Abs light on - heavy rain
 

During driving in heavy rain and standing water yesterday the abs light came on and won't go away with the old turn it off and back on again method.
Where should I start looking and is there a way to reset the light without another trip to the garage? They've had all our money already this month!
Thanks in advance

There's no way to clear the warning light other than to repair the fault. Whilst there are certainly one or more DTCs being logged, the indicator lamp isn't telling you that, it's telling you that a fault has been detected on this latest power up and self-diagnostic cycle. Therefore if it keeps coming on, then the fault persists.

Standard Volvo mantra applies - read the codes, preferably with VIDA, they will guide you to the fix. That said, given the circumstances, there's no harm in conducting a visual inspection to make sure that all your wheel sensors and their wiring are in place and intact. Also possible that something in the chain has taken on water, again, given the circumstances. So you could check the sensor connections and the state of the connections to the BCM itself for damp ingress. If the light is off when you start the car but comes on shortly into driving it, you can suspect a break in one of the ABS reluctor rings too.

DTC read is likely the quickest route to finding the exact problem, so it depends on how much you value your time, vs having a Volvo dealer or specialist read it for you. A VIDA/DICE setup is relatively cheap and easy to acquire, and likely to pay for itself quickly, so something else to consider if you feel DIY proficient.

The light stays on on start up. I guess I'll have to throw more money I haven't got into this money pit:confused_smile:

When you switch the ignition off and on, does the light come straight on or does it stay off until you move the car?

I feel your pain. I wouldn't be without mine but sure, it seems as if there's always something that needs attention, not to mention the use of my wallet. In my case, when I'm being fair and pragmatic, it's an expected and acceptable face of owning a 14 year old car. And it's motoring at far less annual expense than the depreciation alone on a new one.

Chances are the sensor tips are dirty and possibly the reluctor rings as well. Clean them first, reset your DTCs and take it for a drive.

The light stays on after start up as the others go off

I'll try the sensors and ring cleaning first.
Reset the DTCs? Is this the codes using a Vida?

Yes, it's possible the ANS ECU is logging a fault code and showing it on start up. Once the sensors and rings are clean, that's the most obvious cause eliminated so reset the codes and see what happens from there.

It's possible you'll still have a fault but at least you'll be able to see it with VIDA and it won't be a historic fault.

If the light stays on before moving the car, the ABS module is seeing a fault in the system during its initial checks. Could be a faulty sensor or a fault within the module itself. A dirty or blocked sensor/reluctor ring would only tend to throw a code after the vehicle moves. A split in the wiring of a sensor could have let water in causing the issue. Definitely get the codes read to help narrow it down.