Hey guys,
I took the car out this weekend for a small trip just to keep it from sitting in the garage so long. Weather was sunny, but outside temp was about 15 degrees. On the trip I really took it easy with only a few quick bursts. I made one quick pull in third gear and then the ABS and PSM lights came on and the on board computer said both systems had failed. Why would something like this happen? It was a short pull in third gear and I hit about 1 - 1.1 Bar and then I had to hit the brakes hard due to some careless driver cutting into my lane (I guess I shouldn't have been going that fast, but that's another issue....). I then shut the car off and upon restart everything was fine. I read some old posts about this and they mentioned the MAF sensor going bad?? Would that go out already with only 1500 miles on my 2004 Turbo?? Could the cold temps have anything to do with it? I haven't driven the car since, so I don't know if it was just a one time thing. I hope it was, but I am still concerned. Any input would be truly appreciated. Btw, the upgrades to the car are in my sig. at the bottom.

 

this has happened to me about 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years (usually when doing nothing abnormal and when the car is cold). like yours, my lights go out upon restart.

at the PDE this happened several times and it didn't bother them either.

 

Thanks for the response. Do both the systems still work once those lights come on, or have they actually "failed" until the car is restarted? I was going to try to see if they were still working, but decided not to find out if my PSM had failed with 15 degrees outside and icy road conditions.

 

"Do both the systems still work once those lights come on"

yes.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to be in contact with Rene (NA Distributor) and would like to see what he thinks of this. He's been great so far, so I expect to have this resolved without any issues. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

Mark,

A number of things can trigger the PSM/ABS failure lights. Upon restarting your car, the lights may/may not disappear. If they do disappear, they may come back.

For example, when the PSM/ABS light came on in my car, the cause was a torn diverter valve manifold. Upon restarting my car, the lights disappeared. However, as soon I accelerated hard, the lights reappeared.

Other people have experienced the PSM/ABS failure lights as a result of modifying their ECU.

A faulty MAF or loose clamp could also trigger the PSM/ABS failure lights.

There are even more possible causes.

How is your car running? Can you run full boost? How is throttle response?

 

Yeah, me too. I thought version IV had all the problems rectified.

 

You'll need version 5 of the upsolute program to rectify all issues. Mine is going out to rene next week. I highly doubt your MAF sensor is damaged.


I know a couple of guys that had the same issues with the stock ecu.

 

Version 4 is for minimally modded cars with stock K16s . Version 5 is for cars with bigger turbos , etc. as I recall.
If it's very cold, our Z-rated tires turn into rocks and you could have induced massive tire slippage beyond what the factory has calibrated into torque control for that gear at that rpm/throttle angle , triggering the ABS/PSM into fault mode . You may not have felt it as they were doing what they are supposed to do. I've seen this even on cars being dyno'd . Turning off resets everything. If it recurs , have it checked out.

 

Guys,
I am in contact with Rene and he is looking at the possible causes as I write this. I have the Ver. 4 software and when I spoke to Rene last he stated that the Ver. 5 software was for more heavily modified cars and those with larger turbos. I must admit the weather was quite cold that day and the roads were probably icy even if it didn't look like it, but I did not notice any wheelspin at all. It was a burst from like 60 to 90 and then I immediately hit the brakes and made a hard left turn. I really can't pinpoint at what point the lights triggered since this all happened very quickly. I assumed that I had reached the limit of braking and the ABS kicked in, but then I was surprised to see it come up as a "failure." I really haven't driven the car much if any since I had the software installed. This past weekend was the second time I had the car out since, and the first time I drove it a bit harder. The weather is terrible here in NY so I don't think I'll be able to drive it anytime soon to see if I can trigger the lights again. I would really hate to have to uninstall this software since it has transformed this car into a tremendously fast machine. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

MarkL; This has happened twice to me in the past and similar to the gentleman who stated it was a torn diverter valve the source of trouble both times was traced to the induction/vacuum system generally. I think that it is possible that you may have an open line somewhere in the car.

I don't know why this shows up as ABS failure lights but it does.

 

MarkL; This has happened twice to me in the past and similar to the gentleman who stated it was a torn diverter valve the source of trouble both times was traced to the induction/vacuum system generally. I think that it is possible that you may have an open line somewhere in the car.

I don't know why this shows up as ABS failure lights but it does.

 

Ssame identical thing happened to me sunday. car been sitting cold for 3 weeks with battery maintainer. started car and at that moment pulling out of garage both psm/abs failure appeared.restarted car , never came back on and drove fine. it has to be something to do with cold start.

 

No they don't--at least not in my case. I had a recurring ABS failure problem, which is now fixed. If those ABS and PSM failure lights are lit, you don't have either, trust me. I've got two sets of flat spotted Michelin Pilot Sport Cups and 1 spin in excess of 125 mph (at TWS) to prove it.

You still have brakes (no ABS) and you still have AWD (but no PSM). Until you recycle the system--shut car off, restart it, and sometimes but not always use the brakes so it resets and the lights go off--both systems will be off line.

 

i've posted about this issue before and I have Upsolute however, now that I think back both times its happened it's been after a cold start ... car was sitting at valet for about four to five hours then when I left and got hard on it both lights came on ... and another time three hours valet very very cold outside got on it at 60mph and both came on ... seems like a cold start issue?