Abs light after hub job

Flashflood · March 27, 2022

I got an ABS light after doing the driver side hub on my 2000 explorer. Everything drove fine before except for extreme hub noise. So when it was nice decided to take on the challenge, rusty as hell and complicated. Abs cord is plugged into the sensor that was my first guess what else could it be?

Pete Deering · March 27, 2022

Flashflood said:
I got an ABS light after doing the driver side hub on my 2000 explorer. Everything drove fine before except for extreme hub noise. So when it was nice decided to take on the challenge, rusty as hell and complicated. Abs cord is plugged into the sensor that was my first guess what else could it be?

Maybe the new ABS sensor is bad. Plug the old ABS sensor back in and see if the ABS light goes out on system startup. Key in the on position EEC system going thru it check.

donalds · March 27, 2022

Check your wiring and connector for corrosion

Flashflood · March 27, 2022

Pete Deering said:
Maybe the new ABS sensor is bad. Plug the old ABS sensor back in and see if the ABS light goes out on system startup. Key in the on position EEC system going thru it check.

Didn't replace the sensor just hub itself. And what do you mean donalds

donalds · March 27, 2022

Did you unplug the sensor the plug may be dirty
Wire could be pitched somewhere
I ment start with a good visual inspection
Also do you have Forscan and a elm327
If so you can just view all of the sensors live to pinpoint problems

Fix4Dirt · March 27, 2022

not donalds, but im assuming hes saying the connector to the sensor could have corrosion on that and it can creep its way upstream too...

edit: realize donalds already addressed it

sehaare · March 27, 2022

When I was researching for my ABS issue here I remember seeing some posts where people replaced the ABS sensor and it was not compatible with the the hub they had. Hopefully that is not your issue (in reverse).

When I tried pulling out my abs sensor it came apart so I ended up replacing the entire hub. How much effort did it take to pull your ABS sensor out of the old hub? could it have been damaged then?

Flashflood · March 27, 2022

sehaare said:
When I was researching for my ABS issue here I remember seeing some posts where people replaced the ABS sensor and it was not compatible with the the hub they had. Hopefully that is not your issue (in reverse).

When I tried pulling out my abs sensor it came apart so I ended up replacing the entire hub. How much effort did it take to pull your ABS sensor out of the old hub? could it have been damaged then?

I didn't lol that rusty piece of garbage is laying in a recycle bin. Sooo overall idk and Donald's unfortunately don't anymore plus obd2 port isn't working

J_C · March 28, 2022

Flashflood said:
Didn't replace the sensor just hub itself. And what do you mean donalds

What hub did you get that doesn't come with a new ABS sensor? That is a pretty standard thing to come with a new hub.

If you reused the old sensor, (and wiring) my best guess is that the wiring got brittle and during the swap, wiring conductor broke internally.

I feel like there is some relevant info missing from this topic. In this forum there are topics about the connector pinout to the ABS module, where it shows the contacts to each sensor (or just measure at the sensor to start with). The front ABS sensors should read in the neighborhood of 420 ohms.

What does "abs cord is plugged into the sensor " mean? The sensor has the cord built onto it, no plug there, then a couple (2-3?) feet of cord before it plugs into the connector clipped to the further forward mounting point.

I may be misunderstanding...

Flashflood · March 28, 2022

J_C said:
What hub did you get that doesn't come with a new ABS sensor? That is a pretty standard thing to come with a new hub.

If you reused the old sensor, (and wiring) my best guess is that the wiring got brittle and during the swap, wiring conductor broke internally.

I feel like there is some relevant info missing from this topic. In this forum there are topics about the connector pinout to the ABS module, where it shows the contacts to each sensor (or just measure at the sensor to start with). The front ABS sensors should read in the neighborhood of 420 ohms.

What does "abs cord is plugged into the sensor " mean? The sensor has the cord built onto it, no plug there, then a couple (2-3?) feet of cord before it plugs into the connector clipped to the further forward mounting point.

I may be misunderstanding...

Lol I probably miss understood to yesterday was a long day. The hub did come with a new abs sensor and cord. What I meant is where the sensor plugs in at is what I didn't replace . So the module? I'll be taking a look at this morning and get back to yeah. Sorry!

sehaare · March 28, 2022

Flashflood said:
Lol I probably miss understood to yesterday was a long day. The hub did come with a new abs sensor and cord. What I meant is where the sensor plugs in at is what I didn't replace . So the module? I'll be taking a look at this morning and get back to yeah. Sorry!

Ok, so you just did what most of us have done and replaced the old hub with a new one that came with an installed ABS sensor.

About the only thing that you can check is where the plug from the new sensors wiring plugs into the wiring coming from the ABS module (like others have said). If you don't find corrosion or a bent pin, then unfortunately the new hub/sensor is most likely bad and you'll have to replace it again.

With your OBD2 port out of commission that limits what you can check. You can try taking the sensor's resistance reading. Hopefully that is bad and then you know for sure that is what is giving you the fault light. If the reading is good, they you're still going to end up replacing that new hub to truly know if that is the cause.

Sorry this sucks, but most of us have at least once installed a new part only to find that it was bad/broken (mine was a water temperature sensor on an old VW - low cost but had me chasing my tail for quite a while before I figured out the new part had to have been bad and replaced it).

J_C · March 28, 2022

Flashflood said:
Lol I probably miss understood to yesterday was a long day. The hub did come with a new abs sensor and cord. What I meant is where the sensor plugs in at is what I didn't replace . So the module? I'll be taking a look at this morning and get back to yeah. Sorry!

IIRC, it's a bit awkward to plug the sensor cord/connector into the mating connector because it's upside down and up a bit, so first I'd make sure you have the connector fully seated.

If it is, then I'd disconnect it and measure resistance, as already stated it should be near 420 ohms. If it is, next I would (plug it back in and then) unplug the ABS module connector and measure for 420 ohms there. If I'm not being clear, I mean the main ABS controller under the hood, where all the (hydraulic/fluid) brake lines are going.

Attached is the wiring diagram as a PDF file, showing the ABS module pin #'s corresponding to each ABS sensor. Use these pins #s on the PDF, not those on the picture I have attached as it is just showing how the pins are numbered.

If you have around 420 ohms at the sensor connector, but not at the ABS module pins, then the connector or wire between the two is bad.

If you are reading near 420 ohms, next I'd try spinning the wheel and measuring for low AC voltage changes.

Flashflood · March 28, 2022

Hey guys I solved it. I was a idiot and didn't plug the harness in all the way. It was loose I pulled on it pop came unplugged. Took a look at the pins and plug. Plugged it back in gone.

sehaare · March 28, 2022

Flashflood said:
Hey guys I solved it. I was a idiot and didn't plug the harness in all the way. It was loose I pulled on it pop came unplugged. Took a look at the pins and plug. Plugged it back in gone.

Good deal, I remember from when I did mine it was a pita to get that connector all the way in.

If I remember right I ended up popping the socket off the piece that attached it to the frame, connected the plug into the socket and then attached the socket back onto the frame. I do remember for sure that it took more than one try though.

Exploder5000 · March 29, 2022

Flashflood said:
I got an ABS light after doing the driver side hub on my 2000 explorer. Everything drove fine before except for extreme hub noise. So when it was nice decided to take on the challenge, rusty as hell and complicated. Abs cord is plugged into the sensor that was my first guess what else could it be?

A lot of times when you have bearing failure in the hub, your gonna need to replace sensor. They tend to get damaged if not from the hub then the removal. I myself have had to replace plenty of abs sensor do to them being stuck in the hub. Try a new sensor, and if you replace another hub down the road i would recommend centric which usually will come with a new sensor

J_C · March 29, 2022

^ Most (if not all) hubs come with a new sensor. Two of the more popular choices (on Rock Auto) are SKF and Timken.

If the sensor reads 420 ohms on its connector (before trying to remove it), I wouldn't bother replacing it rather than the whole hub with new sensor.

Flashflood · March 29, 2022

J_C said:
^ Most (if not all) hubs come with a new sensor. Two of the more popular choices (on Rock Auto) are SKF and Timken.

Well truthfully guys I went ahead got original ford motorcraft. We've had our fair share of aftermarket or 3rd party hubs fail, and we said screw it go with oem they'll last longer then finest Chinese.

J_C · March 29, 2022

^ Definitely the safest way to go, though I think Timken may make the motorcraft...

EB4X · March 29, 2022

WANT TO PIGGY BACK on this... semi-related....
Did dummy move (caught up in adrenaline off-roading going up various steep hills etc) and left my E-brake on and ate the pads.. during this "event" the ABS light came on and has been on ever since, even with new pads installed... connection / cause / solution ..??

J_C · March 29, 2022

^ Hook up a scan tool capable of ford specific codes and pull them. I doubt it is E-brake related.

I'd guess your offroading damaged the wire or connector to one of the ABS sensors. Troubleshooting is about the same otherwise, like the things in this post among others on the forum: