Warning lights: ABS & traction control

I must admit my gut feel is that mice have chewed some wires but wondered if it might be something else.

Hi ECB, cold and snowy in Scotland?!
My problem with warning lights was not quite the same as yours, but the solution may be the same.
I had the ASB light and the ESP light on, is the ESP the same as your traction control light?
Anyway, to cut a very long story short, during which expensive things were replaced on warranty because the computer said they must be wrong, I eventually found the fault was dodgy electrical connectors underneath the van where all the salt and wet was getting at them. I always seemed to get the fault in winter. The connection I had trouble with was above the rear diff with the 4WD diff lock mechanism, for some reason that made the warning lights come on whenever it malfunctioned. The connector was very inaccessible,it got to a stage where I had an 18" length of 1/2 " dowel that I could poke up by the diff, wiggle the connector and all was well for another few miles. Eventually I dropped the diff, accessed the connector, cleaned it, covered it in silicone grease and for the last 13 months have never had any more trouble.
I also had a brake pad warning light come on which again was a bad connection on the rear pad sensor connector, again cleaned up and silicone greased.
So maybe it's the same problem with these delicate multipin connectors somewhere under yours. Having said that, we did have a squirrel recently bite through the fuel lines on my wife's car!

Ex-car bloke wrote: Hi Delfhill, yes, it's been snowy and icy up here for a while!   Hope all is well with you.    Many thanks for your detailed reply - I think they're the same lights as you describe, so I'll investigate your suggested route.   Steve, I wonder if an indie can read fault codes?  I'm miles from a stealer these days but tend to avoid them if I can.   All the best,

Thanks chaps, will keep you posted. 

Failed ABS sensors/loom breaks can also cause the ABS and ASR lights to come on.  A decent indie should be able to look at the wheel speeds individually recorded live on the road if there are no fault codes.

did you sus it out mate?

Hi just thought i would throw this into the mix a very common fault with the rear abs sensors is much the same as the famous comfort wiring< my advice get the fault code read if electrical fault is down to one of the rear sensors either get the readings (wheel speed) read find the wheel giving you the fault< on unplugging the sensor a simple voltage check and you should have 12v at the plug if not, remove wheel and wheel arch liner<unclip the loom to where it goes into the body, remove the same side rear lamp with the aid of a beautiful assistant wiggling the loom look through the lamp wiring hole in the body, identify the abs loom and slowly pull the loom through the lamp wiring hole (do not and i repeat do not pull all the way out as it is an absolute fecker to get back through the panels) pull the tape off the loom and you will find a crimped joint (all those that have had no central locking will be familiar with the crimping!) chances are that it has coroded through and snapped or is giving a high resistance.One more thing check under the passenger bench seat as the wiring comes into the storage area there and i have seen on many occasions how you boys love to try and get more stuff under there than in the back and the wiring has got damaged. Hope this helps and you get it sorted.

Good thread.  Mastertech is always a good read     Any news on yours yet EXB?  If it does turn out to be the pump I found out a few things about coding a new one a while back if you end up buying your own.  They are not all the same.   

T5 TDI wrote:   Any news on yours yet ECB?

Thank you very much, this tip was VERY helpful!
Just fixed my ABS and Traction control light problem.
I had to cut of a fair bit (about 3-4 inches) of corroded cable and replace it. Soldered in a new bit of cable an put some shrink wrap around the soldering points as I now have 2 joins instead of just one.
Wrapped the whole cable "stem" I had de wrapped with vulcanising butyl tape so it should now be kind of waterproof.
I my opinion it is better to fix the fault instead of buying a new cable coz the new VW original cable would have the same design fault.
Thanks again!