Broken?

[Christophski]

Hey guys

Every morning this week I have had the dreaded red circle with exclamation mark flash at me.

I remember reading about the bomb test. Press the peddle until it's solid. Unfortunately can't search as not on the computer.

Is 42 and 33 pumps to much and mean it's broken?

I have a small coolant leak but keep it topped up so I don't think this is causing the pressure or level sensor to be triggered.

Thanks

[Fat Audi 80]

Drive, ignition off, pump pedal until hard (oo er). You should be getting between 40 and 50 pumps for a healthy bomb.

Check your levels and the integrity of the wiring on the water and power steering fluid sensor.

HTH

Cheers,

Steve

[Christophski]

Cheers steve so 33 and 42 is ok? Is it more than 50 and it's broken or is it less than 40 and it's broke? And I did it after having driven the car and all levels are topped up nicely too.

Thanks

[S2central.net]

check wiring at the switches on brake fluid reservoir lid, the PAS reservoir lid and the brake servo. Last one is fiddly to access... could also be bad connections at the two cylindrical multipin blocks on the bulkhead - occasionally seen water get into these and cause some badness.

[Christophski]

Ok so try some contact cleaner on them too I guess?

[Christophski]

Just a thought, will the sign come up if there is to much fluid in any of these reservoirs as I'm over filling the coolant one

[Fat Audi 80]

Taken from Pauls's site. www.s2central.net

Testing the bomb -

The easiest test of the bomb, which requires no equipment (other than your foot) is with the engine off, and to count the number of pumps of the brake pedal that are needed to empty the bomb. This results in a 'dead' pedal which will feel rock hard with no servo assistance. A healthy bomb should require more than 30 pumps to achieve this state. A bomb performing less than ideally will require 20 pumps, but if less than 10 pumps are needed then the bomb should be replaced absolutely as soon as possible.

[Christophski]

Cheers bud. I think my bomb may be Ok then. Wonder what's annoying which sensor?

[Fat Audi 80]

Mine does it if you disturb the level sensor on the top of the PS fluid reservoir. If you un plug them one at a time this is supposed to identify if it is a level sensor throwing the fault symbol.

Cheers,

Steve

[Error404]

Unplug the wires to the servo sensor, if the warning goes you have a bad sensor or bad bomb... if you still have the warning its the PAS reservoir cap or the brake reservoir sensor.

PAS reservoir cap can get gunked up and stick, give it a clean out with some carb cleaner.
The brake res sensor pulls out of the reservoir, they rarely seem to go bad though. These are replaceable IIRC.

[Christophski]

Ok will try doing that although oddly it didn't go off this morning and I hadn't topped up the fluid even though it's still pretty much full. Wonder if i was over filling it would make it go off?

[Christophski]

Dude when you say clean the sensor with carb cleaner for the PAS, do you mean the stick with the white round ish thing on the end of it? Spray that with carb cleaner?

I am fairly confident its that throwing the fault symbol as I just unplugged the sensor whilst the dash was flashing at me and the symbol dissappeared and stopped flashing at me. Does this indicate im correct with my thoughts?

[Christophski]

Oh and when I plugged it back in it flashed again at me... Can I leave this unplugged? Should I clean te stick up on the bottle with Carb cleaner? What other suggestions to stop this annoyingnes?

Thanks

[Error404]

yeah that sounds like the culprit then. You need to clean the cap, where the rod nipples pokes through, make sure its all spotless, also try some contact cleaner on the plug for it. If that doesn't fix it a new cap is not that expensive IIRC, about £20

[s2driveruk]

the rod with the white bit on the end of the p/s cap is actually a float. You need to check that it does move freely when the cap is on the reservoir, you should just see it poking out the top of the cap and you should be able to push it down and see if it sticks or comes up again. carb cleaner and a small wire brush usually free it up nicely