# E38 ABS ASC lit, lost speedo & vacuum gauge



## BimmerComrade (Feb 5, 2008)

My 1996 E38 had both the ABS and ASC (triangle within a circle) yellow warning signals come on, and both the speedo and engine vacuum gauge (MPG or L/100km) were crippled, exactly the same faults as posted in thread http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57010. I mentally concluded the solution was to have the ABS module replaced/repaired when I remembered I had not tried to clear the faults by pressing the CHECK button located on the dash. I made several tries but the warning lights just would not go off. Then I had to go out for some groceries and within 30 seconds of driving both warning lights went out and I got my speedo and vacuum gauge back. You can imagine what a great relief I felt. Can someone explain what had happened? Could it be a short somewhere in the ABS wiring harness? Incidentally the E38 has been losing coolant slowly lately but I had not got around to tracing the cause. Could that be a contributing factor? Thanks for any comments.


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## 740icraze (Jan 25, 2008)

same problem happened to my e38....

the result was one of the sensors behind the wheel next to the shock absorber was open.....so wen it rained it would get wet n ma speedo n mpg woulnt work....until it would dry up....all I did was cap it n poof problem was gone......

but in ur situation im not sure....?? hey problem fixed rite lol...


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## BimmerComrade (Feb 5, 2008)

To recap, I had the problem for 5 days and I just kept on driving it gingerly. After the "fix", its been a week and the problem has not recurred. I enjoy the E38 even more now that I have a deeper understanding of its behavior.


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## BimmerComrade (Feb 5, 2008)

The same problem happened again. Yesterday we had very heavy rain (100mm/4" in an hour) and both of the warning lights came on within 30 seconds of driving in the rain. Today the rain stopped, but both the warning lights would not go off after trying the trick I used in my original post. I will check the wiring/connector of the wheel sensors as suggested by *740icraze* to get to the bottom of this annoyance to get back my speedo/odo/vac-gauge.


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## BimmerComrade (Feb 5, 2008)

Can someone give me the specific wheel sensor to check to cure this problem: left front, right front, left rear, right rear?


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## 04SSHD (May 29, 2006)

The speedometer sensor is the right rear


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## BimmerComrade (Feb 5, 2008)

BimmerComrade said:


> The same problem happened again. Yesterday we had very heavy rain (100mm/4" in an hour) and both of the warning lights came on within 30 seconds of driving in the rain. Today the rain stopped, but both the warning lights would not go off after trying the trick I used in my original post. I will check the wiring/connector of the wheel sensors as suggested by *740icraze* to get to the bottom of this annoyance to get back my speedo/odo/vac-gauge.


The weather's been dry for more than a week, but the problem stayed on and I haven't had time to check the sensor wiring yet. Today I left the car under the sun for a few hours and like a miracle the warning lights lit no more and I've got everything back . I immediately seized the opportunity and drove her to get the annual inspection certificate required for license renewal and passed with flying colors . I would definitely hunt the problem down and report back here when I can find some help. Hearty thanks to everyone who have responded. :thumbup:


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## BimmerComrade (Feb 5, 2008)

Story continuation:

Problem resurfaced a few months ago, and I got ABS & ASC lit again, and lost both speedo and vacuum gauge.
Then after a while, I got speedo and vacuum gauge BACK, but ABS and ASC warnings stayed lit.

Final fix:
Right front wheel spin sensor wire was broken. Fixed.
Right rear wheel spin sensor wire insulation was damaged; would short if road was wet; would be fine after it dried out. Fixed.

Had to deal with it because the Annual Vehicle Inspection is coming up ...


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