DIY - ABS Sensor Change

[Edit : details in Post 11 or http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/356-diy-abs-sensor-change/page__view__findpost__p__4678]

Guys,

As some of you know my ABS and VSA lights are intermittently coming on and going off.. CJ very kindly diagnosed it as a faulty rear left ABS sensor.

Shopping around it seems Honda want circa £140 for this part (and that's with our club discount).. you can't really buy from breakers in the UK as they want to sell you a complete hub ***embly due to the fact these sensors tend to break when you try to remove them.

So I managed to secure a purchase of the only Rear Left ABS sensor on the USA Ebay site taken from an Acura TSX (essentially the same car). It's a genuine part but is used.

It's turned up today so over the coming days I'll do a litte write up on what's involved in changing one of these.

In principle it should be a straightforward remove and replace. However in practise I believe it will be quite challenging and I suspect the old sensor is going to need to be drilled and/or pulled out carefully from the hub.

Here's a pic of the sensor:



Looking at it closely I think the only thing that distinguishes the left from the right is the little bracket.. and I think that bracket can be carefully removed with a flat head screwdriver, so if you need one - maybe consider getting either side and just using the bracket from your old sensor.

I did notice that there were a few Rear Right sensors, but only one Rear Left for sale.. And the right side ones were cheaper. This item cost me about £53 delivered.. I noticed someone selling a rear right for around £40 delivered..

Anyways I'll keep you posted when I get round to this.

Cheers

Fahad.

few tips Fahad if you find it doesn't come easily then don't force it or you'll have to take the whole knuckle off (well you might need to do that anyway if you're replacing and it snaps) but anyway a screw driver would be too big. you need something like a cutlery knife that you can wedge in under the bolt hole area once you have taken the bolt out. in theory here it should just pull out

Just don't give it too much force the plastic just snaps. if it comes out easy i.e you can rotate it easily..then you just have to slowly ease it out. SLOWLY while using the knife as leveraage..if you know what i mean. a 14mm (or whatever spanner is good to use to rotate it around a bit to loosen).

if you find the sensor doesn't want to rotate freely then you have to work slowly...i guess you don't mind breaking it since you're changing...but if it snaps inside the knuckle it'll have to be drilled out. penetrating fluid (lots of) and time and slowly rotating and levering.

I snapped two out of three of these while i was working on them and that was with them off the car.... best of luck

Al, thanks for the tips buddy. I guess what I didn't mention in that post is that I've already had a quick go last week and sort of damaged it That's why I know it won't be straightforward

lol.......good luck bro...

Fahad, I had to drill mine out... get a drill bit and measure against this new sensor and make some sort of indication on this drill bit so you don't end up drilling too much into the hub... but lets hope it's straight forward as Alan has said... on on another note to make sure that sensor works... Unplug your old one and plug this in even if it's not fitted it should turn the ABS light out.... mine went off straight away as soon as I put the new sensor in... as it completed the circuit :blink:

Good tips, thanks Jav :blink:

lol jav..yes i remember your whole saga last time

This looks like a very int little job F I hope it goes well. Are both your ABS and VSA warning lights coming on my VSA light comes on intermittently. Would I be right in thinking this sensor acts as both the ABS and VSA sensor or not. Up to now I've had no problem with the ABS light, yet!

A dab of the brakes puts it out then I could go a few thousand miles before it comes back again. I'm hoping to find out at the HH meet in Oct what the problem is when it's put through their diagnostic machine.

Slightly off topic I'm convinced my rear OS brake is still binding slightly despite changing the flexable hose and the caliper, it's not getting hotter and there's no smell but I'm def getting a greater build up of brake dust on the wheel than I am with the NS. Could this be linked to the VSA light coming on ? could the brake be coming on without me touching the pedal if there is a problem with the VSA / ABS

Paul - without diagnosing and reading the codes it's impossible to say but yes if your light is coming on and going off then it's most likely one of the sensors.. also the extra build up of dust might be causing the problem even and interfering with the sensor.

Yep, both ABS and VSA are linked..

Good luck m8, just go at it with a drill. I spent over an hour trying to get it out, 5 minutes with the drill it was out :angry:

Looking forward to your write up.

Right then guys, sorry for the delay with this, I've been very busy but finally got round to this today.

As stated earlier, in principle it's just a remove and replace.. but I didn't expect it to be that straightforward.. and it wasn't.

Total time it took me, 50 minutes. Both Jav and Dave were right, the only way to get this out was to drill it out. Not as daunting as it sounds, just take your time and be careful. Use a wood/metal 10mm drill bit, although I used a smaller drill bit first to get a nice centre hole drilled out first..

Remember to disconnect the orange plug first. You don't want to be sending any sort of pulse to the VSA/ABS system even if the ignition is off - especially if you're going to be chopping the old sensor up.

Here are the pics:

This is how the cable is routed. The sensor itself is held in with a 10mm bolt, the cable is then clipped in to a mount, and further up the route it's clamped in with another 10mm bolt. Finally, you can see it plugged into the orange connector.





So here was the problem with simply trying to remove the sensor. Despite trying to ease it out, using a stanley knife, small screwdrivers etc. Nothing would work. The sensor detatched itself from the base..




I chopped off the exposed wires and out came my trusty DeWalt



Best thing to do here is wrap some tape around the drill bit to mark the length of the sensor so you don't drill too far and damage the inside of the hub:



You'll know when the sensor has been drilled out.. I shone a torch inside the hole and could see some small bits of sensor left over, so out came the vaccum cleaner..



Once I was happy that I'd got everything out (or as much as I can) I released the handbrake, and span the hub by hand. When I shone the torch inside I could see how the sensor actually works. The inside of the hub has a ridge that is shapped to meet the flat bit of the sensor - that's how it detects the wheel movement. Anyway I could see it was all nice and clean. And it was time to fit the new sensor..

The new (used) sensor has a rubber O Ring. I coated the ring with some Moly Grease to ensure a nice seal and in it went. Fitting is a doddle.

I needed to transfer the grey plastic clip from the old sensor to the replacement as mine didn't come with one. Easy to do..




I refitted the final clamp and plugged it in B)



The VSA/ABS light has remained off.. and I'm confident the problem is fixed.

Prior to the fitting the sensor, the light wouldn't go out immediately - but now it does.

I also took the opportunity to give the old girl an oil and filter change, and cleaned out the air and pollen filter. Also drained and primed/bled the fuel filter.. car feels lovely now.. she has that spring in her step again B)

Good write up Faddy, top job. So when you drilled the sensor out did you manage to get all the bits out?

Also how often do you recommend the fuel filter bleed and reprime?

glad you got it sorted!..it's just never how the book states it should be lol

Shab, yep I'm happy I got it all out.. but we'll see.

I kept the bits left over from the old sensor, as you might be able to use the Left bracket if you buy a Rear Right sensor from the USA for your mates car.

Regarding the fuel filter bleed, it's the first time i've done an interim service on the fuel filter. All my tools were out and I was going to change the oil anyway as it's been 7k miles since the major service in March.. It's a bit fiddly but worth doing.

Al - yep, it's never how they say it will be.

Nice write up F cheers looks pretty straight forward maybe this is the problem with my VSA light coming on now and again I'm getting it looked at the HH meet.

Just seen this as well Fahad a very good DIY write up that will save us members pounds from dealers.

My ABS light came on 3 times today (No VSA on my car Phew!)

It would go out when the car was re-started, but came on again after 15 mins or so. However on the way home it never came on at all, so I'm guessing it's an i intermittent fault.

CJ, or anyone, how do you check to see which one is duff?.

MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE

John it needs to be plugged in for a diagnostics check.. If you're coming down to the club meet, maybe CJ can do it then..

MOT due in November, so may be cutting it a bit fine. Is it a question of using a multimeter?

I guess you could use a multimeter and check each sensor for resistance but the problem is if the fault is intermittent then you might not pick it up.

If you get a proper diagnostics, the fault will have been logged in the ECU's retained memory and you can see which sensor it was - if it's even the sensor! No guesswork involved.

Also if your ABS light isn't on in the MoT, it's not a fail..

I'll need to get the wheels off and have a good look for any damage, hope fully it'll be something obvious!, and take it from there

Well guess what, it was the rear left which was causing the grief (same as Faddy).

Went to my local garage (local to my work) got it plugged in to a fault code reader FOC, as I've put a bit of business their way over the years, so I reckon theyre due me a freebie B)

Bought a new sensor for £139 from my local Honda Dealer, as I couldn't be bothered waiting on a second hand one coming from the States, and fitted it today using all of the advice on this thread. Took about one hour, had to drill the badboy out, as there was no way this baby was coming out without a fight! B)





A bit awkward getting a drill into the available space in the wheel arch, but got their in the end!



Thanks to everyone's help (especially Faddy)

Hey John, that's excellent mate!

£139 is a fair price as I think even Holdcroft quoted me near enough that much.. It's funny how it's always the rear left sensors.. it happened on mine, yours and Shab's mates car too - always the rear left.

I don't think you would have got one from the States anyway as I got the only one going.

CJ - when you say a washer, are you talking about the rubber O ring? Or a washer on the bolt? I can't remember if I had a washer on the bolt, but I defo had an O ring on it.

It is weird that we all seem to have had the problem with the same sensor. When the guy was doing the test, I just knew it would be the l/h rear B)

I did see one on e-bay for £47 plus p&p, and import duty, so god know how much it would have cost by the time it got to me. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Acura-TSX-ABS-Wheel-Speed-Sensor-RR-04-05-06-07-08-2005-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem518b79741fQQitemZ350232343583QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_1650wt_940

Got 5% discount of the part Faddy, I usually get 15%, but the dealer only gets 10% discount from Honda on the sensors, so he let me have half of it

Main thing is it's sorted before the MOT in November B)

Quick question guys, when you drill this out what do you do about the bits that go into the hub?

Shabz said:

Quick question guys, when you drill this out what do you do about the bits that go into the hub?

Click to expand...

I just blew into the hole, and they just fly out onto the ground B)

Puppy said:

I just blew into the hole, and they just fly out onto the ground

Click to expand...

So is the hub exposed then? I have'nt seen one up close thats why I ask.

I'll be fising my mates sensor soon so just want to get as much info as possible

Shabz said:

Quick question guys, when you drill this out what do you do about the bits that go into the hub?

Click to expand...

Shabz, Fahad said he used a hoover and then rotated the hub to check. Sounds as gooder way as any to me.

Good Luck

John, that one in your link is a Rear Right - those are the same guys I got mine from I kept my old sensor as I thought someone could use the bracket if they bought a RR but needed the RL - as far as I can tell, only the brackets are different.

Also, I don't remember the hub internals actually being exposed - hence the reason I used a hoover.

But remember the drill bit itself pulls all the bits out due to it's profile.. the hoover was just for good measure.

F6HAD said:

It's funny how it's always the rear left sensors.. it happened on mine, yours and Shab's mates car too - always the rear left.

Click to expand...

I'm gonna buy all 4 sensors new from a dealership when i go to japan, oh and a brake switch. Should be cheaper domestic

Back on track john, good extra info buddy. My vsa light hasnt been back on for a while now...