ABS light came on...

Jan 29, 2005 8 Replies

I have a 1995 Legacy wagon and the brakes were worn so I took it into the shop for service. I also mentioned that the ABS light came on very intermittantly. They did the brake work then hooked it up to the diagnostic and it said the ADSL codes were #27,#28 L/Rear speed sensor.



They wanted $400 to replace it. I said no thanks.



The light started coming on more frequently, so I did further research-



formatting link
I pulled the sensor and it was covered with rusted metal dust. I cleaned it and blew out the rotor.



Problem solved, cost $0. Though I did spend several hours searching the net for the info. I hope this saves someone else the trouble.



Great story, and maby other Subaru owners do have self-repair stories like this one. It could save us a lot of money.

"CLIPPER" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...

Was it easy to find the sensor under there? My 91 Legacy is doing the same thing. Very unpredictable as to when the light will come on. Sounds suspiciously like your description.

Can you point me to the sensor before I go crawling under there?

Thank you!

~Jeremy

Don't be surprised if the light comes back on. I also have a 95 that did the same thing. I cleaned the sensor and the light was back on a week later. Did this a few times until the light was just on all the time.

Does the car do anything else odd when braking other than have the light on?

They are easy to access once you've lifted the car with a jack and taken off the wheel. A 12mm bolt holds it in place at roughly the 10 O'clock position (looking at it from the driver's side and facing the car- does that make sense?)

I gently pried it loose with a short, thin blade slot head screw driver. Be careful not to blow it off with high air pressure- at least the article warned not to as a static charge can build up and zap it.

I'll keep an eye on it- two days and so far so good. It used to come on after a few blocks and good bump on the road. (I also think my shocks are shot.)

When the light came on the ABS sometimes, but not always is was while pressing the brakes. Then I would get the typical ABS grind noise but it would last a bit longer than normal and the brake pedal would drop to the floor. Then the light popped on.

That's about it. Sound familiar? I'll post again if my light comes back on. Did you finally resolve your problem or is the light still on?

My problem was the ABS would kick in on dry pavement when slowing/stopping like at a traffic light. The bad sensor was obviously sending a wheel lockup signal. My pedal never traveled to the floor though, that sounds like a problem with the hydraulics.

Well, you called it and thanks to you I wasn't surprised. :) The Light did come back on and it came on more frequently after a two weeks hiatus.

I checked tthe codes again using the historical ADSL code-

formatting link
Since the codes said it was the Left Rear sensor, I called the dealership and ordered one- $150. It was a breeze to install. Jack the car and take off the wheel. Undo the four 12mm bolts, pull the sensor from the wheel hub - this can be sticky. Lift the rear seat and find the sensor wire coming into the body- unsnap the gray connector. Then intall the new in reverse order. It took me 45 min start to finish. The shop's estimate of

3 hours was absurd.

It works fine now. (well, at least I'll get another two weeks ;)

Nope, you're good as gold now. Gotta love those code readers ; )

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required