How to disable ABS flashing light.

[Gavin Curtis]

Originally Posted by veedubmechanic

Hondas are deffinately more reliable than vw's thats for sure. But vw are safer, quieter, and alot more comfortable than hondas. Passats DO have a big problem with abs control modules from 98-01. Electronics go bad, its just a mater of time, not if.

Electronics indeed fail often... because of poor engineering. The typical semiconductor chip when kept at a low and stable operating temperature and proper encapsulation methods can literally last hundreds of years. Low power devices such as digital watches etc are estimated to have lifespans of 500+ years; perhaps into the thousands. A company my sister works for designs multiprocessor controller boards for specific industrial application. These rack mount devices have estimated continual use lifespans of a minimum of 200 years! By then the LED displays will have dimmed considerably... but apparently they assure their customers this incredible lifespan. Certain devices such as electrolytic capacitors are avoided etc.

Electronics in cars fail due to very poor quality control and manufacturing techniques. The ECU (engine control computer) usually has a reputation for being very reliable.... simply because it is built to very high standards. Rest of the electronics in the average car fall into lower categories. ABS units seem to hit the bottom followed only by the body control module after the early 90's.

Bosch 5.3 units overall should easily outlast the car and are probably limited in life by the EEPROM memory retention time of 70 years or so. At which time, the EEPROM data would need to be refreshed.

Once the design weakness has been addressed, the 5.3's are one of the best ABS units out there. I originally hated them.... but I do see their numerous positive attributes once the faults have been corrected in the rebuild. They are indeed cheap... but the chips are properly encapsulated and heatsinked in a manner to give the device a very very long service life; like one of those throwaway digital watches that can potentially last hundreds and hundreds of years.

The actual cost to make the 5.3 electronic controller appears to be about $23.00 in materials. So why they are selling for $1400+ is quite a markup.

[gelsonp34]

Originally Posted by fzadeh

Thanks, would this require taking the whole Gauge Cluster out of the Dash first?

I'm having the same problem has anyone found out how to disconnect that flashing ABS light?

[lodownlv]

i know how to fix them give me a shout ill do it cheep!

[Roadandguitarman]

How can I disable the 3 beeping sounds for the ABS and Brake warning lights on a '98 VW Passat?

[drewrob40]

Originally Posted by Roadandguitarman

How can I disable the 3 beeping sounds for the ABS and Brake warning lights on a '98 VW Passat?

Your ABS computer is f'ed.

Go here: www.cheapabs.com

There are lots of places that repair these now. I shopped around and these guys were the cheapest and fastest on my '00 passat. Got my abs back within a week. Everything worked as soon as i plugged the rebuilt unit in. I don't remember how much I paid but I think it was about $100 after everything. (tho the mechanic charged me 30 bucks to pull it out and send it to them).

[pmarhi]

Had the same problem with my 2000 Passat. The only way to fix this is to repair/replace your ABS module. I brought my Passat into the dealer and was told I needed a new ABS module. Cost: $890. I found a company not far from me that that will rebuild your ABS module for $139 and guarantee it for as long as you own the car: BAA Reman, Taunton MA http://www.bba-reman.com/us/index.aspx. They also will sell you a rebuilt module for $199, but you must have the module re-coded, and my local dealer would not do that for me (nice guys, huh?). And you must send them your original module. If you have your own rebuilt and re-installed, no re-coding is necessary. So I had my local mechanic remove the module (you can still drive the car), and drove down to Taunton, MA where they are located. They were kind enough to do the rebuild on the spot (only takes about 45 mins.). Had lunch nearby and came back in 45 mins and took it home with me, had it re-installed by my local mechanic and problem solved! No more beeping, no more flashing lights. Total cost to me: $214 ($139 + $75 to remove and re-install). Highly recommend BAA Man. They couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. Even have removal instructions on their website.

[tooskinneejs]

I ran across this forum after doing a google search on "passat abs control module." The control module on my 2000 VW Passat failed this spring causing me to fail my recent Virginia safety inspection. The auto shop quoted me about $1,000 to replace the ABS control module with a new replacement part.

Luckily I stumbled upon this forum and saw the link for cheap-abs.com.

I spent $99 having cheap-abs do the repair to the control module and $200 having my local auto shop take the module off and put it back on after repair.

I highly recommend the cheap-abs route if anyone is experiencing the same problem. They were very quick to turn it around too (just a couple of days).

[edonia]

Volkswagen passat is the worst car in the world
.......for me this car doesn't exist anymore ...
I feel like put it on fire .
I want my money back
i hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kwesiman]

pmarhi

Can you show me which mechanic helped you out by taking out the ABS and you were still able to drive the car? I live near taunton and can take it BBA but I dont know any mechaninc that has done this before.

thank you

[72hopilot]

Bought "the wife's" 2000 Passat in 2004. Got a great deal on it from her girl friend who bought it new at the local VW dealer. Overall it's been a descent car but I'm a "mechanical" type of guy, old school BOP (Buick, Olds, Pontiac) and I actually enjoy working on cars. I have a 1999 Olds Alero with 170,000 miles and it runs excellent. Besides the usual brakes pads, plugs, oil, airfilter, I haven't had to do anything to this car. As far as I'm concerned, the Passat is a mechanic's nightmare. I honestly believe that this car was purposely designed to make it as hard as possible for the owner to fix ANYTHING, forcing the owner to take it to the dealer, where they charge you out the ass as you take it up the ass when trying to get anything done properly by them. So far, ours has had two complete sets of CV boots, 5 control arms, the timing belt and all associated pulleys, belts, thermostat, and of course, the infamous ABS MODULE!, along with other little annoyances that piss me off even more. Every time I attempt to work on this german POS I need to buy SPECIAL tools or SPECIAL parts.....WTF?....I get so angry every time I wrench on this car that I want to scream!! The other night I was in the middle of one of my typical "Passat" rants when attempting to reinstall the passenger side drive axle after replacing yet another CV boot when my wife opened the door of the garage and asked what I was yelling about. I yelled back at her' "NO WONDER THE DAMN GERMAN"S LOST THE WAR!!!"......and to think, I'm German....LOL!....oh well....the wife bitches at me every time I bitch about this German piece of automotive excellence (can you sense the extreme sarcasm in my voice).....so I guess I'm stuck with it until it dies for good or she decides to get that new Cadillac (Thank you Lord).....so wish me luck....the weekend after next I'm attempting the Passat's new clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing........Lord give me strength!

[99passatPOJ]

I didn't need to decorate my house for christmas, I just took the car for a drive and looked at all the lights on the dash!. Here is some advice to all VW owners and the best solution to their problems SELL IT! Take the loss you'll come out way ahead then owning a VW peice of junk. I own a 99 passat GLX, bought it new. Can't afford to buy a new one since i've gone broke fixing this one. Everything you can think of has gone wrong with it... Front ends numorous times, electronics, radio, transmision is groaning now, ABS modulator is out Oh don't forget to replace the serpantine belt ($1,500) at 80k miles, they'll fail and then you will get stuck with a $4,500 valve job bill.. It doesn't matter what consumer reports say or any one else says they're JUNK! Don't be fooled by "they fixed the problem" the new ones will turn out just as bad.

[JSUSK]

Best solution...BBA Reman out of Massachu

Less than $300 they will repair yours.. Ive used them on two cars..
EXCELLENT ..
US Office
BBA Remanufacturing Inc
300 Myles Standish Blvd
Taunton, MA 02780
Toll Free: 1 (866) 573 - 2740
Local: 1 (508) 822 - 4490
Fax: 1 (508) 822-4491
email: US-Sales@BBA-reman.com

[erhead64]

01 jetta: abs, battery, oil light flashing tachometer arm dropping, 3 beeps.
took my car to the dealership and related this to them. they looked at me as if i were an alien and told me they had NO idea what this could possibly mean...........thanks for all the input in this forum. we are going to check out the rebuilding option.

[Speed32]

Ok so I just bought a 2001 passat 4 days ago and I've already put 275 into it to replace the dash were the odometers are. now it's telling me brake default and all my lights on my dash are on and won't turn off. I had it ran and the code p16-26 came up I've been looking it up and I'm guessing its the abs module. I really don't want to spend a lot of money repairing this car since I had a 1995 Acura legend and it become a lot of money. So can someone please give me some advice as how to turn it off or a cheap place to get it fixed I'm in Arizona.

[veedubmechanic]

There is a place out on the east coast called bba-reman.com that repairs them for cheap