Watching your car is important in these days, indeed, if you do not do the minimum service of it, or if you do not take into account signs of abnormality, you strongly risk to observe your car withering away. This is exactly the theme we are going to talk about on this webpage, one of the indicators that most disturbs car owners is the ABS warning light on Volkswagen Golf 3. In an attempt to help you review this warning light, we will first look at what this ABS warning light corresponds to, then in a second how to handle it if the ABS light is on Volkswagen Golf 3?.

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What does the ABS light on Volkswagen Golf 3 mean?

We will start our content with the definition of an ABS warning light on Volkswagen Golf 3, for this, in first, we will see what an ABS is, and later on, why the ABS light on your car lights up.

What is the ABS on Volkswagen Golf 3?

First of all, it is necessary to describe to you what the ABS of your Volkswagen Golf 3 is employed for so that you can understand the remaining of this article. The ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) is a device that prevents the wheels of your car from locking during braking. The objective of this system is to optimise the braking distance of a car by preventing the wheels from locking, sliding on the road and you losing control of your car. The ABS system of your Volkswagen Golf 3 is composed of different parts, here they are:

  • Speed sensors on each wheel, which will evaluate if one of the wheels locks up.
  • A hydraulic system and valves that will control the pressure of the pads on the discs to control the braking power of the car
  • A computer that is the control center of your entire ABS system as well as the ABS light of your Volkswagen Golf 3

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In fact, you can very easily feel how your car’s ABS works. If you have to steer, you will find that your car will brake by pawing, this is exactly the behaviour that ABS allows, it will optimise braking to the maximum by relating the phases of pressure on the brake discs and the phases of release to prevent the wheels from locking up.

Meaning of an ABS light on Volkswagen Golf 3

Now we go forward to the part that you are certainly more enthusiastic about, meaning of an ABS warning light on a Volkswagen Golf 3? To begin with, it is an orange light, so if it is on it suggest that your ABS system is faulty. You should be advised that when the ABS warning light is on, the ABS will be put into safety mode, so you should adapt your driving and not take any risks. Here are the different problems that the ABS warning light on your Volkswagen Golf 3 can show:

  • It could be a simple short circuit, a damaged wiring harness, a faulty relay or fuse. Use a pressure gauge to check it.
  • A malfunctioning ABS sensor: A malfunction of one of them triggers the ABS light on your Volkswagen Golf 3 to turn on
  • The ABS hydraulic block of your Volkswagen Golf 3: If it is faulty it is possible that the indicator light will occur and you will no longer be able to use your ABS.
  • The ABS computer: If the computer has a trouble, being the center of all decisions made to operate your ABS, the light will unavoidably turn on.

What if the ABS light turns on on my Volkswagen Golf 3?

We will now go forward to the part where we will try to give you some solutions to turn off this light, and thus answer the following question, what to do if the ABS light is on on my Volkswagen Golf 3?. The solutions will could depend on the failure you are having. To begin with, pass your Volkswagen Golf 3 to the diagnostic tool, if you don’t know how to read a fault code on Volkswagen Golf 3, don’t be reluctant to browse our article which details the steps to take. Once you have located the source of your trouble, here are the steps to take to fix it and turn off the ABS light on your Volkswagen Golf 3:

  • Problem of the ECU or the hydraulic block: It can only be adjusted, and in this case, you will have to go through a specialist, but if it’s dead, it could cost you around 1000€ to replace the ECU and 1500 to 2000€ if you have to replace both of them.
  • Electrical trouble: Once you’ve spotted an electrical trouble with your manometer, if it’s only a fuse or a relay, count around 10€ maximum, otherwise you’ll have to repair the wiring harness.
  • A faulty sensor: In some cases a simple cleaning of the sensors will be enough to resolve the trouble, otherwise changing a sensor can cost up to a few hundred euros.

If you wish more guides on the Volkswagen Golf 3, go to our Volkswagen Golf 3 category.