2 things to ask yourself
1 - Would it pass an MOT like it ?
2 - Would you come out a roadside check unscathed like it ?
If either answers no …
Steve
bigvern1:
00dew:
bigvern1:
Remember what happened to me last time I ignored an ABS light?Catch up for those of us who don’t?
Not trailer related but…
It’s taken the spacer off for the wheel as well by the looks of it, what happened there?
8 legger:
cieranc:
Your brake system is all mechanical.
The ABS/EBS is electrical.
If the trailer isn’t braking at all, there’s a serious fault with the mechanical air brake system, not the electrical ABS system.
If the ABS/EBS fails, you should still have normal braking, just the ABS won’t work if you anchor up.Thats is not true at all, If an EBS unit looses power the brakes will only work on the front axle (well on a DAF anyway). Its totally ridiculous, we nor any of the fitters we know could believe it when it happened to us. We thought it could only be a mechanical problem so checked all the lines, valves etc. but after a lot of head scratching we found that the was a power supply fault to the EBS unit in the passenger foot well, once that was sorted the brakes started working correctly again and we’ve not had any problems since.
As I said its a ridiculous design, the people who thought it would be a good idea should be shot. Just think of the children!
It depends if it’s a F.T or an F.T.G model ref front brakes only operating with a RED EBS failure warning …Reason is with shorter chassis you are more inclined to jack knife if both axle brake with the RED EBS warning
Now i know some won’t agree that it’s safe ,but it has obviously been proven to be the better of 2 evils ,and been approved by the powers that be
cieranc:
I can’t think off the top of my head what system CF’s use (wabco, knorr bremske, haldex + maybe midland grau are the only ones really in use these days), but when I did my Haldex factory course, this was discussed. They said that in the event of any electrical failure or malfunction, the system would ‘fail safe’ and operate as a pure mechanical/air system, as this was a mandatory requirement for type approval purposes.So… if the EBS ECU lost it’s power and the brakes failed to work, then it ain’t meeting the conditions of it’s type approval.
On the most part this is neither here nor there, but in the event of a fatal accident, if the inquest finds that them brakes not working contributed to the fatality, then someone somewhere will be finding out exactly how the corporate manslaughter laws work
DAF use wabco ecu…basically the electronics can apply the brakes quicker than air having to overcome spring pressure at various valves to let the air flow to the brake chambers…If EBS fails you resort to normal air brakes unless a DAF FT ,BUT THEY ARE SCARY !!! If you have a big enough yard .pull the fuses and drive slowly and apply the brakes ,wil let you see what you are in for in the event of a failure
Just for information a driver out of our yard was tugged by VOSA at Sleaford last Tuesday, ABS amber light on on the dash in his Daf, a prohibition notice was served on the trailer and the driver was told his fine could be up to £1000. His explanation and a call to the office on loudspeaker allowed the VOSA guy to hear the grunt in the office regurgitate " No its ok to drive with the amber light on", the VOSA guy said he would not be pushing for the fine but no doubt the ■■■ will be hitting the fan some where in the company, hopefully they will be all over the firm like a rash because they tell everyone it’s ok to run with the ABS light on, I hasten to add no more for me, lights on I defect asap which is really pee ing the transport guys in the office off, we are now starting to get a small collection of defective trailers which no one will use till their put right.
The office has tried all the normal tricks, turn the Suzzie round, try turning the ignition on slowly ■■? Try a different Suzzie…even try a different unit, what ever next…
yeah i find the orange abs warning light quite normal with dafs and take no notice
i think you only have to worry or do something is if its an ebs warning
Rocketman:
Just for information a driver out of our yard was tugged by VOSA at Sleaford last Tuesday, ABS amber light on on the dash in his Daf, a prohibition notice was served on the trailer and the driver was told his fine could be up to £1000. His explanation and a call to the office on loudspeaker allowed the VOSA guy to hear the grunt in the office regurgitate " No its ok to drive with the amber light on", the VOSA guy said he would not be pushing for the fine but no doubt the ■■■ will be hitting the fan some where in the company, hopefully they will be all over the firm like a rash because they tell everyone it’s ok to run with the ABS light on, I hasten to add no more for me, lights on I defect asap which is really pee ing the transport guys in the office off, we are now starting to get a small collection of defective trailers which no one will use till their put right.
The office has tried all the normal tricks, turn the Suzzie round, try turning the ignition on slowly ■■? Try a different Suzzie…even try a different unit, what ever next…
He was either too daft to turn the ignition off before the VOSA chap got on the step or someone amongst the three of them should have known the trailer ABS light won’t go out until you drive at 10kmh. Also by VOSA’s own guide it should only be a delayed prohibition and there should also be leniency if the fault occurred during the day which it’s hard for them to prove it didn’t if you say it did.
Basically, it is the case that there are quite a lot of older trailers out there that will cause amber ABS warnings on the dash of some makes of unit. However, this is probably still used as an excuse on quite a lot of trailers that in reality will most commonly have a dynamic ABS fault that occurs often over a set speed ie fitters take it out up the roundabout and back light goes out over 10kmh and they say it’s fine. The fault probably occurs at 40mph+ and will usually be rectified by cleaning exciter rings and tapping the sensor closer to them. Other trailers that the light never goes out with any make of unit at any speed will have a more major problem with the system that will be trickier and potentially more expensive to fix.
Having said all that it’s far from the worst vehicle maintenance lapse and I think it’s an easy target for VOSA for fines at roadside checks and it’s a bit of an issue that they effectively admit themselves there are too many ABS systems that aren’t standardised in operation for them to check at their own MOTs.