Talk about one thing after another - huh! Who'd buy a Land Rover? ... me I suppose. Ah well, here we go again.

Following the appearance of the triangle of doom lights on the dash - they're definitely not amigos to me! -and checking for other obvious causes such as wheel speed sensors etc, I sent my ABS unit to be checked and repaired. It turns out that, according the good chaps at ECUtesting, my unit is not repairable. Normally, with most sensible manufacturers, that would simply mean sourcing a secondhand unit, bleeding the brakes and off you jolly well go into the setting sun. Not with Land Rover! Not only is the unit coded to the car (why?), but it is not possible to overwrite the coding with a new vehicle's I.D. as far as I can see.

Questions:

1: Is there any software that will enable me to code a secondhand ABS unit to my car

2: If not (why not?) can it be done by a good independent ?

3: Do I have ANY alternative to buying a brand new unit (£ OUCH!) and having it coded by a L.R. main dealer.

If not, who wants a RHD 2007 HSE in Blue with light leather interior, no Controle Technique and 130,000 on the clock and located in central France ? Only joking ....I hope!

Have you searched on here for posts about the abs. Here is one such post it is about an original unit so may be different for a replacement unit.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic24128.html?highlight=abs

SDD will configure a new ABS module, and in my experience, often configures used modules too. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

Once again the Land Rover gods have decided to on my chips.

A big thank you for the suggestions as to how to solve the issue of my ABS module...but no luck.

Having sourced SDD and a chinese copy of the Mongoose Pro lead, I still cannot get SDD to work. Either it tells me it can't read the VIN - which I have already manually entered into the system to start with - or it tells me there is a communications error, despite SDD working in other (less important) areas. Even when I switch back to the original module (which I use to start the car and then switch over to the 2nd hand one to get rid of the ABS warnings) there is still nothing I can seem to achieve. Once again it won't se the VIN.

I have even tried the good bods at GAP Diagnostics to see if their IID tool will do the job. Their reply was "We can add the routines in the tool for ABS replacement but we cannot say it will work for a used ABS unit." Helpful in itself, but not enough for me to risk £400 for a tool that may not work.

Any additional suggestions - either about what I'm failing to do with SDD, or whatever else I can try - would be most gratefully received. It is inconceivable that I am the first to have address such an issue, what solution have other folf found?

Alternatively I may just need to find a convenient cliff to push the bloody thing over!

This isn't confined to Land Rover. My wife's old Peugeot 207 56 reg a few years ago had a problem with the abs controller and it knocked out the speedometer, abs and even affected the speed sensitive steering. New one was about £600 and had to be coded in by a dealer. Resolved never to buy another Peugeot as they refused to admit that it was a common problem and had even been mentioned on the TV "Watchdog" consumer programme. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

A well overdue update!

Superb! I managed to get my copy of SDD v160 to work - finally - using a fresh installation of windows 7 on an old laptop. Job done thought I. Ha! bloody Ha! After spending a complete afternoon backed up with a Battery Support Unit (essential if you're spending much time with SDD) wrestling with the sodding software, and trying many and various different routes, it transpires that SDD will not over-write the VIN number on a used Brake Control Module. Why had nobody told me that ? Am I the first to confront this problem ? I, for one, doubt it... anyway to continue.

Well, after speaking to the nice man at Controlunits.co.uk, I find out that many manufacturers link this control module to the VIN (why ?), and that the only way around this is either a brand new unit - good luck finding one of those! I tried and could not find a supplier - or, have an otherwise serviceable secondhand unit "virginalised" - his word, not mine - and then the desired VIN written to it. SDD WILL write to a "virgin" control unit.

Time will tell, as I have just sent the units off to Uffculme for them to wave their magic wands over them.

Further update pending!

Looking forward to how this works out,  DAVE.

Sounds like it incorporates some sort of read only memory where the data is burnt onto the chip. I did once work with some ROM chips which had a window so that they could be erased under UV light and then rewritten, never heard of it referred to as being virginalised though. Sounds painful actually. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

And you have to ask just what is the purpose of all this? Jules

Well, me but it seems to have worked. Controlunits.co.uk were terrific at communicating and provided a swift service. However, there may be a more fundamental issue with the module. Once replaced on Cynthia and bled through, the left side brakes would, once ABS was engaged, not release the brakes until the vehicle was stationary. The right side brakes responded exactly as they should. It may be the solenoid block at fault ( I have the original to substitute for comparison, but it sounds electrical.
Despite this, Cynthia passed her Controle Technique (French MOT) today with only advisories on tyres and minor corrosion. HURRAH! She's legal again for the first time in nearly two years.

So, the list now is tyres, full geometry check, sort out leaking injectors and well overdue valet. Should finish that lot by Christmas judging by my previous form.

After much perseverance, glad to hear you are more or less sorted.
Please keep us posted on the final fix.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

jules wrote:

And you have to ask just what is the purpose of all this?

Security.  Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

whose security?

I still dont understand why an ABS unit needs to be coded to a VIN

Is there an organised crime syndicate selling stolen ABS units for Landrovers ? Jules

It would seem that there is an OCG out there nicking parts off cars.

I think that this is the link to the patent

Vehicle anti-theft system VIN code matching method
Abstract
The invention discloses a vehicle anti-theft system VIN code matching method.
Firstly, a VIN code is input to a matching tool, and the input VIN code is assigned to a variable A;
secondly, whether Immo internally stores the VIN code or not is judged,
and if yes, the variable A is written into the Immo,
and the third step is executed; if not, whether the VIN code stored in the Immo is consistent with the variable A or not is judged,
and if yes, the third step is executed; if not, whether the Immo is provided with the anti-theft function or not is judged,
and if not, the variable A is written into the Immo,
and the third step is executed; if yes, an anti-theft matching module is automatically quitted;
thirdly, an engine control unit (ECU) is matched according to the second step.
According to the method, it can be ensured that when vehicle anti-theft matching is carried out on an offline vehicle, the ECU and the VIN code stored in the anti-theft controller Immo can be consistent with the VIN code used during anti-theft matching at that time.

https://patents.google.com/patent/CN104442708A/en

PS I love the explanation - it is as complicated as i've not seen for many years - and I was a great believer in Relational Databases, and they had some complicated data explanations. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 82k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

jules wrote:

whose security?

I still dont understand why an ABS unit needs to be coded to a VIN

Is there an organised crime syndicate selling stolen ABS units for Landrovers ?