Abs Help

[jcol]

The ABS light comes on sometimes on my 2002 galaxy. At first no problems, then when braking gently when slowly coming to a stop I can feel the ABS kicking in under my feet -guess front offside. But that only seems to happen when the warning light is off, and not when the light is on. Had a mechanic look at it and he is not sure if it is the sensor or the pump. I know the pump is expensive! I would appreciate any advice...thanks

[BrianH]

Get hold of a vag-com lead and vcds lite and have a look for any error codes on the abs module. Could be a bad connection to a sensor or broken ring. Or could be more serious, but finding what it thinks is actually wrong and bringing the light on in the first place is your best chance of sorting it out. If it comes and goes that suggests to me its a sensor type problem (either the ring its sensing isn't quite right - They sometimes split or crack, or the sensor is in poor condition etc).

 

AFAIK if the abs detects a problem its supposed to work as a non-abs system hence the behavour you have noticed, though obviously some faults may prevent this being possible.

[jcol]

Thanks..the mechanic plugged his snap on detection thing in, and it said a front offside sensor problem, but he seems to be unsure after having a good look - he did say the ring was very rusty...

[xavier]

normally the ring cracks which allows it to turn on the driveshaft, though the cause of the ring breaking is sometimes the sensor failing (they rust internally and swell up, electrodes that do the sensing get pushed out and onto the ring). I'd suggest you replace both if your mechanic will allow you to provide the parts. New reluctor rings can be found on ebay (from dodthebod) as can sensors. I replaced a sensor 3 years ago with one from ebay and it's still fine. Euro car parts is

[jcol]

Thanks - the mechanic says that the CV joint has rusted (and swollen) and is pushing the ring, if that makes sense, and so it needs a new CV joint and sensor. He also advises against the cheap sensors. If that makes sense where is the best place to source them cheaply?

[sparky Paul]

It doesn't need a new CV joint.

 

Just as xavier says above, all old CV joints scale up with rust, breaking the reluctor ring. The scale can be knocked off the old CV joint and a new reluctor ring fitted, usually without any problems whatsoever. New rings are

[sparky Paul]

I would also add that if the problem is intermittent, and the reluctor ring has obviously failed, chances are the sensor will be okay.

 

They are only

[jcol]

hmn, interesting - thanks for all this advice - problem is that though I can do everything with houses, cars have passed me by, and am dependent on the mechanic. I'll put all this to him to see what he says. Ford charge over

[sparky Paul]

Well, I've always fitted 'cheap' pattern ABS sensors, and never had any problems. I'm sure the one I fitted to the Galaxy has been on 5-6 years now.

 

As for the cheap CV joints, again from J&R, I did fit one of their cheap driveshafts to a Renault. It seemed perfectly fine for the 2 years we had it, the car is still local and it still going strong AFAIK. That said, it's a bit optimistic to expect the cheap Galaxy CV joints to be as good quality as, or last like, the original parts... my old Galaxy still has both of it's original CV joints (both have had new ABS rings fitted), and they are still perfect.

 

It seems daft to me to replace a perfectly good original CV joint, just because of a split ABS ring. Worse still, replace it with a cheap pattern part.

 

Personally, I would just swap the ring - it's easier than replacing the whole CV joint anyway. However, your mechanic is probably going to want to do it his way.

Edited November 4, 2014 by sparky Paul

[jcol]

thanks for all the advice. I bought an intermotor sensor for

[BrianH]

End of the day its easy to change the sensor, not so easy to change the ring (if you can get the wheel off and see what your doing the abs sensor shouldn't cause you too many problems to change if required again)

[xavier]

for easy read an hour drilling the old one out! a bit of heat on the ring then it should slip on, then tap on the rest of the way with a hammer