'06 gti brake issues - dash lit up like xmas tree

[jkmelbs]

a few weeks ago on the way back home, the abs light lit up, the sliding car one, flashing parking brake + beeping. it was a really hot day here in adel and it had been parked in direct sun for a few hrs.

i took it easy on the drive home but nothing felt different


i got home and topped up the brake fluid but it seemed ok. gave it a few hrs and everything was back to normal. drove ok for ages


i havent driven for a few weeks, go for a drive today and same thing happens but now when applying the brakes gently the brake pedal feels like its slipping/clicking. Oh and the esp off light has come on when idling in the driveway and wont turn off!!

my brakes and rotors are fairly newish..

about 2 months back i had new tyres put on by a tyre place near work, could something have been messed up then?


the other thing is the mileage - normally i get 7-7.5 when driving around, but it was 10-11 today.


anything had something similar happen?

[JTop]

Scan it, just under the steering wheel(most autostores can do it and get you a printout) and come back!

Mileage should have nothing to do with the brakes? Other than your driving style really.

Clicking might be that the ABS pump or one of its modules has entered a deep sleep. Check the fuses above the battery box.

9N3 GTI manuals. First file on this link. pages 750-900 somewhere there.

I feel like you have a leak for your brake fluid. Running the pump dry causes problems.. Check the back of the engine(where your firewall is) if it's soaked. As the fluid might have leaked down and would just sit above the K subframe down the bottom.(where your steering rack sits)

Tyres, Pads and rotors have nothing to do with the caliper and fluid system/nor the electronics system. They are the end product really
Other than the ABS module sitting in the hub carrier at all wheels, these shouldn't effect everything that you have described, but can only guess until you have some fault codes.

Hope this helps a bit

[jkmelbs]

i tried turning it off then back on again (pulled the battery) - no change

but then i tried again once the cool change came through here in adel - all the warning lights were gone and i could turn the esp back on again

so strange....

Last time i tried to get my codes read at the SCA we were there for like 30min - is it meant to take that long?

[jkmelbs]

I had a look and no leaking fluid evident anywhere and the levels are the same. The warnings have turned off and on again a few times

I got my codes read at sca


It looks very electrical

I’ve had that low signal fault for years. It sticks around despite new batteries and services

The outside temp sensor died last summer on one of the 40c days.. poor little guy, just shows - - - now.

[Sharkie]

Have your battery checked. All kinds of weird electrical gremlins show up when the battery is on its way out.

[jkmelbs]

Ok I’ll give that a shot

Dumb question. How do I stop the alarm from going off when the battery is disconnected?

I thought it was putting the key in the drivers side door but it kept going..

[jkmelbs]

thanks for the suggestions everyone! but i think this little red car is on its way out

I took it to a euro garage in seaford here in adelaide this morning

He said the abs module is faulty and its not worth fixing

The car is still safe, just the abs isnt 100% (and i can feel it under slow braking - electrical whine, clicking relay and the pedal vibrates), im just going to have a constant warning about snakes chasing me and to flex my abs loudly

i wonder with the covid used car insanity if someone will still buy it with all faults - i was planning on trading it in this year anyway

[jkmelbs]

Clicking might be that the ABS pump or one of its modules has entered a deep sleep. Check the fuses above the battery box.

Yep You nailed it thanks so much

On closer inspection the last metal tab fuse had a hairline split

Replaced it and it seems fine

Brakes back to normal
Clicking gone
Warnings gone

Hopefully it was just metal fatigue and not an electrical fault causing a surge

[h100vw]

They break all the time, ABS and Power Steering

[JTop]

Yep You nailed it thanks so much

On closer inspection the last metal tab fuse had a hairline split

Knew it XD

All good!!! Thank god it's solved.

If it goes again, then you have a further electrical gremlin to solve, but really, it's just metal fatigue(hot/cold in the engine bay plus current running through it and it splits!)

Enjoy