Technical do i have abs? plus other naggly faults

[cooke2518]

hi again.

Forgive me as this is my very first fiat and im trying my best to learn everything.
I have a fiat marea weekend 1.6 elx auto 1999 v reg 65,000 and have many little bits and pieces im trying to find out about by looking through everything on this forum.
Ok on my previous cars it has been easy to identify if I have abs by either slamming on the brakes or looking at the hubs and looking for abs sensors or the rings.
This car seems to have abs but in ways it seems not to have it.
Under bonnet in the fuse box I have an abs fuse of 60 amps which says I have abs. I recently changed discs and pads and on the passenger side (left side) on the pads is the wear warning cable and also what seems to be an abs sensor going to the hub. On the drivers side there are no abs sensors going to the hub. Also what makes this even weirder is, I was changing some blown bulbs on the instrument cluster and noticed that the abs warning bulb and holder was missing and in its place was a pice of wire soldered across the 2 terminals and also another wire in another place soldered to the 2 terminals. sometimes when pressing the brake the pedal seems like the abs is kicking in but during the ice and snow I thought id test abs out and my wheels just lock up. Is it possible that the previous owners disconnected the abs, changed the hub to a non abs hub or could it be almost set up for abs. im quite confused.
Other problems im having is the auto gearbox clicking like I have a flat spot on the tyres but tyres are brand new and have been checked also drive shafts have ben checked.
Even though I don't need it yet the air con don't work. the compressor does not turn on. any ideas where the fuse is located for the magnetic clutch or where the high pressure switch is located. I reckon it either needs a top up or new switch or fuse has gone.
Other then these faults I love this car and will work on it until its excellent. Recent work done is a new cam kit and clicking and small whining started after the cam kit had been fitted. originally thought clicking was due to wavy discs but I put new ones on and it still clicks.

Thanks and apologies for the long winded post

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi,
several different points here , maybe start a thread about the AIRCON specifically - as i know nowt about it..!!

ABS = you will have a BIG manifold of brake pipes , somewhere under the bonnet - IF it has functional ABS..!!

your description of the bulb holder modification does sound srtrange - ,
Charlie

 

[bpetersb]

Hi,
Your car was certainly fitted with abs when it left the factory, it sounds to me as if the abs has malfunctioned and a previous owner has bi-passed it somehow to turn off the light.
You will find the abs mechanism at the back of the engine bay on the right as you look in. There is a manifold with all the brake pipes coming out of it with a plastic housing (the abs ecu) piggy backed on to it. If the ecu malfunctions it can be very expensive to replace hence the 'modification' probably.

The way the abs works is that if there is any fault showing the abs ecu turns the abs system off completely so you will then just have normal non abs braking.

It also seems as if you have a sensor missing, if you look at the back of the hub on the side where there is a sensor you will see where it fits into the hub held in by a single small bolt. Then check the other side, if there is no wire you will either have a sensor with the wire cut off or a hole where the sensor should be. The sensors plug into the loom at the back of the engine bay both sides, from memory on my car the connectors are quite long and cylindrical and (I think) a pale colour.

Re the air con, I am not sure if the compressor will turn on if the gas has escaped, perhaps the first thing to do is to get it recharged. I have had air con problems on a couple of cars and in both cases recharging the system has cured the problem.

As for the clicking, if it started after the cam belt change could it be something to do with that. If you really think it might be the auto gearbox why not run the car into your local auto gearbox specialist (every town has one) and ask them about it. All the ones I have dealt with over many years of owning automatic cars have been happy to have a listen and advise.

Good luck with it all

 

[cooke2518]

Hi,
Your car was certainly fitted with abs when it left the factory, it sounds to me as if the abs has malfunctioned and a previous owner has bi-passed it somehow to turn off the light.
You will find the abs mechanism at the back of the engine bay on the right as you look in. There is a manifold with all the brake pipes coming out of it with a plastic housing (the abs ecu) piggy backed on to it. If the ecu malfunctions it can be very expensive to replace hence the 'modification' probably.

The way the abs works is that if there is any fault showing the abs ecu turns the abs system off completely so you will then just have normal non abs braking.

It also seems as if you have a sensor missing, if you look at the back of the hub on the side where there is a sensor you will see where it fits into the hub held in by a single small bolt. Then check the other side, if there is no wire you will either have a sensor with the wire cut off or a hole where the sensor should be. The sensors plug into the loom at the back of the engine bay both sides, from memory on my car the connectors are quite long and cylindrical and (I think) a pale colour.

Re the air con, I am not sure if the compressor will turn on if the gas has escaped, perhaps the first thing to do is to get it recharged. I have had air con problems on a couple of cars and in both cases recharging the system has cured the problem.

As for the clicking, if it started after the cam belt change could it be something to do with that. If you really think it might be the auto gearbox why not run the car into your local auto gearbox specialist (every town has one) and ask them about it. All the ones I have dealt with over many years of owning automatic cars have been happy to have a listen and advise.

Good luck with it all

thanks to the replies. unfortunatly today a water pipe snapped off the expansion tank and caused the engine to overheat. the rac man reckons this has blown the head gasket as there is no compresssion. depending on cost its looking like the car park in the sky or ebay for this old beast. such a sad day

 

[varesecrazy]

thanks to the replies. unfortunatly today a water pipe snapped off the expansion tank and caused the engine to overheat. the rac man reckons this has blown the head gasket as there is no compresssion. depending on cost its looking like the car park in the sky or ebay for this old beast. such a sad day

OH dear - bad news,
I'm surprised the low coolant light didn't warn you before it over heated,
or was that bypassed too..??,
Charlie