Hi, I'm hoping to pick a few brains.

My wife has an 09 S Max 2 litre diesel, automatic.  About a month ago the ABS light -the car with the skid marks - began to come on. When that happened, a front and rear brake came on. Switching the ignition off and then back on cleared the fault - until the next time. The next time could have been the next day, usually 3 minutes after leaving home.

The display also brought up messages such as 'transmission service due' or 'engine management fault.'  The auto transmission was serviced a few months back and works fine.

The ABS light fault persisted for another two weeks along with the error messages. Once, the engine management light also came on and despite switching the engine off/on it persisted.  The following morning when starting the car the engine management light went off, though the ABS light/error messages kept appearing.

A neighbour connected a scanner and found 'Engine management fault'  -no error code given and a fault saying ATM.  Connecting a scanner now brings up no faults.

I'm told that the ABS system -  sensors and rings - looks fine.  The last time the car was used the ABS light came on again and the display said 'diesel filter overcharged.'  The car was then parked up for 2 weeks and when used there were no warning messages or ABS light, though I have no doubt they will reappear.

My local workshop is clueless.  There's a lot of 'could be' and 'maybes.' Does anybody know if a faulty automatic transmission module would cause all this chaos .. and would leaving the car standing for 2 weeks somehow have cleared the problem?

Any input would be appreciated.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Gleen said:

A neighbour connected a scanner and found 'Engine management fault'  -no error code given and a fault saying ATM.  Connecting a scanner now brings up no faults.

Oh dear !!

Generic code scanners will not detect Ford specific DTC's.

You have to use FORScan on a windows laptop and a good ELM327(modified) cable.

The fault is very probably just one of the ABS wheel sensors, but without using FORScan and getting the code it would just be a guessing game.

FORScan: https://forscan.org/download.html

Thanks for that.  I think I'll go to a bigger workshop who may have the equipment

2 hours ago, Gleen said:

Thanks for that.  I think I'll go to a bigger workshop who may have the equipment

You either have to take it to a main Ford dealer (get the wallet at the ready), or you have to use FORScan and do the job yourself. There really isn't option three of using a 'bigger' none Ford workshop and expecting an improvement in what your neighbor has already done for you.

It's a simple task to download FORScan (it's 100% free for use on a windows laptop) and all you need is the connecting lead from TunnelRat Electronics.

ELM327(modified) £19.95: https://tunnelrat-electronics.fwscart.com/USB_Modified_with_switch_ELM327/p4541936_17045457.aspx

Connect up, get the DTC, identify the issue, replace faulty item. Clear the codes and all will be well.