Over the weekend the ABS dashboard light on our 1998 406 2.1TD GLX Estate came on and refused to go out. I booked the car into our local Peugeot dealer who have just called me to advise that the car needs a new ABS ECU at a cost of £ 490.- plus labour and VAT. It's going to cost the best part of £ 700.-. I'm stunned. Do I have an option on this or have Peugeot got me "over a barrel". Any comments would be much appreciated.
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A scrapyard part would be ideal for this. That's actually not a bad price for an ABS ECU, believe it or not - I would have expected it to be more, as simple as they actually are.
Then go to your friendly local garage and ask them to fit it. Hopefully that should bring the cost down to something like £200 all in.
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A new ABS for a Mondeo cost £700. Labour and VAT came to just over £1000. See my posting of 5 April. It was touch and go as to whether it was worth it or not, but the work has resulted in both a better car to drive and - amazingly - improved mpg. I had to bite the bullet - but it will be worth it provided I can get another 30/40,000 miles out of the car.
The ECU in a Mondeo is quite difficult to get at and identify - there are several different types and you can only tell which one it is by removing it. The problem then, with a scrap one, is knowing how good it is. It could be a lot of work wasted.
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There are independent firms who can test your ECU if you post it to them. Just under £40 all in and they are quite honest if it is OK.
I've had them where they will show as an ECU failure on the dealer computer but the very act of unpluging and plugging it back in (ECU to car harness plug) will wipe the contacts clean and then it all works fine.
Did the lamp show any odd behaviour in the days/weeks leading up to being on all the while?
MM
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My ABS ECU failed which led to a veering to the left on braking along with other symptoms. The dashboard light continued in its own sweet way i.e. going out shortly after switching on the ignition on, as though nothing was wrong.
Can anyone tell me what is the point of this light if it doesn't warn you when something is wrong?
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Waino,
I can't remember but had the ABS ECU fault caused problems that meant any other parts had to be changed as part of the work? Discs/pads/caliper?
MM
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No other parts had to be replaced at the time that the ABS ECU was sorted, BUT at an earlier service, one of the discs was showing abnormally excessive wear and had to be replaced. This could well have been caused by the faulty ABS unit periodically binding the brake. As this seems to be a very rare problem, I guess it's not an easy one to diagnose. The other clue was the mysterious squawking noise that had been going on for ages - now cured.
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Waino,
Many thanks, as you say this was an unusual case. I'll tuck the info into my brain to possibly assist a future diagnosis.
MM
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I have had a major break-through. Apart from sorting out the ABS problem, a cooling fan on the radiator had also seized (resulting in the car overheating)and Peugeot were supposed to be replacing the fan. The garage have now called me to advise that they have repaired the existing cooling fan and that the ABS light has gone out and the braking system is now working 100% okay. So much for the Peugeot diagnostic system originally idenitfying the ABS ECU as the brake fault ??????
Saved myself around £ 600.-.
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