Abs Code 13, Open Relay Circuit

[Esaus]

Yes i edited the post earlier with the results. It showed resistance over the pump motor power and mt wire as well as the mt wire and ground. 33.5 ohms and 36.5 Ohms over the ground.

[oldcodger]

Ah, missed your edit, sounds like a reasonable resistance.

Fingers crossed that the scrap yard ecu will sort things out ? !

[Esaus]

Yeah I'll order one today. Hopefully it will arrive before friday next week.

[Esaus]

I got the ecu today. I tried it in the car and I still get abs code 13. Wasn't what I was expecting. I tried to put the jumper in the connectors and removing the jumper and pumping the brakes but it did nothing. I tried driving the car and braking hard but it didn't change anything.

I'm going to see if there is something i've missed. Don't know if it could be the abs modulator after all. I read the airbag light and i see a code 13 there aswell. The airbag light goes out as i start the car. That info i found on it is that its the front right airbag sensor. Maybe they are on the same harness? Maybe they are related.

I don't know. I'll recheck the wires at some point and see if I try something different. Last time i couldnt reach with the test leads at each end of the wire i shorted it to ground to check continuety. If its shorted to ground at some point it wouldn't work so I'll try connecting a long cable at each end instead. However I tried disconnecting the short to ground and I lost continuety to the cables. Maybe its the modulator? And see that way. Either way this sucks. Maybe I can get a refund on the ecu i ordered from eBay.

I went to a website where you can ask toyota experts and paid a little to get an answer. I wrote what I've done so far. Well see what they reply.

[oldcodger]

Thats a dissapointment after all your hard work.

Assume the seller guarantees its a working unit, not a case of another unit with the same( common ?) fault ??

Without more circuit details etc its hard to know what to suggest.

Never used a paid for help site, the free ones are mainly scams just looking to get your personal details.

Interesting to hear how it goes ..

Why not email Car Mechanics magazine, they have 2 help gurus, one mechanical who have helped me a couple of times and the other a Diagnostics Doctor for ecus etc.

They may take several days ++ to reply.

Full details in the magazine

Dave Peacock, dpeacock760@gmail.com , www.ecutesting.com which also features abs units

[Esaus]

Thanks I'll try that if all fails. I'll wait and see what the "experts" say. The guy I asked was a toyota master mechanic according to the details. It cost 15€or so. Cheap if it works. The price varied depenting on how detailed of an answer you wanted and how urgent it is. I took medium detail and not in a hurry.

If in the end it won't work or i cant find the fault I'll ask a workshop to take a look at it.

[Esaus]

Update on the brake situation on the corolla.

I took a break for a few weeks while I worked on my other project car. I was doing alot of body work and paint.

I took up the corolla again this friday. I decided I would check the pump solenoid wires and all were ok. I also did a recheck on the ecu connectors if I had missed something. All cables were ok and had continuety and were as they were between the ecu and pump motor relay and the abs modulator harness. I decided it had to be the abs modulator that was faulty since I had tried all other options and replaced the ecu at one point.

So I called the local scrapper and they had one for my car. It has a 8 day return policy if for some reason it wouldnt work etc. So i cashed out the 90€ or so and replaced the abs modulator. It didn't WORK. My disapointment was big again. So i gave up for the day and the only option left for me would be to check the abs sensors on each wheel since why NOT?!

Come today i went out and checked the ecu connector cables towards the abs sensors. White and black was to the front right sensor. No continuety and infinite resistance. Could it have been this all this time? I checked the other wheels and they were fine. I rechecked the cables. Same result. So I went to the front right wheel arch and opened the plastic housing and took the abs sensor wire to see if i had the same results there. No continuety and infinite resistance! Finally! I took the sensor out and then I checked if the wires to the sensor from the ecu were ok. I used a jumper and checked the wire for continuety and it was ok.

I looked up the abs sensor fault code online and it was 31.....Wait....31.. 3...1...and not 1...3...............................
Turns out I had read the fault code wrong from the start. I mistook the first three blinks as the secondary set and read it as 13....So it was a **** wheel sensor all along. All that work for nothing!

Can't but laugh at this point. I put back the old abs modulator I had replaced and will return the new one i bought. I blead the brakes and they are firm and nice now. I even replaced the clutch fluid while at it and put everything back I had disassembled previously. Now i Can order the correct part and try not to booze myself to sleep tonight. Atleast someone with fault code 13 on a 98 corolla now knows how to find the fault in the system.

Lesson learned. Read your blinks correctly!

Damn all this to hell!

..

[oldcodger]

Bet you had a sigh of relief when you located that wheel sensor !

Thankfully my current car has the modern OBD2 socket and I have a lo cost reader display so hopefully will never have that problem.

Seems the price of ABS sensor varies, for my 2006 model ECP have the fronts at £35 each and rears at £60 each but other places do Blueprints at £112 each ...?

What about yours ..?

[Esaus]

I found a sensor for 17€ on a german site. I order from there often. Last time I ordered a timing belt kit for the corolla, drive belts and various service items for the corolla including temperature sensors and such that had gone bad. It will take a few days but the part at the local shop costs almost 100 €.

Yes these old diagnosis ports aren't the easiest to work with. My other cars have obd 2 connectors and work with a fairly cheap scan tool and a computer program that I have. I have fixed many problems with those; airbag light, brake light switch, abs, esc problems etc. with ease.

What I have done so far on this car are new brakes all around, full service on the car, Wiper Blades etc., replaced anti roll bar links, Cleaned out atleast 5 years worth of junk, replaced oil etc. Now what is left is the abs sensor, welding the right lower rocker panel near the rear wheel arch, replace the timing belt and drive belts before i put the window washer reservoir back into place. I also saw that after the oil change the oil cooler hose in the front has a small leak. Would be a easy fix. Then everything should be ok on that car! Plus a wax and polish.

It might need new tyres aswell as I think the old ones have a flat spot from sitting in the same place for 3 years with low air pressure as the car wobbles when i drive. It feels like a crooked bicycle wheel if you have had one. I can get 4 cheap tyres from the local scrapper for 150€. I see that a couple of the shocks leak alittle but they stil work fine so I won't replace them.

So far I've spent around 250€-300€ on that car for parts minus the abs modulator that I will return. Another 170€ for tyres and some paint for the welding job and it should be enough. I think i can get atleast 1500€ for it if I wan't to sell it.

[oldcodger]

What is your other project car, a Toyota as well ?

Just doing them as a hobby, plus a change of making a bit on money in the end ?

Not sure in you are in the North or South but here leaking shockers would fail our yearly MOT test.

Be interesting to know of that supplier in Germany, generally buy from ECP but after delays, I have been buying from Micks Garage for the last couple of orders.

[Esaus]

Its a skoda. Just as a hobby. The corolla is from a estate. It depends on how severe the leaking is and if it affects the handling of the car. They check that during the test and if it doesn't dampen they might fail it or they write a comment that they are leaking.

[Esaus]

Funny story today. Yesterday I was going to return the abs modulator. The store clerk said that it wasn't the same modulator as I bought. They keep the reference pictures on their computer. He said I won't get a return as its not their part etc. It was missing a green mark that they put on the abs modulator at the factory. Basically a green marker pen mark on the top of it! Which I removed when i cleaned the abs module with brake cleaner! Basically saying I was trying to scam them. It ****** me off and I said I'd come back and stormed out! Wen't home and took pictures of the abs module in the car and of the one I bought. I knew it was the correct one. Today I wen't back said that it is the same module as yesterday. He was very oh well we'll see. I pointed out his mistakes on the reference picture and showed proof that the one in the car was the one I had previously with pictures I had taken in april. He quickly shut up and went to the machine and refunded me the money. Then gave som excuses about how strange that the marker pen mark was gone etc. Well that happends when you clean a part with cleaners. He obviously was very embaressed but he was very condemning the day before so I was happy that he got embaressed in front of his coworkers. Then i left. What an jackass. Doesn't really give me reason to shop there anymore.

[Esaus]

I got the new abs sensor today and fitted it to the car. It fixed the problem! Finally! Now I can move on. Hopefully someone with abs code 13 might have use of this post in the future.

Thanks for the help and support!

[oldcodger]

Glad you have got it sorted !

Think you should rename yourself Marathon Man ... :D