Almo Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Hi guys, I installed a new LH front wheel bearing yst and tonite when i test drove it the ABS light stayed on. It's on at standstill with the engine running (I think this is normal yeah?) then it goes off momentarily once you start rolling but comes back on a good second later and stays on. I'm thinking it's probably to do with the ABS reluctor ring on the new bearing not being 100% compatible. Yes, i put the bearing in the right way round with the black magnetic ring to the inside and was careful replacing the sensor in its hole after cleaning the tip. The bearing wasn't an original ford one. I got it off ebay i think it is a brand called key parts prob made in China. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Did you by chance unplug the sensor during the bearing swap ? If so I would start by checking that it is plugged back up. And I know you said the bearing was pressed back in the proper way but the only other thing I think it could be is the bearing is backwards. Was the tone ring facing up at you when you pressed it back in ? These are the only two things I know it could be other than a damaged sensor. Maybe one of the others will have more ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almo Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 Thanks for the reply, yep the tone ring is on the correct (inward/engine) side. I'm pretty happy I didnt damage the ring when I slipped the drive shaft through but it is possible, hard to see in there. An auto electrical friend said I could test the sensor by unplugging it (anyone know where the plug is?) and do a resistance test and see if it matches the drivers side one. I was careful with it and had it tied back out the way. I've just ordered a new hub and another bearing off transitspares on Ebay as the hub/drivingflange has half the bearing surface worn where the bearing inner race contacts. So this time I will be super careful on install. I'm definitely getting to know my van! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Hmm. If it is worn in that area could it be possible that a gap between the sensor and the tone ring has developed ? If that has happened it would cause the sensor to have a false reading triggering the light. It requires a pretty tight tolerance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Ridley Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Get a scan tool so you can read the DTCs associated with the ABS light. The Forscan Lite app works well (about $10). You will also need a cheap elm 327 adapter w/bluetooth ( about $30, many work for the simple scanner functions, more expensive ones needed for programming changes). Do a YouTube search for info. Now you have a tool you can use for almost every repair on your TC. You will no longer have to buy a bunch of electrical parts to find out which one is bad. If you do all your own maintenance and troubleshooting you will use the scan tool many times. BSUPC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Thanks for chiming in Don. I have no clue why my brain over looked the scan tool. As much as I use mine you would think I would think of that first to try. lol This is why I love this group. We all think of different stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almo Posted March 22, 2019 Author Share Posted March 22, 2019 Thanks Guys, I just used my multimeter and got no ohms resistance on the LH side then tried the RH side and got 706 ohms so it would appear the LH sensor is stuffed despite looking OK on visual inspection. Only 13 quid from transitparts on Ebay so no huge expense to replace first. Cheers for the info on the scan tool, will def look into that. The worst thing for me is having to wait on the parts to get here from the UK but its usually only a week if you have a good run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Did you remove the sensor while you replaced the bearing? They get damaged very easily when the bearing are pressed in or out. If you are keeping a spare bearing around it could be a good idea to have an ABS also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almo Posted March 22, 2019 Author Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, G B L said: Did you remove the sensor while you replaced the bearing? They get damaged very easily when the bearing are pressed in or out. If you are keeping a spare bearing around it could be a good idea to have an ABS also. Yeah I had the sensor out when I replaced the bearing and half shaft. It came out nicely, pretty happy I didnt damage it but you never know. I will replace it first and go from there. I've got the new hub and wheel bearing coming too (hub bearing surface was worn) so I get to do this all over again LOl. But I'm mobile again which is main thing. I was wondering about the clearance gap between the sensor and ABS ring on the bearing as one of the other members mentioned. Theres not much you can adjust there though if the bearing is located fully in the housing so that the circlip can be fitted and then the sensor goes through a fixed hole in the knuckle so.... There is the possibility of dimension discrepancy between different bearing manufacturers though. The other thing that baffles my inquiring mind is how come come there are no lines /slots/holes on the ABS ring for the sensor to pick up off? Edited March 22, 2019 by Almo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 (edited) The inner grease shield on the bearing is plastic so it lets the tone ring work. I the bearing is reversed the steel Grease shield would block the signal. Edited March 23, 2019 by G B L Almo and davidparker 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidparker Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Very clever detective work @G B L ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almo Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 I finally got back to this issue last wkd as I'm due for a Warrant of fitness (MOT/Road Worthy/woteva your country calls it) next month and I wont get it with an ABS light showing. So I replaced the LH front ABS sensor which I've had laying around for a while now, then went for a drive but alas no change. Light goes off once your moving but comes on again once you hit about 15mph. Bugger, no easy fix. Luckily I'm friends with an Auto electrician and although his scan tool wouldnt talk to the ABS system of my Van (motor yes) he was able to borrow one that would. So we went for drive once hooked up and the graph showed a signal coming from the LH front wheel sensor but it was erratic and spiked, unlike the other three smoother graphs. So it has to be something to do with the reluctor ring on the aftermarket bearing I put in not being 100% compatible or faulty or the gap between the sensor and the reluctor ring is incorrect. I cant do much about that gap though as the sensor goes in a fixed hole and the bearing gets pressed all the way into the drive flange and then the circlip locates behind it. The new bearing I have is another aftermarket one, not a Ford original so I will bang it in this wkd and see how I go. Does that reluctor ring work on a hall effect principle or something as there's no raised lines or indentations on it? I ripped my original old bearing apart tonite to have a look on the back of that black plasticy ring to see if it was just a cover for something more ABS looking but no that's it. all that's behind it is the seal for the roller bearings... Has any one else had or heard of problems with ABS signal after fitting aftermarket bearings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G B L Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 (edited) Make sure the sending unit is bottomed out in the bore if the gap is too large the signal will not be constant. Can you show the picture of the old bearing with the dust shied removed? When you bought the part it stated it was for ABS equipped TC's? The one in the picture I posted says it has a Magnetic encoder seal Edited August 2, 2019 by G B L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almo Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 (edited) Thanks for your reply GBL, I can confirm that there was nothing wrong with that replacement bearing i put in as I got to eye ball it today when i pulled the hub carrier out... again! So, the whole guts of the problem was that worn drive flange due to one half of the original worn out bearing spinning on it and chewing away the metal. For those that dont know, these bearings are a double row bearing and the inner race is split in two for some reason with and outter half and an inner. So when I went to replace that original worn out bearing a couple of months ago I discovered the inner half of the bearing surface of the drive flange was worn and under size. Obviously the correct thing to do then would have been to replace the bearing AND the drive flange. But I cant get parts for this van here off the shelf, they have to come from the UK which takes a week and I was under the pump to get the van on the road to go racing in the North island. So I did a bodgy job and applied bearing retainer to one half of the new bearing inner race that was going to locate on the worn part of the drive flange. Wrong! It may have got me on the road but it was the source of the ABS light coming on. The ABS reluctor ring is attached to the inner race of the bearing so that it turns the with drive flange and creates the signal. But half of my inner race was not turning fully because the bearing retainer fix did not work and was just catching enough to spin the reluctor ring erratically creating a dud signal. So after 5 hrs at the workshop today re-doing the whole job and fitting a new drive flange I got to take it for a test drive and the light is off - Yahoo! Result. So pleased, it had been driving me nuts. As soon as I got the hub carrier off the van today and spun the drive flange I could see exactly what had gone wrong. You never stop learning eh. Thanks for listening to my saga those that did. Edited August 3, 2019 by Almo davidparker and BSUPC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSUPC Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Glad to hear that you got it figured out and resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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