ABS light on

You can read the codes yourself with a paperclip with the instructions here:

See OBD1 diagnostics. But, since the charts that site provides may not include ABS codes, you can also stop by Autozone and they will read the codes for free.

And last but not least, you can make an appointment with the service department at your Saturn retailer for a diagnostic. There's usually a fee involved, but if their diagnosis saves you from buying ONE part you don't need due to guessing, it has paid for itself.

Lane [ lane (at) evilplastic.com ]

Possibly the wheel speed sensors are worn. Could even be the teeth on the axle that the speed sensor reads are rusted and the gap has increased. The increased gap may degrade the signal enough that at high speeds the output becomes intermittent and shows as an ABS fault.

OK, I replaced the wheel speed sensor that I suspected (the right front- since the problem started there after I removed the c/v joint from the steerign knuckle).

And now, the ABS light comes on at 35 mph instead of 60 mph.

Do you know what the air gap is supposed to be? What is better, less or more of an air gap?

Can I just sand the rust off the teeth on the axle and increase the signal (hopefully?)

Thanks.

hello there just a bit of experience here with my 93 sl2 abs , the rear abs conector wire that goes to right rear wheel was (faulty),the piece of wire was about 18 inches long ,the wire was corroded inside the insulation, i pealed the insulation off and wire had crumbled to a greyish powder

OK- I will definitely check this.

I was actually able to find out the trouble code and what it means. It is ABS code 26- right front wheel jitter.

Does anyone know what that means and how do I correct it?

I will check the wiring, and check the teeth on the axle.

Thanks!!

There is a 'sweet spot' in the air gap. The sensor has a small magnetic circuit in it that is completed when the teeth of the 'gear' teeth of the axle. Two raised teeth complete the magnetic circuit while the grooves break it. There should be enough of a low to high difference to trigger the sensor. You can wire brush the gear teeth to clean out the grooves or possibly shim the sensor out to get about .020" gap to the teeth.

As also posted, worth pulling gently on all wires to look for corrosion. Pull the connectors off and spray the faces with white grease to make them a bit more water resistant.

Sensors vary in technology so it is hard to give exact electrical troubleshooting. Sometimes there is no DC voltage on the sensor, it generates a voltage similar to a electric guitar pickup. Others have a dc voltage on the sensor which is pulled low when the teeth pass by. Difficult to measure with a handheld meter though.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied. Your ideas were extremely helpful. Thanks!!

I found out the problem- two of the gear teeth on the axle are chipped. The two that are chipped are right next to each other.

I have no idea how I'm going to fix that, or if it even is fixable without replacing the axle (oh no), but at least I figured out what it was. Thanks again.

Don't know if there is an iron filled epoxy??? The teeth need to be able to be attracted to a magnet. Surely there must be some sort of repair kit available for this. For that matter, perhaps you can get someone who is good at arc welding to drop a couple of beads and then grind them out to the correct tooth profile again. If you weld, make sure the ground is to the axle and not the strut. Welding current should *never* pass through bearings.

Seems really stupid to have to change an axle for this. You may have to do something if your state requires mechanical/ emission inspections. Here in NY, any MIL indicator and immediate fail... good luck Oppie

See Lane's post above. he lists a link that lists the ABS codes and and some trouble shooting ideas. ernie

Reman ABS axles at Advance start around 70 to 80 bucks and there will be

45 dollars off of that with a core exchange. Paying to have the old axle welded would cost more than its worth especially considering it may fail at any given time with its age.