[Michael9]

Great forum, very supportive and (thankful sigh) often reassuring. I'm into my second week of owning a dark purple (amethyst?)94 CSE Turbo. It's in for its roadworthy certification today and only needs new CV boots. Last week I had a new radiator installed. However; to the point... my ABS light comes on every now and then. The intermittency varies quite a lot. Bumps seem to light it up consistently though. I've read lots of posts which say it's probably wheel sensors but I get no sensation of the ABS being "there" i.e no thrumming at the pedal. Can the system be down and still not show an alert/show an intermitent alert? Thanks again to Noel for his help last time.

 

[raske9k]

It may not be the sensor itself, but its mounting, if the gap between the sensor and the tone wheel varies when the road wheel hits a bump, the sensor may not be properly seated, check the sensors connections as well. ABS is not noticeable under normal braking conditions, unless you really slam the pedal under slippery conditions you'll definately feel the pedal pulsating.

 

[Michael9]

Thanks for that. I think what needs to happen now (and it's something I expectedto do once I'd got a "feel" for the car and learned a bit more from great sites like this) is that I take it to the Canberra SAAB dealer to do a detailed diagnostic on the car so I have a baseline for fixing up anything else that's not quite right. Whatever's making the alert show up will be evident by specific codes I guess. I must admit trolling through reviews and forums doesn't leave you brimming with confidence about how healthy my wallet will be in the future and that's on a car that's picture perfect and still feels new at 103K kilometres. Maybe it's like new parents to be; they should definitely not read books on obsetrics ... In terms of forums and the like, naturally you're mainly going to read about problems that occur.

 

[midway]

Check your brake fluid level with the accumulator fully charged. My ABS light is very sensitive to brake fluid level and there can be a significant difference in levels between a charged and noncharged system. Besides it is the easiest thing to do and cheapest fix.