Using Second Hand Abs Units?

[mjcarter73]

Hi all,

I have had a problem in that my ABS light came on. This was due to a blown fuse, changed the fuse and all was well until you brake again- at which point it blew and the ABS light came on again. My garage checked this and there were no error codes stored at all This seemed to be due to a bust ABS unit. Since these cost an arm and a leg I got a good used one from a 2007 Fiesta (my own is 2005) matching numbers of course.

Problem is that my garage said they couldn't fit it because it still contained codes from the previous vehicle and/or they needed information from the donor vehicle's ECU. Luckily my problem seemed to be the pump only so swapping the pump components has solved the problem- but at increased labour charge.

I find it strange that its not possible to use/reuse a complete ABS unit from a donor car- especially as so many of them are on sale, so I thought I'd check on whether this is actually feasible and if so what is the correct procedure?

Mike