Just been out in the snow, got to the top of the road and hit a patch of ice (had to brake as a car coming the other way too) and the ABS was scraping like mad for about 10 seconds and the light came on.

Turned around and came home but the ABS light is still on.


Is this normal? does it mean that the sensor is knackered?
can it be repaired or does it need replacing?

i will answer this once and once only this year
listen carefully............
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.ITS DOING WHAT ITS SUPPOSED TO DO.YOUR BRAKES ARE NOT FROZEN,OR NACKED,OR WORN OR DAMAGED.
your abs sounds like that and feels like it too.its doing its job.go out,enjoy

but if your light STAYS on then that is telling you that there is a fault.

last time we ha a light stay on after a day,but then went off on its own.ice plays havoc.keep eye on light should be off next time you go out

problem is the cold can play havoc with sensors.go try and see if still on

t'is true, cold weather = more resistance your sensor will be producing miniamal alternating current 1Vmaybe less? when working correctly.
increased resistance will lower this considerably .

at work(bus garage) we steam clean the wheels in the cold. 9/10 times this gets it.

mc183rufc your ABS is confused ... this happens when you go on a rolling road ... the light comes and stays on till you go for a nice slow drive , about a 1/2 a mile should do the trick

took the words rioght out my mouth there Macker mate - everyone gets a shock when they go to drive off

just make sure its not an ice laden route

The light was still on while i set off, about 10 miles on though the light went out and never came back on again.

Just thought that it was yet something else to go wrong after the recent escapades

I know I'm over a fortnight late on this thread, but my ABS light came on on Monday (outdoor temp was -6c) and stayed on until today when the temp went up to 0c after it snowed. Brakes felt fine the whole time so I guessed it was just the weather. Have had the same scraping experience in the very icy conditions before xmas too, but again it was fine again after warming up over a few miles. Shame we aren't all out in the far east though - my jammy friend in Vietnam says its 34c!

Mine came on today, along with the TCS off. Whilst I appreciate you saying that it's normal...surely those should be the 2 most important things to be on in icy/snowy conditions?

TCS - Maybe. Although there's no substitute for proper winter driving technique and equi[ment.

ABS however is a hinderance in the snow and ice - in icy conditions, a non-ABS car piloted by a driver who knows what he is doing will stop much quicker than a similar ABS-equiped vehicle with a numpty driving it.

Should be leaving more room and using the gears or tansmission lockouts to slow, and the brakes to stop. Hence leaving the room in the first place...

Oh yeah, there's no comparing a good driver to a crap one whatever the conditions! But if these 'extras' help in any way, it's a bit disheartening if they fail when they're most likely to assist you!

ABS is no good in the ice, or on any loose surfaces. The first car (Xantia) I had with ABS (I'd been driving 5 years in Fiestas and Novas, doing 30k a year) I managed to stuff into a plastic bottlebank on a gravel carpark. The same car had a close encounter with a set of gates in icy conditions.

As a collision avoindance measure when needing to brake to the max and retain the ability to manoever, then it's excellent. In snow, ice or on the loose - verging on the dangerous, due to the nature of the system it will take longer to stop than if it wasn't there. I pulled the ABS fuse on the Xantia after the incident with the gates until the snow cleared, was much better. I wouldn't recommend you doing this as it may stuff the traction control system...

Just my opinion, tho. Take care out there