ABS woes

[4Rnr4Evr]

Several months ago I had a front right wheel hub replaced by a reputable shop. About 500 miles later ABS light came on and VSC Off started flashing. Codes were 31 and 43, predictably - front right wheel sensor. Weirdly, the lights would go off occasionally after some driving on the highway but would show up when making a turn. When the lights were off, when braking in a turn the ABS would go crazy trying to kill me and then the lights would light up. At this point the lights are on 99% of the time and go off very rarely.

I replaced the corresponding sensor and nothing changed. I checked the harness with a multimeter and it rings OK. I'm now thinking that they messed up the bearing assembly and the tone ring got gradually damaged (because ABS worked fine for a few hundred miles after the install). Far too late to go back to the shop at this point but I can replace the hub assembly myself this time without breaking the bank. Except I don't want to throw parts at the vehicle without being certain they'll fix the problem.

EDIT: also, I tried cleraing the ABS codes and the lights light up within a few feet of driving after clearing them. Also tried zero point calibration and got the same result.

Any thoughts? Is there any possible way to test the abs ring in the hub?

 

[jfry008]

Did you remove the ABS wheel sensor cable from the car and apply tension to the cable while testing it?

Edit: or maybe swap left and right sensor cables and check codes

 

[Oneluv13T4R]

Did you remove the ABS wheel sensor cable from the car and apply tension to the cable while testing it?

Edit: or maybe swap left and right sensor cables and check codes

Exactly, what I was thinking since this is what solved my abs crisis like the op is having.

 

[4Rnr4Evr]

Definitely not the worst idea I've ever heard, I'll try it tomorrow.

 

[4Rnr4Evr]

Swapped the cables, cleared the codes, drove 200 ft, codes popped back, same as before. So I'm still thinking it's the tone ring.

 

[4Rnr4Evr]

Unfortunately I was correct. As I came home tonight I felt like messing with it, so I took the wheel off, removed the sensor and tried to look in the hole with a focused flashlight... well I could easily see the ring is separated from the bearing and just rattles around. Not sure you can see it on the photo but it's pretty hard to take a good picture through that tiny hole.

So now I am likely looking at getting a new hub assembly, I doubt this can be repaired? I'll call the shop tomorrow but it's been at least 10K miles since they did the work so I doubt they would be willing to do anything about it.

 

[sonerick]

I had this issue at one point too due to a defective hub/bearing assembly. I had installed it myself, and had followed the proper procedure, didn't notice anything unusual, etc. during install. New hub/bearing assembly cleared it right up though. Also gave me an opportunity to replace the inner hub seal, which I hadn't done the first time around.

You can get the hub/bearing pre-assembled from one of the guys on the forum, I'd recommend going that route if you plan to DIY. Good luck.

 

[4Rnr4Evr]

Yeah I've already contacted him. I think that's the safest and quickest fix.