A610 Intermittent Coolant Temp Gauge and ABS Light

Hi all,

I thought I'd post this as a query.
I recently went to France for 4 days covering some 600+ miles from home and back again. The only work I had done to the car prior to the trip was the fitting of a new Starter Motor purchased from Simon Auto in Germany. The old starter was getting sluggish and when the engine was hot the starter really struggled to turn over, if at all. The new starter is about 3/4 size of the old original one and really whizzes over, load's of torque!

On a few occasions on my trip and since after starting my A610 the coolant temperature gauge hasn't risen to its normal setting of about 1/3 up on the gauge then after about 40 miles of driving it suddenly starts working...then maybe after 15 miles or so it drops back to zero again. On other occasions its worked fine, or not at all, currently its working all the time...for now.

Likewise on occasions I have had the ABS light coming on, (but only when starting the car), stop say for fuel and restart and it doesn't come back on. It didn't come on during a day of stop start driving, got on the Shuttle in Calais to drive home and it comes on again. I cant say that I have noticed any difference in the braking in fact whilst in France I did a few test emergency stops on a quiet car park and the braking/ABS seems to be working just fine. The ABS light hasn't come on at all whilst driving the car, it has only come on when starting the car.
I'm wondering if these are electrical gremlins of some sort or maybe a sensor problem as my coolant temperature is obviously just fine (new radiator, hoses and heater matrix and Type D coolant all within the last year) and my ABS appears to be working fine.

Does anyone have any thoughts on either of the above, any input welcomed.

Cheers, Barry

Welcome to the world of the A610, I have had all the above slow cranking when hot is normally caused by leaking injectors or one of the pressure regulators is perforated, the Abs light coming on some times when starting I have found if you just quickly start the car the voltage drops and the Abs pump does not prime properly, turn the key to the first stage and you will hear the fuel pump and Abs pump priming then start the car, the temperature sounds like a wireing problem but electric problems I don’t get involved. Jersey John is your man for that.

Sounds like voltage issue to me

(Sounds like voltage issue to me)

Hi Jango,

Which one the coolant temperature gauge or the ABS light...?

Cheers, Barry.

Barry,
If they have both come on around the same time, I'd be hunting for connectors that have both circuits running through them.
Off the top of my head there doesn't seem to be any....so I'd start with some contact cleaner on the multi plugs that attach the engine loom to the car...these are on the RHS at the rear of the engine compartment. The starter wire and temperature sender go through them...but the other culprit could be the earth straps between the battery and the body and the engine and the body. When the starter runs its draws a lot of current and this can set up voltage differences that could upset other systems if the earth straps are not well attached and clean.
The joy or composite bodies.

Have fun...


Lee

(Sounds like voltage issue to me)

Hi Jango,

Which one the coolant temperature gauge or the ABS light...?

Cheers, Barry.

Both
I would check all wiring around starter area just in case its to do with the install of the new starter