# MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off....



## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

Just wondering if anyone has any info on this one. I did a search and I see that it could be a wheel speed sensor... however, most people who have this issue the lights stay on and don't go away.
Mine came on a few days ago, after I put my summers back on. When I pulled into a gas station I checked the tire pressure, and found out that they were at about 42 PSI... dropped them down to about 35 PSI and voila the lights went away....








however, they stayed off for about 2 days, and now the come on only occasionally now, usually midway through a drive, and I have also seen them clear while driving, when usually most people have them clear only temporarily when the shut off the car and do a restart. 
Anyone have any ideas and what kind of costs it will be to repair at the dealers? 








Thanks


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off.... ([email protected])*

Here's what the dealer has done so far:
Replaced Left Front Speed Sensor 
Lubed Connectors and Wires 
New Wire Set, Wires, Connector
ADS/TCTRL lights still comes on sometimes...


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off.... (Bizzy G.L.X.)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Bizzy G.L.X.* »_Here's what the dealer has done so far:
Replaced Left Front Speed Sensor 
Lubed Connectors and Wires 
New Wire Set, Wires, Connector
ADS/TCTRL lights still comes on sometimes...

so ignore it then?


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off.... ([email protected])*

Nah, I would not ignore it, I'd get it taken care of ASAP. 
I'm taking mine to an independent shop this week to get someone else's look at it. I'll post back with what they say.


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off.... (Bizzy G.L.X.)*

Goodies - My lights went on right after I washed my car this wknd. After about 20mins in the sun, they went off. 
Came back on yesterday after a torrential rainstorm we had. Off now, after sitting in the garage overnights. 
Anyone think moisture somewhere in the brake system would cause the ABS/Traction Ctrl lights to come on?


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off.... (Bizzy G.L.X.)*

any update? I haven't had the lights come on now in 4 days now.... not sure what's going on


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

nah no update yet, I won't be able to take it back in until next week sometime. 
if i were you I'd still run it in for a diag though...


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: (Bizzy G.L.X.)*

still no lights in about 1 week or more.... I have to go in for service anyways, so I will get them to check it out.


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## vwa3guy95 (Nov 7, 2002)

*Re: ([email protected])*

I've got this exact problem too but it's about 6-8 months on-going now..... it used to be maybe once a month and now it's everyday. I've changed the pads and checked the fluid level (both of which the dealer told me would fix the problem but have not done JACK) I would buy new speed sensors but it seems like that hasn't helped anyone yet...... Someone out there has to have a solution for this!!!!

at one point when the lights would come on and the thing beeped 3 times my tach would go absolutely bonkers but that stopped..... sometimes I just get the 3 beeps and no lights.... and sometimes just the traction light comes on and stays on..... there's no real consistancy to it. Any help would be more than appreciated!!!!


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## jamesb (Mar 14, 2001)

*Re: (vwa3guy95)*

You likely have a ABS sensor going nuts, have someone scan the abs controller for intermitent error codes.


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## vwa3guy95 (Nov 7, 2002)

*Re: (jamesb)*

actually when I had it at the dealer they said that the vag-com was giving some whacky random codes and that there was also some "missing" code..... but I thought that was probably because I don't have a cat. on my exhaust. They wouldn't tell me much more because I wasn't paying them to do service just to the $105 diagnostics fee.


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: (vwa3guy95)*

still have not gone in for service yet, but will most likely this week. Should be interesting to hear what they say.
Oh the lights came back one now yesterday and stays on.


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: ([email protected])*

Dealer diagnosed it as a bad ABS module. Quoted me ~ $1100.00. 
Skipping it for now, will prolly get it fixed at the end of the summer.


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## jamesb (Mar 14, 2001)

*Re: (vwa3guy95)*

uhhhh, dealerships are dumb. Seriously, they tried to tell me my cat back exhaust was causing the secondary air pump to fail. 
Find someone who knows how to use a vag-com and let them scan the ecu and the abs controller for codes, there are some in there and something will come out.


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: (Bizzy G.L.X.)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Bizzy G.L.X.* »_Dealer diagnosed it as a bad ABS module. Quoted me ~ $1100.00. 
Skipping it for now, will prolly get it fixed at the end of the summer. 


Holy crap! Ya, I am going to the mechanic I trust...... I hope he can tell me the honest problem. I hate how you can't trust anyone anymore. I guess you never really could, unless you did it yourself.


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: (jamesb)*


_Quote, originally posted by *jamesb* »_
uhhhh, dealerships are dumb. Seriously, they tried to tell me my cat back exhaust was causing the secondary air pump to fail. 
Find someone who knows how to use a vag-com and let them scan the ecu and the abs controller for codes, there are some in there and something will come out.


Interesting thought on scanning the ABS control mod. I'm running back there tomorrow morning for something else - I'll ask them to scan the actual control mod itself then.


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## Bizzy G.L.X. (Apr 20, 2008)

*Re: ([email protected])*


_Quote, originally posted by *[email protected]* »_
Holy crap! Ya, I am going to the mechanic I trust...... I hope he can tell me the honest problem. I hate how you can't trust anyone anymore. I guess you never really could, unless you did it yourself.









Yeah, I don't think they were trying to hose me, it just took them like 5 visits and a bunch of uncesseary parts to finally diag it. 
How you liking those Hawk's btw?


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## Old Dude GTI (Dec 25, 2007)

They should not have charged you to replace good parts, but since you modified something, they got you. Check Classified - you should be able to get a control module cheap when someone's parting out a car.


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: (Bizzy G.L.X.)*

Hawks are great, normal driving the stopping is not much different than the stock pads, but when you need to get on the brakes,







wow, what a difference, I am sure the slotted rotors help too, but the first hard stop I had to do, just after I had them put on, I was testing them out, and I stopped way ahead of what I wanted to, or what I was expecting. Put a smile on my face.


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## jamesb (Mar 14, 2001)

*Re: ([email protected])*

Slotted rotors are a myth. On the race prepared golf I run hawk blues (and even they can fade) on non slotted inexpensive replacements, I do not waste my money on brembo or some other overpriced brand. The pad material and proper bedding has more to do with stopping power.
Given that I have some good stopping on the jetta, I am using boxster fronts with stock rears running Porterfield R4S pads all around. They are all beat and I am about to go HP+ front and HPS rears on 12.3 oem TT rotor replacements front and stock VW solid rears. That setup is not as impressive as my Golf but I can still use them on track if I chose to drive that car when I am instructing at a track day.
Good luck on the ABS scan, but I doubt its a computer. A dealer told me that, and it turned out a 25 dollar harness on the right front was shorting out on me.


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## vwa3guy95 (Nov 7, 2002)

*Re: MKIV - ABS and Traction CTRL light come on and off.... ([email protected])*

an update on my crap....... now the traction, abs, e-brake, engine, and oil lights all flash in no special order.......... and my tach is jumping all over the place. Now i'm sure it has to be a short somewhere, or a faulty abs module, or a combination of both...... can anyone help me out or tell me where to start looking? I can see the connector for the abs module but I just can't get to it........ could it be a batt/alternator problem?


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## Old Dude GTI (Dec 25, 2007)

This seems like a longshot (maybe not) but you said after washing the car the light came on. Could be a faulty ABS wire at one of the wheels that's shorting out. Or anywhere else you shoot a lot of water. When you wash your car do you get water under the hood? 
BUT, since you mention it, check and make sure the accessory wires from the battery and the fuse box on top of the battery are tight. Is your battery fully charged and your alternator putting out? You may want to check the wires that go to the ABS unit under the hood.


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## vwa3guy95 (Nov 7, 2002)

*Re: (Old Dude GTI)*

on top they seem pretty tight...... there is a lot of blue-ish corrosion on the pos. batt terminal however. haven't checked the alternator yet.


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

wow, that sounds really crappy.....I am going in this Friday, to get mine all checked out. I am sure it will be awhile. I am going to get them to call me first before they do any repairs. 
Good luck with your's and keep us posted.


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## [email protected] (Nov 27, 2003)

it was the left rear wheel speed sensor acting up - $225 later, parts and labor and so far so good. 
Man VW's labor $$ p/hr is a crock of sh!t


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## Scooby1 (Mar 29, 2006)

My wife's car started doing this about a week ago, it randomly died this afternoon & wouldn't crank back up. She had it towed home & low and behold it cranked up and drove itself off the trailer. About 2 days before the warning lights came on I had replaced the battery & alternator. Two weeks before that, the car was in a fender bender. I'm thinking that is what is causing this problem. Would a bad wheel speed sensor disable the whole car?


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## JBraga (Aug 19, 2004)

*Re: (Scooby1)*

I had this happen to me a few months back. Basically driving, then all of a sudden engine just shuts off. I had it towed to a dealer since it was closer then taking it home. They didnt find anything wrong. They thought it was the battery. Everything started up fine there. To make a long story short..it was the engine speed sensor/crank sensor. If you wait an hour engine starts up, but will shut off randomly. After replacing the sensor problem has been taken care of.


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## Scooby1 (Mar 29, 2006)

*Re: (JBraga)*

Did your check engine light come on (mine doesn't), or was it just the ABS/ASR light flashing occasionally? I'm starting to think it might be the ABS computer in mine, today it ran for about 30 seconds before the lights came on and the car died, but just as the lights came on I heard a noise that sounded like something shorting out coming from the area where the ABS computer is located.


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## destryer_84 (Jun 17, 2011)

*Real helpful!*

Hey thanks all who posted this thread! :thumbup: I got the same issue going on with my 03 Jetta GLI. Hoping after i replace the intake change over valve i'll ask my mechanic about how much it would be to change an abs module or even find out about checking the wheel speed sensor if it's acting up. 

Any other suggestions?


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