New hub - faulty ABS sensor

[DLinkOZ]

Quick and simple, looking for input. I replaced one of my front hubs (04 NBX) and now it's tripping my ABS light over 20mph. My initial thought was no biggie, it's a snap to replace the hub so I'll just replace it. I remember seeing people have all sorts of problems removing the ABS sensors, so didn't even give that a second thought. I decided to try and pull the original sensor (which worked great) from the bad hub I removed since it was going in the trash anyway, and like everything else on my truck (knock on wood!) it came out super-easy (even has the factory blue grease on the inside).

So here's my question - should I just exchange the whole hub, or take a risk on the warranty (could be minimal, not sure) and try just swapping out the sensor? I would assume that the new one should be easy to remove, and since the old one came out easily it should be pretty simple and safe.

 

[gforceman]

if the sensor was working before you changed hub , then its your new hub ( replace hubs with FORD only )

i had the same problem on my explorer beacuse i decided to buy the hub from Adavnce Auto ( china made ) my ABS light would come on , so i removed it and bought one from ford BINGO problem solved , inspected the teeth on the ABS toothed gear inside the hub they were all inconsistant or flat teeth where the sensor couldnt read it .. so return your old hub and go to ford.. china CRAP !!!

 

[NEFG]

How much more are the hubs from Ford?

 

[gforceman]

if i remember around 60 but worth it no headaches , install DONE !!

 

[jrford]

should I just exchange the whole hub, or take a risk on the warranty (could be minimal, not sure) and try just swapping out the sensor? I would assume that the new one should be easy to remove, and since the old one came out easily it should be pretty simple and safe.

Also make sure the connector is secure.. . .too. I assume you know for certain which sensor?

By all means, id swap the sensor first. Oh keep those sensors. . .been there done that. Its was easy to break the wires inside, working on the brakes after i put in the new hubs. Having a spare came in handy.

Anyone check the box on the ford stuff as to where its made? Running on the Chinese chit, over a year no problem.

 

[jayton]

When I did mine, it was a Timken (probably the Chinese chit) hub and it didn't come with a new sensor. I took the sensor off the old one and put it on the new one, never had a problem.

 

[Gudde]

Same here. Bought it from Advanced auto, didn't last 50 miles and turned on the ABS light. I replaced the sensor with the original and it fixed the problem.
I agree, get the hub from Ford.

 

[DLinkOZ]

Scratch this whole thing! I swapped out the ABS sensor, just a quick 20 minute job. Put the wheel back on and noticed some play. That new bearing (less than a week old, just put it on Saturday and have only driving a max of 20 miles) is already bad. It has about 1/4" of play. Going to replace with a Ford hub.

 

[mikeinri]

So as not to make any bad assumptions...

What brand was the "new" bearing?

How did you torque the axle nut?

Mike

 

[DLinkOZ]

New bearing was Master Pro from O'Reily, and I used a torque wrench. The axle nut is tight against the inner side of the bearing, and nothing seems to be moving on the knuckle side. Just in between the two rolling surfaces of the bearing.

 

[mikeinri]

Did you torque it before you dropped it off the jack? Not sure if that matters, but that's what the book says to do.

Mike

 

[DLinkOZ]

Got it as tight as I could (wheel spins, so couldn't get that much torque on it). When I dropped it on the ground, I got maybe 1/3 to 1/4 of a turn on the torque wrench, so it was pretty close.

 

[mikeinri]

Just curious, as I just did this job too, and someone here mentioned loose axle nuts leading to premature bearing wear.

When I did my fronts, I got it as tight as I could with a piece of wood pressed between the floor and one of the lug bolts to keep the rotor from moving (jacked up, tire off). My torque wrench didn't click, so I got it as tight as I could, then put the tires on, dropped the jack, and the torque wrench clicked right away.

Basically, this was a brain fart, because I did the rears "by the book" which says to use the brakes to hold the rotor still while still jacked up...

Still, I can't imagine that this matters too much.

Mike

 

[DLinkOZ]

New hub is on, everything looks good so far. What I've discovered, in hindsight, is that the ABS sensor does not appear to have been faulty. I put in my known-good (OEM) sensor and it still threw an ABS error. All I can think is that the first 5 miles, when the light came on, is the point where the bearing failed. Likely produced a constant, yet slight, shudder or grind that caused the sensor to pick up a faulty signal. So I've been driving for about 10 miles on the slightly wobbly wheel, which isn't good.