2002 I35 ABS Problem Code 1211

[dudemeister]

Hi there,

New poster here with a question about my 2002 I35. I replaced the rear bearing assemblies yesterday and as soon as I lowered the car and applied the brakes for the first time I heard a rattling in the front (assuming it's the ABS pump) felt the rumble in my brake pedal and then had the the ABS light illuminate as well as the TCS and SLIP lights. I plugged in my code reader and it came up with P1211 which says it's a "VDC/TCS/ABS Control Unit Malfunction".

Today I made sure that my ABS Sensor Rotor rings (the metal cogs) were pressed in and had an equal spacing with the sensor, put it back together and then proceeded to have the same problem.

Does anyone have any advice, or has anyone had the same problem? Something tells me that it's not just coincidence that this started after I replaced the rear bearing assemblies. I dont mind driving with the ABS off, but it's pretty annoying having to wait for the system to kick it off after the pump rumbles long enough.

Thanks in advance,

Rob
Modified by dudemeister at 7:12 PM 5/1/2009

[MinisterofDOOM]

That code indicates a problem with the actual electronic control unit for the abs system as a whole. I'm actually not even sure where it is in the car, though...I've never messed with ABS much.

There are some diagnostic procedsures here in the brake section of the FSM if you want to give those a try.

ABS on my Q doesn't work right and I can't figure out why. I got sick of it taking so long to detect the error and "fail" so I removed the main fuse. Now it fails within seconds of forward motion. You could try that until you figure things out if you're sick of waiting for it to kick off every startup. Just be aware (if you're not already) that doing this will disable all 3 systems, so keep that in mind when driving.

[dudemeister]

Thanks Minister,

I'm pretty sure it's the sensor rings, and hope and pray it is because they are only $50 a piece as opposed to the $200 I'd have to sink into each sensor. Good idea on the fuse. I'm probably going to use that option for now.

- Rob