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ABS light = Bad Wheel bearing?

G

great white

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My 98 has started bringing up the abs dash light in the last couple days.

It clears with a shut down and restart.

I haven't pulled the code out of the PCM yet nor have I checked out he front end.

I seem to remember someone (Matt?) mentioning that a bad wheel bearing assy was giving them the abs light, probably because of too much slop messing up the tone wheel and sensor.

The light seems to have a tendancy to come one with left turns in excess of about 45 degrees but that may just be coincedence.

The truck "only" has 408 000 kms on it and as far as I know it could be the orig unit bearings.

Only other coinky dink is that it showed up a day after I disconnected my trailer hook up connector from the truck wiring to remover the bumper. The wire ends are temporarily taped to prevent shorts (elect tape).

So, whatchatink?

:)
 
That theory was origanlly started by TD and IIRC it was metal debris building up on the magnet. Sounds to me like a close inspection of the wheel bearing is due.
 
ak diesel driver said:
That theory was origanlly started by TD and IIRC it was metal debris building up on the magnet. Sounds to me like a close inspection of the wheel bearing is due.
Click to expand...

Interesting.

If that were teh case, then a simple cleaning of the sensor surface should eliminate the ABS light problem.

The bearing wear would be a different story...

;)
 
IIRC Tim had failed bearings. There is a thread somewhere. Maybe back on DP. ABS light could be a number of things though turning the wheel is suspicious. The ABS unit itself quite often goes bad. In that case just unplug it. They are dangerous anyway but i would not ignore the wheel bearings. They are expensive and I would buy the better ones. You got a 2500 but not sure if HD or not. If it's 8 lug the price is considerably higher IIRC. Pull the codes for it.
 
IIRC TD had a bearing come apart a short time after the ABS light coming on. My 95 was tripping right front wheel speed sensor codes around the same time. :eek:Scared me enough to buy both front wheel bearings! ABS light went out and I felt much better. Used Timken bearings and that 95 is still going.
 
Change out the bearings. They're cheap ($160 per side) and the job is a piece of cake. You'll sleep easier.
 
if you find no play on the brgs i would check the wiring at te flex points and check the connector at the frame.
After only 400 k of flexing i would think the wire core might get fatiqued,that was the case on my wife's 95,broke wire.
 
well, driving to work today the Abs starting pulsing at a stop on dry pavement.

The tires were definately not locked up.

That seems to support the abs sensor being covered with "fuzz" and seeing a stationary wheel.

So I just ordered two front wheel bearing assemblies at 400 bucks a piece (ouch!) and I'll be changing them out tomorrow morning.

It's not much of a real surprise, I've suspected they've been on the way out for a while now. I have a rumble/vibe at around 100-110 kph and a "scritch-scritch" bearing rumble noise when turning at low speeds.

Isn't life grand? Or in this case, about a grand....

:(

On the other side of the coin, it looks like I'll have to drive it from the west coast to the east coast hauling our 35 foot trailer :

Untitled-1-4-1-1.jpg


About 8000kms. So that's one less piece of the rig to worry about on the trip...
 
Order your bearings from:

http://mibearings.com/

You can get the 8 lug timkens for less than $200. Word of caution: call them direct to ensure correct part. The website is deficient in this regard.
 
Big T said:
Order your bearings from:

http://mibearings.com/

You can get the 8 lug timkens for less than $200. Word of caution: call them direct to ensure correct part. The website is deficient in this regard.
Click to expand...

too late, bought the bearing local.

893 bucks after taxes for two.

ouch.

I looked at rockauto and it was 253 for the same part number SKF bearings I got local. Problem is, after shipping, taxes and duties I would only save around 100 bucks.

Then I'd have to deal with the wait for them to arrive and any warranty or wrong parts sent issues would be a nightmare.

Sometime sya just have to belly up to the bar and pay the man what he's askin'.....

:(
 
Well, I'm your most recent resident expert on this job, so feel free to ask. I hope youndon't have the frozen bolt issues that I had.
 
Big T said:
Well, I'm your most recent resident expert on this job, so feel free to ask. I hope youndon't have the frozen bolt issues that I had.
Click to expand...

Nah, not worried about it.

pull the caliper, Hub nut off, push back the cv joint, remove the abs sensor, pop the 4 mounting bolts out (yup, know they an be a biotch, got the right tools and I've done it before), press the studs out, separate the rotor and reassemble in reverse order.

If it gets to be really "nasty" I'll just pop the whole knuckle off and head for the bench vice.

No big.

Probably stretch it out over the whole day instead of working like a madman.

:)
 
Turbine Doc said:
Check diagnostic from the MIBearing site says ABS code can mean bad bearing http://mibearings.com/Identify-A-Bad-Wheel-Bearing.html
Click to expand...

Good to see you around a bit more again Tim!

However

The way I read the MI site's "write up", it seems it's more for an actual ABS sensor failure where the sensor has to be changed with the hub than a bearing failure:

The ABS Sensor.
On many hubs, there is an ABS sensor. If the ABS sensor is bad, it will cause your ABS light to come on on the dash. This can also cause ABS malfunctions. To fix this issue and restore your ABS, you will need a new hub assembly. To see if your hub assembly includes an ABS sensor or an ABS exciter ring, please email us at..
Click to expand...

When I change my bearings, I have to transfer over the ABS sensor so we should see if your "fuzz" theory holds true.

:)
 
Good to be around a little more though it's deer season that may change at a given moment :), new job allows a little more time to be here now that I've completed my steam turbine field engineer school,

Well I gotta get off the puter, my wife just reminded me that I'm supposed to be fixing "her TDI" & not wasting my daylight/time here until "HER CAR" is fixed, I'll check in with ya'll later.

TD Out
 
well, now things are a bt messed up.

I'm in the garage and have the front wheels off.

I tried moving the wheels at the 12 and 6 position with the wheels on and they're both snug. no rocking at all. as in NONE.

Pulled the wheels off and backed off the brake pads. big pry bar in the rotor cooling fins and no play in the bearing assemblies at all. again, NONE.

The abs codes were numerous. front sensors left and right, brake switch voltage, etc etc.....

Cleared them and took it out for a drive. Sure enough, abs light came on again. Clears with a key off cycle.

The4 only identifying marks I can find on the old hubs is a stamped b7k16x in the rotor face.

I can't tell if they've been replaced either. The brakes have been done recently before I bought it (obvious from the wear condition) and it's all been apart for that job already.

I'd rather not install a $900 set of bearings when there's no indication that these are bad.......
 
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