ABS Under Warranty?

[andi_york]

First of all, Great site guys!!! This is my first vauxhall, had it about a year now and have found loads of interesting info on here!

Anyway its a 07 Vectra SRI 1.8 petrol and had no problems so far. Yet over the weekend in dry conditions, i parked the car, went to watch my son play football and on my return noticed the ABS light didn't go out after starting the engine. Don't understand what could have caused it as it was fine before!

Took it into local vauxhall dealer in Leeds and explained the problem, he said he would have to charge me £45 to put the car on the diagnostic machine but unfortunately if the it came back as a faulty wire etc then it wouldn't be covered under the warranty. Stuck in a bit of a catch 22 position as need the diagnostic to tell me whats wrong! Can anyone tell me if this is correct and that the Vauxhall warranty doesnt cover wiring after 1 year?

Any help welcome

Andi

[Big Sig]

It probably will be covered and I was never charged whilst my car was less than 3 years old. They are just covering themselves but it stinks really.

I cannot imagine what could go wrong with the abs that wouldn't be covered. get it booked in mate

[Deztroyer]

i agree with Sean,

the garage ARE indeed covering themselves - but the warranty SHOULD cover the diagnostic charge - i would have been more under the impression that the correct proceedure should be

you = hello my abs light is on - my car is under warranty

Vx= ok we can check that for you - but i must advise you that should the fault not be warranty related there would be a diagnostic charge of £***
are you happy for us to check the car ..

mught be worth contacting another garage as afaiak wiring should be covered for the warranty of the vehicle - or getting the aa/rac to come out and check/read the fault and recover you to the garage

[andi_york]

Thanks guys, the bloke on the service desk did actually say it wouldn't be covered if it was a wiring fault, i.e. loose or corroded but if it was a hub or sensor then it would be and i'll get the £45 back. But my sister got ripped off by evans halshaw in York before so was a bit reluctant to leave it and pay. Just been in touch with a guy who has a code reader so hoping he will pop round and do the diagnosis without charging me £45 so I know the results to go back to the dealer with. Does anyone know the possible codes it might return if its just a wire or something more severe?

[m8internet]

loose or corroded but if it was a hub or sensor then it would be and i'll get the £45 back

I've never heard of paying for work in advance at a dealership!
Normally you sign a work sheet, which includes details that a diagnostic charge of £xx.xx may apply (and to be honest £45 is a fair price as my usual dealership charges £65)
Once the diagnostic is complete they determine if the work is covered by warranty, if so they order the parts and complete the work, with no charge to you
If the work is not covered by warranty they should phone you outlining what the total cost will be (including the diagnostic, but that normally becomes absorbed in the total cost)

If the dealership wants £45 up front, I would walk away and find another dealership

Sadly degraded or corroded wires are not covered by warranty, but this shouldn't cost more than £100 to correct
Equally, if you do have to pay for it, get them to do both sides as the other is likely to be in a similar condition

[James24]

If it's a wheel sensor problem, usually you get the Traction Control light as well - if your car is fitted with TC - because both ABS and TC use the wheel speed sensors that are built into the wheel hubs.

Does your car have TC? If not, then is could well be a wheel speed sensor issue as obviously the TC light won't come on if you don't have it.

My car does have TC and both the ABS and TC lights came on. I didn't get the fault code number but the description was something like 'front nearside wheel speed sensor voltage high'. There are quite a few faults along the lines of 'I don't like the readings I am (or am not) getting from one of the wheel speed sensors'.

The garage were eager to replace the front hub (the sensors and their cables are built into the hubs and so the whole hub has to be replaced if the fault is with the sensor itself or it's cable) but I took the car home, took the wiring connector under the wheelarch apart, emptied out the water and sprayed some electrical contact cleaner in, re-fitted it, and the lights went off!

I guess you've either got to bit the bullet and get the code read (and hope the fault is covered under warranty), or you could first check the connectors and cables in the wheelarches for signs of water ingress/damage to minimise the risk of the fault being something that the dealer says is not covered under the warranty.

[andi_york]

Don't suppose you have a picture of the wiring connector so i know what to look for? Does this involve taking the plastic wheelarches off or is it connected to the hub?

[Ste]

The wiring connector is easy to find as the wire comes out of the hub and goes up the suspension leg before going to the car body. Remember that on front left wheel there is also the brake pads wear sensor wire, but the 2 are totally different anyway.

You don't need to remove any trim or anything to get to the connector mentioned, you may not even have to remove the road wheel to check the fronts.

[James24]

The wiring connector is easy to find as the wire comes out of the hub and goes up the suspension leg before going to the car body. Remember that on front left wheel there is also the brake pads wear sensor wire, but the 2 are totally different anyway.

You don't need to remove any trim or anything to get to the connector mentioned, you may not even have to remove the road wheel to check the fronts.

As Ste said, really. The connectors for the rear wheels runs down the upper control arms and connect directly to the back of the hubs, but it's the fronts that cause most problems, so start there.

The connectors are at the back of the wheelarch in a black plastic brakcet right behind the spring and damper - there's just the one on the offside but 2 on the nearside because there's the brake pad wear sensor cabling as well. The wheel speed sensor connectors are white on top (coming from the car wiring loom) and black on the bottom (the end going to the wheel sensors). The cables clip into several brackets between the connector and the hub, so note these and make sure you put them back properly or you could damage the cables and then it really is new wheel hub time.

What Ste and I have described is for older cars. On newer cars, the wheel speed sensor cabling connectors on the front are mounted on the suspension strut not at the back of the wheelarch. My car is older, so I can't help you with the newer type but hopefully it should be self-explanatory.

You can get to the wiring connectors with the front wheels turned to full lock (right for the left wheel and left for the right wheel worked best for me). Jacking the car up for a bit more clearance between the wheel and arch is also useful, but it's a lot easier if you can remove the wheel.

[Big Sig]

I've never heard of paying for work in advance at a dealership!
Normally you sign a work sheet, which includes details that a diagnostic charge of £xx.xx may apply (and to be honest £45 is a fair price as my usual dealership charges £65)
Once the diagnostic is complete they determine if the work is covered by warranty, if so they order the parts and complete the work, with no charge to you
If the work is not covered by warranty they should phone you outlining what the total cost will be (including the diagnostic, but that normally becomes absorbed in the total cost)

If the dealership wants £45 up front, I would walk away and find another dealership

Sadly degraded or corroded wires are not covered by warranty, but this shouldn't cost more than £100 to correct
Equally, if you do have to pay for it, get them to do both sides as the other is likely to be in a similar condition

Completly agree, I have never paid up front, always when I collect the car.