Manalishis Mk 1a 827 Vitesse (manual)

[Manalishi]

That's an odd one Henrik, sounds vaguely familiar from my time with a Mk1 Sterling, do you have any warning lights on at all?

No not really, but saying that I've killed the ABS light. I remember my 216 from -94 with a Honda engine had an ecu with a blinking light to read codes, none of that is available in these old ones are they? The strange thing it occoured when I started having problems with the windows not working.

[scoobyh123]

The difference in ABS systems came at the end of 91/beginning of 92 Henrik when Bosch changed from the ABS system to the ABS-2E system. I have the ABS system on my Volvo and the ABS-2E on the Sterling, yours will be the ABS system on the Vitesse being a Mk1. No on board diagnostics on the ABS system (let's call it the ABS-1 for clarity) so various electronic toys are needed to diagnose and rectify faults. When you hear the two beeps, can you also feel a slight pulse in the brake pedal if your foot is on it or hear a slight whirring noise just before them?

There should be an ABS relay with a fuse built into the top of it hidden somewhere above the pedals, if this fuse has gone it will give these symptoms and lock the ABS out. Don't know about Swedens MoT but it's a fail here to have the ABS light on when it shouldn't be. Depending on the type of fuse used (some were the Continental type) you may have knocked the fuse out or it might simply have blown. Worth checking as a first port of call and maybe fix your ABS in one go!

[Manalishi]

Excellent Dave. I need to get those relays looked into later anyway so I’ll remember that.

Who said the light doesn’t work as it should? Actually We have the same law here but with cars older than 93-94 they tend to be very gentle with that rule. But I know for a fact my ABS has never worked in my ownership and I’ve looked through the system. The problem arose At the same time as my windows failed. And that happened when I removed the after market alarm system. I probably cut the wrong wire!

Back to the brakes. No buzz in the pedal except for What I described, a small prrr in the pedal like worn reluctor rings. And that happens mostly when it’s wet.

There are some niggling problems with it but as it has been stored outdoors for 10years I’m not surprised. I’m happy it runs so excellent! Great fun to drive!

[black_sterling]

If of any interest to this topic, the owner's manual of a 1988 Sterling states:
There are two ABS-related fuses in the engine compartment fusebox: Anti-lock brake system relay (15 A) and Anti-lock brake system modulator (15 A). There is also one ABS fuse in the passenger compartment fusebox (below dash): Anti-lock brake system relay (10 A). The ABS self monitoring system may not be completed until the vehicle has reached a speed of approx. 15 mph (24 km/h). As part of the self test a single pulse of the brake pedal may be felt under certain circumstances.

And if there is any error detected by the in car computer (the one below the stereo, in front of the gear stick),
it will send two beeps (i.e. if a faulty lamp is detected, or an open door, trunk, etc.).

You may also test the resistance of each of the ABS wheel sensors with an Ohm-Meter, if the readings of one or more sensors are off.

Best regards,
Black Sterling

[Manalishi]

If of any interest to this topic, the owner's manual of a 1988 Sterling states:
There are two ABS-related fuses in the engine compartment fusebox: Anti-lock brake system relay (15 A) and Anti-lock brake system modulator (15 A). There is also one ABS fuse in the passenger compartment fusebox (below dash): Anti-lock brake system relay (10 A). The ABS self monitoring system may not be completed until the vehicle has reached a speed of approx. 15 mph (24 km/h). As part of the self test a single pulse of the brake pedal may be felt under certain circumstances.

And if there is any error detected by the in car computer (the one below the stereo, in front of the gear stick),
it will send two beeps (i.e. if a faulty lamp is detected, or an open door, trunk, etc.).

You may also test the resistance of each of the ABS wheel sensors with an Ohm-Meter, if the readings of one or more sensors are off.

Best regards,
Black Sterling

Thanks! Very good info! I’ll start by checking those points, including blown bulbs.

[Lodein]

It is very interesting, because I have a problem with my ABS on my Rover.
The last owner had a the ABS light on, and a garage look at this problem and never solved it, so the owner decide to put off the light. he told me this when he sold me the car, but I forgot this problem !!!
So I will look how you will solved this problem (If you can take some pictures, it will be perfect) and after I will look on my car...

Lodein

[Manalishi]

Holy revival.

"The Black Beast" is back home again after some resting time at my other garage. The reason it's been off the road for 8 or so weeks is because I finally managed to get my Coupe to a garage to fix the gearbox. That is a story of it's own and will be told later... I hope to get it back this week or next, including a full reconditioning inside and out. Fingers crossed! And The black one went into hibernation as I don't have a spare battery plus I really only have one set of usable wheels. So I had to be driving it home with a borrowed battery and the old worn tyres...

Next reason for some delay in the plans is that I've spent some time rebuilding my Austin Special. Very nice results but it's been taking some time. Apparently I also have a job...

But finally it's home again and the plan for my upcoming vacation is:

* Try to locate and fix the problem with the electric windows.
* Remove the cluster (again) to get the binnacle lights to work. Should be a very easy fault.
* Get my new relay/switch board chip for the interior heater blower swapped. My friend Gunnar managed to buy one off a guy in Germany so I owe Gunnar one!
* Test the new relay for the headlamps and see if that solves my headlight problems once and for all.
* Get the original Vitesse-wheels back from the shed 150km from home and re paint them.

All of this should be pretty straightforward stuff but it takes some time, especially as some of the stuff is so far away from home. Luckily I get my 4 week vacation soon!

[scoobyh123]

Wow, you've had a busy time of it Henrik! I know that feeling! Hopefully it all comes together soon and we can hear more of your exploits with your fleet!

[Manalishi]

Quite happy to see the relay interface chip for the heater blower works! So one problem fixed, a working heater blower fan is Quite needed these days!

[scoobyh123]

Excellent news Henrik! A bit of forced ventialtion is always good!

[Marc-827-Vitesse]

Good news!

[Manalishi]

Cheers guys, yes very nice with some progress, and today I managed to get the dash lights working. Or actually I had to do a crude solution hooking it up to a live wire from the dash dimmer. To be honest there is something fishy with the compatibility between the Sterling and The Rover. The switchboard/slider assembly for the heater/blower fan works but it looks a little bit different, and as I put that in, the lights of the dash died all of them. Still, no worry there as I got it back up and running from this small paralell soldered wire.

Now I've got a new puzzle to solve. But a nice one. As I fiddled around I took the no 1 fuse in the passenger box out and cleaned it. (Sunroof) And now I have a Click from the buttons when I press it. So obviously I have a relay underneath there that came to life.

So the question is; would the sunroof be operated by the same relay as the windows? The next thing to do on my to do list is to locate the feed to the relay for the windows, and hopefully hook that up. And it would be very nice if the sunroof came to life at the same time?

[scoobyh123]

I'd have to check Henrik but fairly sure there'a a tie-up between the sunroof and windows on the control side. Good news on the progress overall though!

[Manalishi]

The Gremlins has taken it a step further. Yesterday we were fiddling with the windows and dash lights, and suddenly the car wouldn't start again. Totally dead on the key, nothing. We pulled each fuse and wiggled the starter switch connector, still dead. I even tried the fob thinking it might be killed by the immobilizer. No luck.

This morning it was still dead but then I gave the fob 5-6 turns on locking and unlocking it came to life again so I suspect there is somekind of problem with the immobilizer, but not sure how it would act? Most modern cars turn the starter and even start for a second before the immoilizer kills it. Maybe this is the aftermarket alarmsystem giving these problems. I actually removed the system last summer but maybe I cut a wire too many...

We are in the middle of a heat wave now but hopefully I'll be able to try to figure out some more on the windows and see what happens with the sunroof. It would be a major break through if we got them working again.

[Lodein]

Good luck

Lodein