Does anyone know where you stand with Vosa if your unit is showing an abs fault on the trailer? I picked up a trailer on Friday that was showing such a fault and was told by the office it’s fine as it’s just that trailer isn’t compatible with my unit, I knew this was BS as I pulled the trailer a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t show a fault then! After much arguing I took it too the garage where the fault WAS found and fixed! So what I want to know is what happens at a roadside check if you have an abs fault and also what is vosa’s view on units not being compatible with a trailers abs system?
Any pointers to the official rulings on abs faults?
Some older trailers will indicate an abs fault but the biggest problem is, can you imagine how much ■■■■ would hit the fan if you had a serious rta ? I bet your TM wouldnt say “I told him it was ok to use” !
Quinny:
I’ve been told by numerous people, never connect a trailer with the engine running/ignition on, as that can trigger a fault.
Once connected, switch ignition on and let it do it’s pre checks before firing up.
Ken.
I don’t disbelieve this, as I’ve recently been doing a personnel trial on connecting up without my lights or my hazards on. Once my suzies are on I then go and switch everything on and do my checks and I’ve never blown any bulbs yet where as I’ve had a few out when connecting up with everything on and flashing. Coincidence maybe I don’t know??
I’ve found some trailers that the ABS light goes out once you actually have to use it lol!!!
redbob:
I think there are genuine compatibility issues with some units & trailers
I tend to find that the DAF’s we have quite readily show “ABS FAULT”,this can happen at anytime,if the trailer travels over a series of potholes seems to be the trigger,sometimes the system is just a bit too sensitive.
Quinny:
I’ve been told by numerous people, never connect a trailer with the engine running/ignition on, as that can trigger a fault.
Once connected, switch ignition on and let it do it’s pre checks before firing up.
Ken.
I don’t disbelieve this, as I’ve recently been doing a personnel trial on connecting up without my lights or my hazards on. Once my suzies are on I then go and switch everything on and do my checks and I’ve never blown any bulbs yet where as I’ve had a few out when connecting up with everything on and flashing. Coincidence maybe I don’t know??
I’ve found some trailers that the ABS light goes out once you actually have to use it lol!!!
Yeah, some won’t go out until a certain speed - always a good blag if you get pulled by VOSA, get your engine turned off before they pop in the cab, then if they point out the ABS fault, just say “it goes out at 20mph”
As Quinny also said, a lot of people hook trailers up with the engine running / ignition on, this can spike the ABS control unit on the trailer, sometimes just causing a minor fault where turning truck off for a minute and back on will clear it, sometimes causing a major fault that requires a trip to the trailer repair place.
If its amber, I’d use it, if red then no. I had one trailer with an amber on which I tried to get fixed about 5 times, must have spent about £500 on it and no one even a specialist could figure out what was wrong with it.
From the copy of examiner’s guidance posted by Ian, it is immediately clear how important it is to complete the walk around check sheet correctly. It is also clear that the muppet in the office is wrong to tell a driver that it is OK to take out a vehicle or trailer with an illuminated yellow ABS light, if it does not extinguish once the vehicle moves above a certain (slow) speed.
Print out this guidance notice and keep it to hand so that you have a copy to shove under the man’s nose when he tries to tell you anything different.
If the fault occurs during a journey then follow the instructions in the guidance.
If you were to try and blag it by claiming that a pre-existing fault occurred during the journey and be unfortunate enough to have an RTA which subsequently involves the vehicle being inspected, it is quite possible that interrogation of the vehicle’s ECU could catch you out.
See if you have an amber - as soon as your stopped lock your driver door and switch the ignition off immediately a few of them are on their toes and jump into your cab to look at your dash.
Few years ago at Irlams we were told to ignore amber abs/ebs warnings due to them been caused by configuration problems only a problem if it went red, local DAF dealership backed this up once when I asked them this was back in about 2004 tho!
We use MANs at our place,the " fitter" told me the ABS fault is on the dash as its stuck in the computer. They had checked it out and found no fault. Virtually every unit in the fleet will have some sort of fault code on when driving, they are all stuck in the computer and they get a guy up from MAN to clear them. This worked fine until we got a hire unit and guess what? It showed an ABS fault. It’s getting fixed this weekend. Allegedly. Time to move on I think.
hi all. if stopped with light on stop engine , at mersey tunnel vosa are straight on step and telling you not to stop engine. easy pickens they havent got to get dirty.seems a cmmon thing a b s lights playing up,The volvo i drive seems to get light on whe n lifting axle, switch key of and it clears.
