Hey Mr Texas Dan, what a great piece of advise. I have been a shop owner and manager for many years. This has been one of our favorite short cuts to get nasty rotors loose. Thank you for posting for the members. Just a simple solution, but it can save hours of pain and suffering. Ever miss with the hammer and hit the rotor with a finger. Ouch!!!! On some cars, the rotors are retained with screws or clips so they don't fall off while the car is being built. Those will have to be removed and the wheels reinstalled in order to accomplish freeing the rotors in this manner. But it's still a big time and body part saver. Great job.

 

Traction control module repair. A different but faster easier way to adress the open the sealed case issue using a bit-less hole saw in a drill press.





These solder joints appear to be in good condition, but re-soldering them anyway cured the problem on a 2001 XKR, (without Brembo Brakes)




Another brake tip. How many times your auto parts house doesn't have a listing for your XKR part? Instead of going to the dealer for a front caliper reseal and boot kit, ask them for a seal kit for a BMW 5 series. They are the same. They usually have a listing for those and usually in stock too. Although the whole caliper doesn't fit, the rubber parts fit my car perfectly.

 

And ...

 

And.... If you still have concerns about replacing the brakes yourself, purchase the parts yourself, and then find ANY decent independent shop and have make the repair. I am guessing that just the labor to perform a front or rear brake service (replacing the pads and rotors) shouldn't take more than appx 2 hours. At a typical $100/hr thats $200 in labor only. Just a guideline. ATE type brakes are used on many makes and models, and they are easy to service. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or any special tools. At least noe that any service person wouldn't have!

Oops! I did it again! Offering advice on an old thread, not realizing that there were 5 pages on this! Sorry!

 

Just pulled the module from my 2003 and, it's different looking than those shown so far on this site and on the Jag lovers pictorial by Dan Jensen!

I have attached a pic of the module from my XK8.

I removed the module with the intent of resoldering the two joints that seem to cause everyone elses DSC fault, anyone got any suggestions please?

 

Hi David,

I have an '03 XKR with some brake quirks. What kind of symptoms do you have?

BTW: The attached zip files didn't open to images. I'd appreciate seeing/hearing what you've got.

Thanks - Jim

 

Paul,
Those prices are completely outrageous, even for a dealer. I recently had rotors and pads replaced on front wheels, and from experience I use OEM pads as the substitutes squeak and squeal too much. I doubt I paid more than $400-500 installed. As for the control module, congratulations on saving yourself a load of cash. If the problem persists, there are several companies including the one in Los Angeles that I used that you can send the control module for a rebuild, it's done overnight, and costs about $45.00, as I recall, not $2800. It's price quotes like this that make most people avoid dealerships for anything but warranty work. Outrageous!

 

Hi Jim,

had the DSC Fault showing on instrument panel, tried cleaning wheel sensors with no luck. Fault comes on when car is hot so thought it would be the solder issue, I started another thread re. this problem (titled "What to solder?") and have a pic of the opened module there.

Have put it all back together; gonna change fluid tomorrow, take her for a drive cycle and then check for codes.

 

Just fixed the module on my brother's '03 XJ8 and I drilled 2 holes in the casing and fixed the joints through the 2 holes.

All is well.

 

I have to say, even a girl can do this repair! I used the forum and videos and was able to clean my sensors and repair the solder on my ABS. No more (ABS) light! Thanks to everyone for the directions.

 

Hi all,
I approached the issue from the exterior, warming hot the plug in the connector. After 1 year still no issues. There is a thread on it.
Just my 2 cents
Luca

 

Great thread here, I'm getting the ABS etc lights now and may need the solder fix. The posts in the thread give a good guideline as to how to make the repair. As I've never soldered anything, I may just take this thread to my mechanic and have him make the fix.

 

Love these discussions! Have just resoldered my ABS module for the second time (this time did not cure the problem) - so waiting for an i930 hand scanner which claims it can read ALL Jaguar modules (including ABS, SRS, Transmission, etc - we'll see).

Several thoughts occur to me following this excellent thread:

1. This is obviously a recurring problem with a great many cars of various types.
2. Nearly everyone is fixing the problem - with little thought given to the root cause.
3. Clearly this site has many members with considerable knowledge and expertise who might be able, collectively, to come up with a permanent fix by addressing the root cause.
4. Since the ABS unit produces considerable vibration when operating that is the probable cause.

So, how can we negate the influence of the vibration? E.g. would it be possible to remove the circuit board - clean off the contacts thoroughly - then use small nuts and bolts to attach the wires and then solder over the top. In that way the connection would be much more vibration resistant. Just a thought - any comments?

 

The solder issue may have something to do with the type of solder they using in cars these days. Lead was removed from gasoline and a lot of other products like solder. Not just the Jags with solder problems, computer problems, brake problems etc.

 

I agree, the ABS system would vibrate quite a bit when in operation, but just how often do you all lock-up the brakes? In three years I think I've engaged the ABS once (maybe twice). Could that really be the problem?

 

Mine too is going intermittent again after just a few thousand miles.

The real issue is that solder and PCBs are not designed to flex. The solution would appear to be to desolder the unit and resolder wires instead.

I was considering that resoldering the unit with wires alongside the traces might fix things but if I recall, the broken solder was between the pins and the solder rather than between the solder and the pads so the dual solution would not help.

 

A pry bar or large screwdriver will push the Pistons back in. Do it before loosening the caliper bolts. You are tossing the pads and rotors and with them in place slide push the pry bar /screwdriver between the outer pad and rotor and pus and pull hard to make sure they are fully retracted. Then proceed as mentioned above. Been doing this since about '64 on the big Chrysler LeBaron (the REALLY BIG ONE). Works just fine. Follow the standard green pad seating routine and you will be good to go. PLEASE SEAT THE GREEN( green means new pads),do it gently and you will get fade free stops. Think about aftermarket braided lines like Goodridge or Earls. The take up the slack of expansion that happens with rubber lines and with your cars age they need to be replaced anyway.

 

Yeah, your dealer mechanic was trying to rip you off in a big bad way. Dual piston calipers have, well, dual pistons. I'd find a either a different dealer for the future, or, refer to this forum frequently for advice. Even if you don't need anything, this forum is a goldmine to simply read....and it can be very entertaining too...


I need to do my brakes as well. I think my rotors are pretty much transparent....

 

There was a previous comment that even though cracked/failed solder joints in our ABS modules are a very common failure, no one seems to be trying to find the reason for this failure. Not so...

Several people have guessed that it was a new type of lead-free solder, that the solder joints were poorly done at the factory, that an insufficient amount of solder was used, etc. Generally, no, these reasons are not correct.

Have you noticed that it is always the same two solder joints that crack and fail? There hundreds, if not thousands, of solder joints (small-and-large inclusive) on the printed circuit board in the ABS module--but only the two large, power supply solder joints seem to fail. Why just those two? Why not the others?

It's pretty simple, really. The cracked solder joints are a mechanical failure, which then cause an electrical failure. The failure of the solder joints is caused by movement, mechanical movement, of the two power pins that are soldered to the board.

There are two separate electrical connectors to the ABS module: The large connector with 25 electrical pins (21 pins and 4 blade connectors), and the power connector with two pins.

The large connector, being larger, is held more firmly in place due to its sheer size, large electrical pin count, and a more substantial locking mechanism; while the power connector is much smaller, and only has two pins. As the car and engine bounce and vibrate, the larger connector is quite stable and secure, and those electrical pin-to-PCB solder joints are stressed little. But the smaller power connector is more affected by this constant vibration, and as the power connector vibrates, so vibrate and flex those two power pins, and that flexing movement is transferred to the solder joints.

Those two solder joints are flexed so much that eventually the solder joints begin fail with stress fractures; at first it will likely be intermittent ABS warnings as the solder electrical connection begins to make-or-break, sometimes it's connected, sometimes it's not. This is why some people sometimes experience ABS failure based on temperature, as the solder expands or shrinks due to temperature changes.

Eventually, the make-or-break nature of the cracked joint fails completely, and you have a constant ABS & Traction Control failure.

FYI: Attaching electrical pins for a connector directly to a printed circuit board (PCB) is usually a bad idea, especially in anything that moves and/or vibrates, and many electrical failures are caused by exactly that (movement of the connector causing failure of solder connections).

Reflowing (re-soldering) these joints will cure the problem (as long as you are careful and don't cause any others; see below), but not solve the problem. Wait long enough, and a reflow of those solder joints will fail again (but it may take a long time, but the cause of the problem is still present).

I added extra solder besides just reflowing what solder was already present, to make the joints a bit stronger. That will probably last as long as I own the car. Probably. It took about 13 years for the original solder joints to fail...

A (likely) permanent fix would be to reflow the solder, and, to add a short piece of stranded electrical wire from the printed circuit board solder pads to the end of the pin itself, so power can flow not only through the regular solder joints, but if they should crack and fail again, the added wire at each pin will still allow power to flow to/from the module (see illustration).

In other words, the short length of added wire duplicates the solder joints themselves, but will not be susceptible to the same mechanical failure, because unlike the solder joints themselves, the wire --can-- flex with the vibration, so the solder at the ends of the wires won't crack and fail; the wire is a backup to the fixed solder joint.

(Also, it is a good ideal to add a small amount of electrical flux to the solder joints before the reflow (remelting), or you risk producing a 'cold' solder joint which may be unreliable.)

It's important not to cause additional problems when making the repair. Personally, I chose not to crack open the entire case; all of that additional cutting and sawing increases the likelihood of causing additional damage to other components (at least for me, 'cause I'm such a klutz), so I drilled a hole roughly 15mm in diameter directly opposite the two power pins: the pins pass straight through to the PCB, where you'll find the two solder joints needing the reflow (only one of my solder joints was cracked, but that's all it takes to kill the module, as both connections must be good for power to flow).

Also, try to observe ESD (Electro Static Discharge) control procedure; ground yourself and your soldering iron before handling the module and soldering. Don't touch any electrical pin, component, or solder joint on the module unless you have discharged yourself of any static buildup. This is especially important if it is cold outside and the air is dry; also if you have been walking on carpet or doing any other activity that tends to build static charge.

 

I HAD A SIMILAR ISSUE WITH THE TWO POWER PINS ON MY '84 CORVETTE INSTRUMENT PANEL CIRCUIT BOARD. (Oops sorry, the caps lock was on for autocadd) Anyway, the pins suffer from high current draw and get very hot. This degrades the solder and eventually burned the circuit board to the point of uselessness and I had to replace it with a rebuilt one. I'm looking at the identical issue with my Jag except the failure mode stopped current from flowing, so the circuit board is not damaged. One poster mentioned using a relay to rout power to the ABS pump from these two terminals. I think this is the correct solution. It would be easy to add two wires from the two pins and run them to a relay with power fed from the adjacent fuse box to the relay and then to the ABS pump. This would eliminate the high current load on the printed circuit board. The ABS pump two-conductor plug on the module was missing the top and bottom clips that secure the plug in place. Wonderful.