Seen this light before ?
This is the illumination warning light that will show on your dashboard if you have an ABS fault on your vehicle, it can sometimes be accompanied by the Traction Control Warning Light and the ASB (Anti-Skid Braking) as well as a couple of others such as ASR depending on the vehicle manufacturer and model in question.
It is also an MOT failure and can be dangerous because if the fault is genuine then the ABS system may not be functioning at all which will significantly increase your stopping distances, especially in wet weather and snow.
ABS Rings are a common MOT failure on today's vehicles.
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ABS Ring in action
This is a typical vehicle fitted with the ABS Ring system, the ABS sensor is a pulse type sensor which reads each tooth gliding past it no matter how fast you’re going, this information is then relayed via the ABS Sensor to the main ECU after going through the ABS actuator unit and usually a separate ABS controller module.
The ECU used this information to calculate your speed which is then relayed to other modules in order for the main ECU to build up a complete picture of what is happening.
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The ABS Ring itself ...
As you can see the ABS Ring is nothing more than a piece of metal (mild steel or aluminium) shaped in a circle with activation points dotted around the surface at equal intervals apart whether it be as Teeth or Cutouts, these are what the Sensor reads in order to gather the information the ECU requires to determine engine speed.
It fits onto the end of the CV Joint or Driveshaft and usually locates right behind the wheel. Occasionally it can be on the Inner CV Joint just outside the Gearbox.
Shown here is the Ladder style ABS Ring. If one single rung of the ladder on this ring was broken then the ABS Ring would not function correctly and you would get a warning light on your dashboard. Even a hairline crack can trigger a fault and these kinds of faults can be caused be corrosion underneath the ring lifting it slightly out of place or making a crack.
The ABS Control Unit
This is the Controlling unit for a typical ABS system, it will have a separate input pipe for each wheel as well as at least one other main control pipe connection, the housing also contains the electronics necessary for the ABS, from here the information is absorbed and sent on to the ECU.
Example of a Broken Ring
Here is an obvious example of a broken ABS Ring on the end of the CV Joint, this example is obvious to spot but some are not easy to spot as all and on rare occasions can even need to be coated in UV Light in order to catch the fault as it is spinning. This is only one possibility of what can go wrong with the ABS system but there are of course many more possibilities.
Watch how the ABS Ring information is read
