repair your own ABS module

[david dubbo]

Ok I'm no guru when it comes to electronics but after reading lots of threads saying it cant be done and others saying it can I thought I would have a crack at it. As I thought I might stuff it up I grabbed one from the wreckers which was also buggered (free)
gently and gradually lift the black cover off it is glued on very well and requires a bit of patients once removed you will see a set of prongs sticking up.
heat these up and apply solder to them. Then wait till the missus is out and heat the oven to 175 degrees c (just hotter than solder melting point) once the oven is hot place the unit on an oven rack plastic pointing up and bake for ten minutes watching for any melting problems. I was very sceptical of this when I read it as I was worried about plastic melting but it was fine it didnt even hurt the silicon gasket on the housing. remove from oven and allow to cool replace in the car and no more lights or inaccurate instruments. This may not work for everyone but it fixed mine and the one from the wreckers so chances are it will. total time to do the whole job was less than 1 hour and that included waiting for the oven to heat up. I forgot to mention I glued the cover back on with 5 min araldite. Thanks to all those that had previously had a go at it and wrote about it this is how we all learn and save a little money. Forgot to mention didnt write how to remove and replace as there are a heap of how tos on the subject.

 

[vx_commodore]

Cool, You should have got some pic's, I like looking at pic's haha

 

[VT&VX]

Why did he need the oven?

First thing he did was solder the prongs that were sticking up, so was the oven used because step one didn't work?

 

[NeddyBear]

How'd you go with the missus, did he know?

 

[VT&VX]

How'd you go with the missus, did he know?

You must be ticking YES

 

[VT&VX]

The VX abs/trac module circuit board does not look very DIY friendly. The pics I have seen show very fine wires and it looks like a risky job to attempt. The repair options usually want your abs module or there will be a core charge.

 

[TazzI]

The VX abs/trac module circuit board does not look very DIY friendly. The pics I have seen show very fine wires and it looks like a risky job to attempt. The repair options usually want your abs module or there will be a core charge.

Trying to get your VT/VX/VU/VY ABS module repaired in these times will literally cost more than buying a second hand replacement.

The internal wires are just as dodgy as the VZ V6 ECU's, and just eventually fail.

At least with the ABS modules, they are pretty cheap ($20-100). I understand getting things repaired when second hand parts are not readily available, but wrecked VT-VY's go for $50-500 at auctions for a full car. Which is why parts are dirt cheap

 

[VT&VX]

Yes I can buy a cheap Commodore and the reason why it is cheap is because the part I need is stuffed.

As far as second hand replacements go, I would be buying something about the same age as the failed one I have.
If Holden admits that they had a bad batch and mine was bound to fail, then a second hand replacement is logical.

Without knowing...
... buying a second hand replacement that gets me registerable again does mean I can experiment on the faulty one.

 

[oska]

here's a pic of the inside the problem is the 2 aluminium wire break

the board is covered in a gel

1 you need to remove the gel without breaking the even finer gold wires
2 you need to solder the aluminum wire
3 aluminium oxidizes so you can't solder it with lead solder
4 you need to use a flux that won't damage the other fine gold wires
5 use a solder that will bond to aluminium
6 use correct temp and solder tip as the flux will damage metal tip

and more

repaired unit sometimes fail with a different fault usually LHR speed sensor

 

[VT&VX]

Deleted