ABS, Engine Fail Safe and Stability Control Fail warnings but NO CODES thrown

The first issue is my 1999 XK8 with 182,000 miles is showing an intermittent amber ABS warning light and a Stability Control Fail message. It just comes and goes. Most often, when the car first starts no warning lights until driven for a while, then they turn on. If I’m braking when they turn on, even on dry pavement, you can hear and feel in the brake pedal the ABS activating but then followed by the warnings. If I’m not braking when they turn on there is no feeling in the brake pedal that ABS has switched off. My second issue is that I am also experiencing an intermittent Engine Fail Safe warning with a loss of power. Stop the car, turn it off and then restart again, and all is back to normal. Now the mystery: An OBD2 check reveals NO codes thrown. I’ve read that the ABS, Stability Control Fail, and Engine Fail Safe conditions can be traced to the ABS system, wheel speed sensors, the TPS and also the Brake Stop Switch and failed wiring harness connectors. MY QUESTION is: has anyone experienced these issues when the OBD2 scanner finds NO fault codes? Thank you.

Warren,

I have had the ABS issue which turned out to be a wheel sensor but the module itself is not beyond suspicion. A general scan ought to reveal what’s going on there but I think OBD2 is engine specific and doesn’t interrogate other modules.

I have experienced the intermittent loss of power. Feels like you are driving over pave or cobbles. I didn’t get an Engine Failsafe warning, fault codes and the MIL wasn’t lit. In my case, this fault was caused by a faulty coil.

If your scanner supports Mode 6, you can find out which cylinder is misfiring as one of the $ codes log this even though you see no general fault codes.

Could it be a worn wheel bearing which rubs against the ABS sensor at low speed? At higher speed it would go away as the wheel will straighten up as speed increases.

When I got my car the sensor had been removed because of the wear on the wheel bearing.

Art