ABS sensors - fitting tips?

[r.welfare]

So, after the ABS light coming on and off at random for the best part of two years on the Accord, it's finally coming on all the time (thankfully it played ball for the MOT a couple of months back).

 

Using a paperclip to bridge the diagnostic socket, the car is telling me that the n/s/r ABS sensor is open circuit. Sure enough, checking the relevant ECU pins for resistance shows a massive figure for that sensor, all the others are within tolerance (c. 1500 ohms).

 

I had a go at removing the existing one at the weekend. My word, it was well stuck, but eventually levered it out with a combination of a big screwdriver and 4lb lump hammer. Gave the reluctor ring a squirt of brake cleaner (and the sensor itself, which had a bit of gunk on the magnet), and checked the wiring from the sensor back to the connector (no obvious breakages). Then had a struggle to get the thing back in. The ABS light is still on, mind.

 

So - now I have got over the shock of the cost of a new sensor (which, it seems, you can only get from Honda - mind you, if it lasts another 10 years and 150k miles it will amortise fine!), any tips for opening up the sensor hole in the hub, i.e. getting the build-up of rust out, so the new one slides in more smoothly? I'm thinking a Dremel or similar - but if I overdo it, will this bugger up the air gap? I'd rather not screw things up for a 200 sovs outlay...

[Station]

Those sensors can't be fixed from my knowledge, it's never wiring or the fact it's got a bit of debris on it. I'm sure they're made to fail a while, it's not like they're complex or anything (a magnetic coil). And they're expensive new.

[Minimad5]

Aslong as you don't damage wiring and so on, removing the rust with a dremel shouldn't be too bad.

 

Most of them have a screw to keep them in place anyway , so if you do accidently make the hole a tadge too big, it shouldn't really matter

[shite_meister]

Last time I did one I used some emery tape wraped around my little pinky (finger that is) only when I had driven around the block did the light go off but that was on a Golf Mk3.

 

Your best bet would be to concoct some old-boy stylee repair involving some silicone sealant, a bit of a Rovers biscuits tin and some old tights. Job done!

[Station]

I cleaned the surfaced and then used Araldite to stick it back on, with a zip tie thing around it. It's still there I think.

[r.welfare]

Some quality Autoshite repair tips there!

 

I think a bit of emery or one of those grinding stone-type things in the Dremel will do the job to remove the build-up of crud in the mounting hole so the new one goes in smoothly, and mounts flush. It bolts in, but there's only one bolt rather than two.

 

£206.39 is the inc-VAT price from Honda; and I've tried numerous other sources without success. A secondhand one is an unknown quantity really. If we had the later (2003-2008) Accord then cheaper aftermarket parts from the US would have been viable, as that model was sold over there as the Acura TL, I think. Thankfully if I ever need to get one for my Toyota, they can be bagged from ECP (a Bosch part) for about 50 quid.