Oil in ABS cavity - Is a little expected?

[Kanoe]

Ok I'm going to stop pestering here soon and make some decisions, but I have a question that endless reading has not answered. I know some of you guys will know this, likely [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and others.

Lets say I want to do a part way job, no bearings. I know, not advised but anyways. I would still like to do the Dr Coffee flip. Does anyone know if a bearing splitter would be able to get the inner retainer off while leaving the ABS ring in place? Will it separate the two? I don't want to pound out the 4 backing plate studs to get ahold of the ABS ring, I'd rather leave it alone.

Thanks again.

 

[Mchaz]

Ok I'm going to stop pestering here soon and make some decisions, but I have a question that endless reading has not answered. I know some of you guys will know this, likely [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and others.

Lets say I want to do a part way job, no bearings. I know, not advised but anyways. I would still like to do the Dr Coffee flip. Does anyone know if a bearing splitter would be able to get the inner retainer off while leaving the ABS ring in place? Will it separate the two? I don't want to pound out the 4 backing plate studs to get ahold of the ABS ring, I'd rather leave it alone.

Thanks again.

The outer retainer and ABS ring are basically right up against each other. I don't think it's doable unless you made a custom tool.

Pounding the studs out really isn't very difficult unless there is a lot of rust to contend with. They are simple to pull back into place with a stack of washers.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk

 

[Kanoe]

After mulling this over for a while I have made a decision. I'm going to follow my nature and take the more cautious approach. I'm going to do the whole seal/bearing replacement. I just have to find a shop to do the press work now.

Thanks to all those who chimed in with advice.

 

[I_bRAD]

After mulling this over for a while I have made a decision. I'm going to follow my nature and take the more cautious approach. I'm going to do the whole seal/bearing replacement. I just have to find a shop to do the press work now.

Thanks to all those who chimed in with advice.

Do you have space for a press and somewhere local to buy one? I bought mine just to do the seals, but have found consistent use for it since.

 

[Kanoe]

As mentioned, I decided to have a go at the full job, bearings included. As of tonight, one side is done and reassembled, the second side is ready to pull.

To update the question that started this thread, a little oil in the cavity is not good for the bearing. I only had enough oil in the cavity to stick in a few of the ABS ring teeth. Not enough to come into the brake area.

I was surprised by what I found when I pulled the axle. The gear oil had obviously contaminated the bearing grease and a slimy mess was sluffing out of the bearing seal into the ABS cavity. The bearing still felt fine, not much different from the new one I pressed in. I expect it would have had a short life now if left in service.

So in my opinion, ANY gear oil in the ABS cavity will mean compromised bearings. At least I saved the brakes by catching it early.

 

[Ricktuk]

I would then just buy a new breather and not sweat it. Let the dogs keep sleeping.

Agreed, if the breather tube is clogged it can cause pressure that will push through the seal even if the seal is good.

 

[Mark_BC]

Good on you for tackling the job. I am lucky being close to the border and I bought that 20 ton Harbor Freight press Timmy recommends. Haven't put it together yet though.

I have what might be a stupid question. How do you get the ABS cover off? In the videos it seems to come off nice but when I try, it feels like I'll break the plastic before it comes off. I recall there is one screw holding it on right? (I'm on the other side of the country and can't check)

 

[mtbtim]

Good on you for tackling the job. I am lucky being close to the border and I bought that 20 ton Harbor Freight press Timmy recommends. Haven't put it together yet though.

I have what might be a stupid question. How do you get the ABS cover off? In the videos it seems to come off nice but when I try, it feels like I'll break the plastic before it comes off. I recall there is one screw holding it on right? (I'm on the other side of the country and can't check)

Hey Mark, the ABS sensors are held on with a small 10mm bolt. Remove the bolts and then get a medium size flat tip screwdriver to pry it out of the axle housing. There's a small cut-out in the body of the sensor that allows you to get the tip of the screwdriver between sensor and the axle housing. Twist the screwdriver and you should start to get movement. The sensor has an o-ring on it to keep road contaminants getting in through the sensor hole so that's the friction you're overcoming by prying with the screwdriver. When you're done with the job and ready to put the sensor back in, put some grease in the port hole and on the o-ring itself so it will be easier to remove in the future.

 

[Kanoe]

I have what might be a stupid question. How do you get the ABS cover off? In the videos it seems to come off nice but when I try, it feels like I'll break the plastic before it comes off. I recall there is one screw holding it on right? (I'm on the other side of the country and can't check)

Mine wouldn't come out with just the screwdriver, or at least it was beyond my comfort point. I used a big adjustable wrench to fit around the sensor, wrench parallel to the axle. I used this to rotate the sensor a few degrees up and down and then put the screwdriver into play also. It worked out fairly easily this way.

Now that I have cleaned up the holes and greased the o-ring they come out beautifully. I will be using them to check on my new seals for the next while.

And as of today, both sides are done. Just need to refill the diff and bleed the brakes tomorrow. Suffering with a cold, can't do long days. Fingers crossed it works.

 

[Mark_BC]

Will it be retiring to the garage soon?

 

[Kanoe]

Now that this job is nearly done (hopefully) I would like to thank all those who have contributed to this pool of info. Especially needing a thanks are [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION], [MENTION=78997]Drcoffee[/MENTION], and [MENTION=44220]BigFishAllDay[/MENTION]. I spent a lot of time reading your stuff and would not have attempted this without it.

I did do the Drcoffee flip and it certainly looks good on the grease test. Happy I did it.

Tim was right above when he suggested doing the bearings too. I was surprised to see what a mess they were in considering how little oil had got out. The new ones are tighter too which makes me happy. Thanks for that tip.

 

[Kanoe]

Will it be retiring to the garage soon?

Took me a while to catch that one. You mean the sea can?? Not this year, we are packing to head out any day for southern deserts. Utah, Arizona, Cali at least, likely more.

This job was unplanned entirely. Just checked the ABS sensor while servicing bell cranks and there you go, leaking. Caught it early. I expect I would have been doing it on the road otherwise.

 

[Kanoe]

All together today!

Drove 25km to the enviro depot to drop off brake fluid and gear oil. All seems OK. Pulled the ABS sensors when I got home and so far so good. Will continue to monitor.

 

[Kanoe]

Well, first leg of road trip is done. 3,000Km and just pulled the ABS sensors to check. Still Dry!!! Very happy. I will continue to check on tire rotations now I think.

 

[Kanoe]

Well, good news. Just rotated the tires and checked again. About 12,000km from redoing the seals. All is dry still.

I'll still periodically check the ABS cavity but for now I am happy.

At the end of the day, it cost me a bundle having to buy all the OEM parts at my local dealer (short notice repair with trip pending). I spent a lot on a short notice bearing splitter (no time to order) and I had to cough up a good bit of money to have a shop fabricate the axle tools from my own sketches and measurements. But I did the repair myself and have the satisfaction of knowing how to do it again and now I own the tools. Small accomplishment.

 

[michaelmike]

Hello all.

While servicing bell cranks today I decided to be proactive and have a look inside the ABS sensor cavity. Cr*p. Not dry as I had hoped.

175,000 Km, axles have never been touched. I found both sides to be similar. There is some gear oil in there. There is NO leak into the brake drum, no outward signs of anything leaking. There is enough gear oil that it is present in some teeth of the ABS gear, but there is not enough there to completely bathe the gear. Only 25-50% of teeth had oil present, and it certainly wasn't running down the gear as I turned the axle.

Has anyone seen this? Has anyone ever checked this cavity before the outward signs of a leak have shown up? I wonder if it is possible that it is OK for a little gear oil to be in there (hoping)?

Really hoping it is not axle seal time for me but at least my brakes are not damaged. Oh, diff vent extension has been done for some time so that should not be an issue here.

Thanks for any opinions.

I am not able to help but seek answer to the same concern. 2001 3.4 VSS code 0 500 whatever it has the truck in limp mode I’ve cleared knock sensor, TPS, mass airflow. Changed all 4 ABS sensors to toyota sensors both rear wet same deal. I tried to vacuum out nothing really there but ABS ring and sensor definitely have gear oil present. I can take ABS out and make it throw code. Return abs no code for ABS. Either deal 0500. So I figure this exciting electrical data driven code may be a result of the Diff fluid minimizing the signal not allowing for equal signals to go to ABS/VSC/TRAC module before ECM and fuel gauge of course my fuel gauge, odometer, tachometer do not work.well I said a mouth full some true T4R our expertise would so be appreciated. If some ok Is there a bypass for limp mode New ECM??? Thanks