the ends that locate in the caliper bracket. Breaking that would put a lot of force on the bracket, and would need a quite large movement of the bearing. It would very likely take out the ABS sensor too.

Also I am a bit confused as to which wheel & sensor is involved. The ABS code was for a front wheel, but the last bearing problem seems to have been rear?

 

 

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The whole issue has been the driver's side front, so the front right on my car.

And now we come to the bit where I'm starting to lose it.

I'm gonna do the short version because I've just typed up a big complaint about it and I have to go out.

Got car back yesterday, they told me it's fine now, they tested it electronically too and there's no fault now, ABS light no longer coming on, notice before I get home that the speedo is a mess, when I'm not moving it says I'm doing 70, when I'm doing 70 it says I'm doing 140, but they're shut and I have to drive to work. Not a huge problem but annoying, I can take it back when I'm back at home on Friday (I work away Mon-Thu usually, but this week due to this issue it's only gonna be Wed-Thu). So I'm driving to work last night, it's a 3 hour drive so I had plenty of thinking time, and I realise that the ABS light didn't flick on and off when I turned the ignition on like it should so I'm starting to smell a rat (especially with the speedo having been messed up, someone's been messing with my dash!). So this afternoon I spoke to a friend who told me about a test mode for the dash that will illuminate all the lights so I can see they're all working.

So here's a picture, I think you know what you're gonna see.... or not.

dash-LED-test.jpg

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2 hours ago, dayus said:

So here's a picture, I think you know what you're gonna see.... or not.

Shocking. And Criminal.

Seriously, Very Criminal.

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mot fail therefore not roadworthy. questionable insured? (insurance premium based on safety features amonst other criteria)

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At present I have no proof that it was intentional but it's a HUGE coincidence if not. Right now I have the car and have submitted a complaint to their head office (for various issues that I have with them, the most recent being this 'fix') and will see what they come back with. In the meantime, a friend of a friend who is a recently retired Ford mechanic is going to take a look at the dash and the missing light in the next few days and I'll decide from there what I am going to do. If he thinks it looks intentional, I'm seriously considering calling the police.

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1 hour ago, dayus said:

If he thinks it looks intentional, I'm seriously considering calling the police.

Covering up or disabling an ABS warning light is serious.

I suggest taking lots of photos of each stage of the examination, and ideally have an independent witness present, in case of arguments.

These lights are little LEDs, and have a practically indefinite operating life, so it won't have burnt out from use. But I have just noticed you have a 2006 Focus, and the instrument cluster is one of the most unreliable units in the known universe on those. But it would still be a huge coincidence.

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So, today the car was inspected by a Ford technician, I've been away with work which has meant it's taken a few days to sort out.

Here's the results - code C1234 is still showing and now I've got code U0155. The technician says that U0155 plus the physical evidence (there's obvious scratches on the dash where my ABS light used to show up) is evidence that the instrument panel has been tampered with.

The garage phoned this morning having finally got my complaint from their head office, I've told them that until I've spoken to their regional manager (which they said would happen last week!) the car won't be gong back to them. I've also told them I'm going to take some legal advice and almost certainly report them to trading standards. Right now I've shelled lot of money, been without a car for several weekends and also had to take two days leave from work.

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So here's another update - I don't know if anyone is still reading this but typing it out like this helps me keep it all fresh in my head, despite the numerous files I have with copies of emails etc.

So today the regional manager of the garage got back off leave and he's asked for two bits of information for his investigation, which I think are both fair questions.

Firstly he's asked for a report from Ford. I've told him that I haven't got that, I've just given him the evidence I have. Physical - the speedo was a mess when I got it back, indicating someone did something to the dash, there's scratched on the dash and also the ABS light doesn't work. I've also told him which codes showed up when the diagnostic was plugged in (C1234 indicating the ABS fault is still there, and U0155 indicating the dash has been messed with), I've also given him the details of the technician who looked at the car for me (he did it for free for now just so I knew where I stood) and he's happy to tell them what he saw.

Secondly, and here is where I think the garage itself thinks they've got a way out. He asked me to confirm that the light was on when I got the car back from them. That is not correct, when I picked up the car the ABS light was not showing, that's why I took it home thinking it had been fixed. I do have something to back me up though. Here in the UK it's legal to record your own phone calls for your own records and that's what I do, I don't even have to tell the person I'm speaking to that I'm doing it. So the day after I picked up the car I phoned them to tell them about the speedo being messed up and showing 70mph when I wasn't actually moving, well the person I spoke to was the person who dealt with the previous day and she clearly said "Well at least the ABS light hasn't come back on!". I've told the manger that if she disputes that I will happily burn it onto a CD for her, I can't provide it directly to him because of the law on recording phone calls, she has to be the one who agrees for him to listen to it and I cant share it with anyone else.

In other news, I spoke to Citizens Advice this morning and after hearing about the evidence I have they're passing the information to Trading Standards. Apparently I probably won't hear back from Trading Standards as nobody has been injured, but they will keep a record and may get in touch.

Now I just wait for the regional manager to conduct his investigation and then I can decided where I go from that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So the saga continues. Today the car was inspected at another of their branches by the company's senior training mechanic. I took a mechanic of my own along to make sure everything was done right and I wasn't being shafted. To be fair, the guy they sent was very good and was happy for us to watch him checking everything out. He inspected the dash, saw the scratch marks and started taking photos of everything. Plugged in the diagnostics and took photos of all the results. Then he took out the instrument panel completely. You could see greasy fingerprints all over it when he took it out, you could see that it had been taken apart and then when he took it apart himself in front of us he inspected the LEDs themselves and then said that the LED has been tampered with. I know it's what we all thought but seriously the feeling of relief was amazing. He now writes a full report for their head office and the area manager is now starting a full investigation into the branch, including reviewing the CCTV that they have inside the branch. The branch claims they didn't do anything to the dash so he now needs full statements from them and will watch the CCTV to see who did what and when on that day.

As for the car, the first thing now is for them to send the instrument panel away for full repair, then when it comes back and it's working we'll be able to see if the light is still coming on and they will then repair anything that needs repairing. Then we go from there with my other complaints etc. It ain't over but finally we're making some progress.

Fair play to the company, the branch I went to may be a bunch of chancers but since complaining to their head office I've had nothing but a professional service from them on this investigation.

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  • 3 years later...

I really want to know what happened. 4 years is to long of a wait. 😂 come on im intrigued. Has your ABS been fixed? Did u sue them?

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I want to know too. I hate threads which don't have the conclusion

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