Dashboard is a Christmas tree!

[Whitelionel]

Hi all! New here so I appreciate any input at all!

Had my 17 Plate FR Tech for 5 years now, besides having the silicone bag split it's been fine up until recently!

Car generally turns over and runs fine, however a few weeks ago I had a tyre pressure sensor tell me I had a flat, upon checking they all seemed fine and carried on.

Week later whenever the car is up to temp, the card momentarily slows down for a very brief second and then carries on fine for the rest of my journey, it's done it a few times now until yesterday when most of my dash lit up with errors such as "ESC disabled, Tyre pressure low, Automatic brake disabled amongst a few others (no Eng Management light thankfully!).

Pulled over, restarted the engine and everything disappeared and drove 20mi home. It also slowed slightly as stated previously before lighting up.

I'm absolutely baffled what could be causing this, my OBD reader states no fault codes found so I'm at a loss as generally it's fine.

I've heard this could be a battery fault but surely the car wouldn't turn over as a result?

I'll be taking this to the garage soon as I have no experience with modern cars but any indications I can supply would be great!

Many thanks

 

[Seriously?]

Failing battery can cause such electrical malarky, but then so can dud ABS sensors and dodgy brake light switches.
It's a game of parts darts without getting into reading the codes. I'd be checking the resting voltage on the battery first.

 

[MJ]

An ABS sensor failing is a good shout. Without the appropriate equipment, you won't be able to read the ABS module faults though.

 

[BillyCool]

Your tyre pressure is "measured" by the ABS sensor when up to speed, so that's a good clue and would tie in with the error lights you've got.

Which OBD reader are you using?

 

[Whitelionel]

Your tyre pressure is "measured" by the ABS sensor when up to speed, so that's a good clue and would tie in with the error lights you've got.

Which OBD reader are you using?

Oh I don't really trust my reader, it was a cheap ebay jobbie for an older car. I've never needed to use it for 5 years so it probably needs to get to the garage to be checked with a decent reader.

I'll get my multimeter from work tomorrow and test the battery. But it's going in for its Mot next week so I'll ask for them to take a look and see if there are any Abs sensor errors.

Many thanks for the input so far!

 

[BillyCool]

Oh I don't really trust my reader, it was a cheap ebay jobbie for an older car. I've never needed to use it for 5 years so it probably needs to get to the garage to be checked with a decent reader.

I'll get my multimeter from work tomorrow and test the battery. But it's going in for its Mot next week so I'll ask for them to take a look and see if there are any Abs sensor errors.

Many thanks for the input so far!

Ok - some of the cheaper readers will only do basic engine codes and not ABS, airbags etc. I have the Carista dongle and app and it works well.

If it's going for an MOT they can't pass it with dashboard error lights showing, so it would be good if they can fix it at the same time.

 

[mty12345]

I agree with what everyone else said. Highly likely it's a ABS sensor and your OBD can't read it.

 

[Whitelionel]

I agree with what everyone else said. Highly likely it's a ABS sensor and your OBD can't read it.

I have a months leeway to get this fixed so I've already rearranged for a diagnostics check to see and mentioned it could possibly be an Abs sensor.

It seems to always be the tyre pressure sensor which does it first.

This morning it went into limp mode on my way to work as well. I restarted the car and this managed to get me to work fine.

I travel 50mi round trip daily so I'm hoping this is the issue!

 

[BillyCool]

I have a months leeway to get this fixed so I've already rearranged for a diagnostics check to see and mentioned it could possibly be an Abs sensor.

It seems to always be the tyre pressure sensor which does it first.

This morning it went into limp mode on my way to work as well. I restarted the car and this managed to get me to work fine.

I travel 50mi round trip daily so I'm hoping this is the issue!

Just to clarify, your car does not have a dedicated tyre pressure sensor. This is done via the ABS sensor, which monitors tyre/wheels speed. If it detects any variation in a wheels speed in relation to the others, it assumes it is tyre pressure related and gives you the "tyre pressure" warning even if it's not tyre pressure related. That is why you are other errors all linked with the braking and ABS system.

"ESC disabled, Tyre pressure low, Automatic brake disabled".

The car going into LIMP mode can be another symptom:

"A faulty ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) sensor can cause a vehicle to enter limp mode. When an ABS sensor malfunctions, it can send incorrect signals to the vehicle's computer, triggering the limp mode to protect the engine and other systems. This can manifest as various warning lights on the dashboard, inconsistent speedometer readings, and unstable braking behaviour. If the ESC is disabled the car may well enter limp mode as part of an automated safety feature."

You really need the error codes to help narrow it down just to be sure.

 

[Seriously?]

Does your cruise control work?

 

[Whitelionel]

Does your cruise control work?

I don't have cruise control unfortunately.

 

[Walone]

I don't have cruise control unfortunately.

That surprises me! I thought all FR's had cruise control as standard!