EBD warning

[poohbah]

Hi all, just had ABS and Brake warning lights come on together in series 1 156, which manual indicates shows a fault with electronic braking device. Any ideas as to what that entails and what the fix is likely to be, before I let my trusty Alfa man lighten my wallet?

[Nate Dog]

Total guess, but likely to be ABS sensor??? Correct me if I'm wrong guys...
Take wheels off one by one and look behind discs to see if theres anything obvious, torn wire to the calliper, disconnected sensor, the little gaps the sensor reads being fouled with dust, etc... If theres nothing obvious.... well, you know what to do.

[poohbah]

Cheers Nate, will check.

[Cool Jesus]

If you haven't access to a diagnostic, it's worth paying the $60 odd bucks they charge to put the car on a Alfa mech diagnostic. Takes a lot of the guess work out of it.
What happened prior to the warning? Any wheel spins in the wet?  As Nate mention check the magnetic pick ups on each wheel, may have become clogged up.

[poohbah]

Problem solved. I took a punt and dropped in to the good folk at Cileberti's who hooked up the car to the computer, which indicated a relay fault. But before they went ahead with replacing the relay, they also checked the battery. As it turns out, it was a broken fuse in box on top of the battery. Only charged me the cost of the fuse $15, and not for the 40 mins they spent sussing it out.

[poohbah]

By the way, wanted to say thanks to Nate and CoolJ for your assistance.

In response to your questions CoolJ - there were no strange signs before the warnings came on. No wheel spin (other than off the line!), or anything else untoward, they just lit up. When I switched off ignition and restarted, they'd stay off for about 5 mins, then come back on. After the fuse was replaced they stayed off for the whole trip back to the office. Fingers crossed they stay off on my longer trip home.

[Barry Edmunds]

Poohbah. Glad to see that your problem was solved quickly and for little cost. Full marks to your Dealer.

[Cool Jesus]

Glad it's sorted mate. My Qs about prior behaviour leading to the warning became a moot point with a busted fuse. But, having it computer diagnosed worked out for you and cheaply too. Of you own a laptop I'd give some serious thought at obtaining multiecuscan for any obd compliant Alfa. For about $100 you have your own diagnostics for future use and great tool to view the inner workings of most any Alfa.

[poohbah]

Cheers Coolj, I might do that. I presume I can get one from any normal autoparts retailer?

[Nate Dog]

Unlikely

Most likely place to find it will be off ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.Xobd+alfa&_nkw=obd+alfa&_sacat=0&_from=R40

[poohbah]

Cheers, will have a look.

[poohbah]

This may be a stupid question, but what does OBD compliant stand for?

[Nate Dog]

ask google

https://www.google.com.au/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=0gjSUtb9BKWN8QeF2oFo#q=obd

[colcol]

OBD stands for On Board Diagnostic, all newish cars like 147's and 156's have OBD2, which is a standard connector for all OBD2 compliant cars, that has to be within the drivers part of the car, to stop manufacturers hiding the plug somewhere, where it can't be found.
All pre 96? cars had OBD, which was different to OBD2 and they don't interchange, Colin.

[poohbah]

Thanks guys, I was a bit slack not googling for myself! Interesting - from my own recent experience with the EBD warning, and what I've read elsewhere on here, it seems the OBD can be a useful place to start looking, but the error code can often be misleading, as with mine actually being a busted fuse, and not the relay as indicated. It came down to the mechanic knowing what else might cause the error reading.