ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

Twice now since I did all that cleaning under the hood, I've had my ABS light come on. Both times it's been as I'm pulling into work.

The first time it happened was on Monday (IIRC). The ABS dash light came on so I parked and turned off the car, I heard some buzzing coming from under the hood, so I popped it, and sure enough the ABS control block was purring (even with the engine off and the key out of the switch). I pulled the big old ABS fuse out, and the buzzing stopped. Reinstalling the fuse seemed to reset the ABS and the light didn't come back until today, when the ABS did the exact same thing, and I ended up having to pull and reinstall the fuse again.

I'm wondering if all the water and oil eater from hosing out of the oil in my engine bay may have made the ABS unhappy, or if this is a common issue and someone may know what's going on.

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

It sounds like it's sticking. Just lightly tap it with something.

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

The relay under the black cover, needs replacing.
I think it is a common Bosch relay.

Harvey.

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

That sounds easy enough... plus a dead relay sounds on par with something that might happen when you introduce a pressure washer to the inside of a 15 year old car. :lol:

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

It can be replaced with a standard Bosch style relay which you can pick up at Radio Shack. 30 amp automotive relay part number 275-226 ($6.79).

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062477

In the meantime, you can give the top of the box a brisk tap with your hand. This will stop it from running.

If you'd like to go with a genuine Subaru part, the part number is 26735AA012 from the subaru dealer. It retails for $51.45.

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

I occasionally get this in my car. Its not a big deal, i just pop the hood and give it a thump. But one day my girlfriend borrowed my car and parked it overnight with the relay stuck...battery died, I was a few minutes late to work in the morning....

Thanks for the part number greeen1995SVX, you just saved me some money. I will go to radio shack tomorrow.

Hal

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

That's a common problem, I think there was actually a recall on them for that, check with your local Subie dealer, seems that the last one we did was covered, wasn't in an SVX though.

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

You can also check under the passengers seat, there's a flappy cut out in the carpet, lift the flap back a little. You'll see a red flashing LED which only comes on when your ABS dash light comes on.


9 flashes is faulty motor or broken harness
10 flashes is faulty valve relay or shorted harness
16 flashes is faulty ABS control unit

any lesser flashes than 9 means it's one of the ABS sensors on one of the wheels

any lesser flashes than 5 means broken or shorted solenoid valve circuit in the hydraulic unit.

Re: ABS light came on, with under-hood noise!
 

Well, one trip to Kragen, 6 bucks, and 30 seconds under the hood and hopefully my ABS is fixed.

I guess I won't know for sure since it was an intermittent issue, but from the feedback here it certainly sounds like the relay was all it needed.