ABS light on '96 850

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fred K
  • Start date Start date
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Fred K

Greetings all,

My ABS light on my '96 850 has come on, then gone off twice in the last
week. Each time it only stays on about 10 minutes or so, then goes back
out.
The owners manual says to take it to the dealer, but I was wondering if any
of you had nay comment on this issue.
The car has had regular service and good upkeep, it now has 115k miles on
it.
Thanks in advance for any oberservations....
 
I have the same problem with my 96 850 turbo; started around 214000 miles,
the ABS and TRACKS light come on together. It is very intermittent and
usually stays on until the next time I start the car and the ABS system
conducts the system check at around 10 mph. I don't know what causes it but
someone told me that a low battery may cause it.
Good luck.
John
 
John said:
I have the same problem with my 96 850 turbo; started around 214000 miles,
the ABS and TRACKS light come on together. It is very intermittent and
usually stays on until the next time I start the car and the ABS system
conducts the system check at around 10 mph. I don't know what causes it but
someone told me that a low battery may cause it.
Good luck.
John
Click to expand...

Very common on 1996-1998 850 and S/V/C70, it's the ABS computer
failing. If you can find a place to read the codes, you'll probably
find that it reports a problem with the right rear sensor, but that
won't cure anything. Slowly the light will be on more and more often.
 
Very common on 1996-1998 850 and S/V/C70, it's the ABS computer
failing. If you can find a place to read the codes, you'll probably
find that it reports a problem with the right rear sensor, but that
won't cure anything. Slowly the light will be on more and more often.
Click to expand...

I think, from other posts, that its a heat related issue - the ABS ECU
is overheating and failing.

Look at the links below - 1 UK, 1 USA which might come in useful


http://www.bba-reman.com/
http://home.earthlink.net/~vicrocha/Volvo_Parts/Volvo_ABS_feedback.htm


Sean
 
Bev said:
This response of mine will probably generate a lot of controversy, but
it is true for my boyfriend's '96 850 GLT anyway. His car is fairly
well-maintained (dealer serviced at recommended intervals; kept clean;
regularly checks fluid levels). The only problem he has is that the rim
of the left rear wheel is slightly bent so air escapes out of that tire
very very slowly (over several weeks). He keeps all the tires at 38 psi,
and over 3 - 4 weeks, the tire on this rim will drop to 30 psi. Anyway,
when it does, the ABS light comes on. Reinflating the tire to the
right psi makes it go away.

A month ago, we found a second condition under which the ABS light came
on. We hadn't driven the car for about 2 weeks, and the battery had run
down.
After driving the car for about two miles, the ABS light came on. The
next morning we check the tire pressure and they were all okay. We had
to drive to Wisconsin (from Chicago), so set off for Wisconsin in his car
anyway. Maybe that recharged the battery or whatever, but the light went
out, and hasn't come back on again.

So empirically, I believe the post about low batterys causing the ABS
light come on, and I would like to add that at least in one '96 850, an
under- inflated tire causes the ABS light to come on.

Beverly
Click to expand...
Thank you for the tip, I hadn't checked my tire pressure.... My battery
cranks the car fine.. so I dunno about that. Will check it, thanks again.
 
Sean said:
I think, from other posts, that its a heat related issue - the ABS ECU
is overheating and failing.

Look at the links below - 1 UK, 1 USA which might come in useful


http://www.bba-reman.com/
http://home.earthlink.net/~vicrocha/Volvo_Parts/Volvo_ABS_feedback.htm


Sean
Click to expand...
Thanks for those links, might save me a bundle, they are permanently
bookmarked!

I'll have to investigate the heat aspect... the light first came on on a
cool morning after only 5 minutes or so of operation... temp gauge most
likely not even registering yet... and today it was hot as hades, 92
degrees and I drove it 20 miles home at mixed speeds and it never came on..
A bit of a mystery, thanks for your reply.
 
Very common on 1996-1998 850 and S/V/C70, it's the ABS computer
failing. If you can find a place to read the codes, you'll probably
find that it reports a problem with the right rear sensor, but that
won't cure anything. Slowly the light will be on more and more often.
Click to expand...

This response of mine will probably generate a lot of controversy, but
it is true for my boyfriend's '96 850 GLT anyway. His car is fairly
well-maintained (dealer serviced at recommended intervals; kept clean;
regularly checks fluid levels). The only problem he has is that the rim
of the left rear wheel is slightly bent so air escapes out of that tire
very very slowly (over several weeks). He keeps all the tires at 38 psi,
and over 3 - 4 weeks, the tire on this rim will drop to 30 psi. Anyway,
when it does, the ABS light comes on. Reinflating the tire to the
right psi makes it go away.

A month ago, we found a second condition under which the ABS light came on.
We hadn't driven the car for about 2 weeks, and the battery had run down.
After driving the car for about two miles, the ABS light came on. The
next morning we check the tire pressure and they were all okay. We had
to drive to Wisconsin (from Chicago), so set off for Wisconsin in his car
anyway. Maybe that recharged the battery or whatever, but the light went
out, and hasn't come back on again.

So empirically, I believe the post about low batterys causing the ABS light
come on, and I would like to add that at least in one '96 850, an under-
inflated tire causes the ABS light to come on.

Beverly
 
Fred K said:
Thanks for those links, might save me a bundle, they are permanently
bookmarked!

I'll have to investigate the heat aspect... the light first came on on a
cool morning after only 5 minutes or so of operation... temp gauge most
likely not even registering yet... and today it was hot as hades, 92
degrees and I drove it 20 miles home at mixed speeds and it never came on..
A bit of a mystery, thanks for your reply.
Click to expand...

Hi
I had the same problem with my 93 850GLT around 250 kmiles, readout said
rear right sensor but checking the sensor it had no fail but the wire from
the sensor to the conector under the rear seat was broken and caused
periodic fault. Also the pulse weels can cause periodic fault as they brake
caused by corrosion on the driveshafts or hubs.

good luck
Per
 
Bev A. Kupf said:
This response of mine will probably generate a lot of controversy, but
it is true for my boyfriend's '96 850 GLT anyway. His car is fairly
well-maintained (dealer serviced at recommended intervals; kept clean;
regularly checks fluid levels). The only problem he has is that the rim
of the left rear wheel is slightly bent so air escapes out of that tire
very very slowly (over several weeks). He keeps all the tires at 38 psi,
and over 3 - 4 weeks, the tire on this rim will drop to 30 psi. Anyway,
when it does, the ABS light comes on. Reinflating the tire to the
right psi makes it go away.

A month ago, we found a second condition under which the ABS light came on.
We hadn't driven the car for about 2 weeks, and the battery had run down.
After driving the car for about two miles, the ABS light came on. The
next morning we check the tire pressure and they were all okay. We had
to drive to Wisconsin (from Chicago), so set off for Wisconsin in his car
anyway. Maybe that recharged the battery or whatever, but the light went
out, and hasn't come back on again.

So empirically, I believe the post about low batterys causing the ABS light
come on, and I would like to add that at least in one '96 850, an under-
inflated tire causes the ABS light to come on.

Beverly
Click to expand...

There's no controversy in your answer - both problems you mention will
cause error codes. However the tire needs to be nearly flat (different
wheel speeds) and if you have battery (or alternator) problems enough to
cause the ABS light to come on, usually there are other problems as
well.
 
There's no controversy in your answer - both problems you mention will
cause error codes. However the tire needs to be nearly flat (different
wheel speeds) and if you have battery (or alternator) problems enough to
cause the ABS light to come on, usually there are other problems as
well.
Click to expand...

We will be on the lookout for these. As far as the tire pressure goes,
he (and I) monitor it quite carefully, and the ABS light is triggered
when the left rear is at 30 psi while the others are at 38 psi. It
doesn't happen when the right rear is at 30 psi but the left is at 38.
The dealer couldn't find anything wrong with the sensor, and because
the light goes off, it doesn't leave any diagnostic codes behind.

The battery/alternator is definitely a good point. With my Volvo (S70),
if I don't use it for a few weeks (which is often), the battery doesn't
drain. With his, if it isn't used for two weeks, the battery drains.
He hasn't been able to trace it yet. We've had this problem since he's
bought the car. Usually he drives it every day, and we discovered it
after a trip to Europe.

Bev
 
I had a similar problem on my 1998 V70R, the ABS/TRACKS lights come on
at random and stay on until I stop the engine, wait about a minute or so
and start it again. I took it into a Volvo dealership and the diagnostic
apparently said that I have a faulty brake sensor and that it'd cost
about $900 to replace. Well, I thought I'd live with the faulty sensor.

-Chetty
 
Why not give all the sensors a good clean and see if that fixes your problem.

Cheers, Peter.

: I had a similar problem on my 1998 V70R, the ABS/TRACKS lights come on
: at random and stay on until I stop the engine, wait about a minute or so
: and start it again. I took it into a Volvo dealership and the diagnostic
: apparently said that I have a faulty brake sensor and that it'd cost
: about $900 to replace. Well, I thought I'd live with the faulty sensor.
:
: -Chetty
:
: In article <[email protected]>,
:
: > I have the same problem with my 96 850 turbo; started around 214000 miles,
: > the ABS and TRACKS light come on together. It is very intermittent and
: > usually stays on until the next time I start the car and the ABS system
: > conducts the system check at around 10 mph. I don't know what causes it but
: > someone told me that a low battery may cause it.
: > Good luck.
: > John
: > : > >
: > > Greetings all,
: > >
: > > My ABS light on my '96 850 has come on, then gone off twice in the last
: > > week. Each time it only stays on about 10 minutes or so, then goes back
: > > out.
: > > The owners manual says to take it to the dealer, but I was wondering if
: > any
: > > of you had nay comment on this issue.
: > > The car has had regular service and good upkeep, it now has 115k miles on
: > > it.
: > > Thanks in advance for any oberservations....
: >
: >
 
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