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Pro tip: That weird ABS code is probably a bad ground wire, not the sensor
Spent 4 hours chasing a wheel speed sensor fault on a 2012 Civic in Phoenix, replaced the sensor and everything, only to find a corroded ground connection hidden behind the fender liner. A 50-cent fix cost me a full afternoon and a $90 sensor I didn't need. Has anyone else wasted a day on a simple ground issue like this?
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harpery4714d ago
Oh man, that hurts! Did the exact same thing on my old Tacoma.
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ninas6714d ago
A bad ground wire isn't always the first thing you check, but man, that sensor swap is almost a rite of passage. On my '08 Outback, the ABS light flickered on and off for months, and every scan pointed to a rear left sensor. Turned out the ground bolt under the back seat was loose, not even corroded. Tightened it up and the light vanished. Sometimes you get lucky and the sensor is actually the culprit, especially on a car with 150k miles where they just wear out. Grounds can be tricky too, especially if the wiring looks fine on the outside but the connection is just barely hanging on.
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harpery47, that "did the exact same thing" hits home hard. It's like a secret club nobody wants to be in. I still get a little mad thinking about that 2012 Civic, especially since the ground was hiding behind the plastic fender liner where you'd never think to look. You spend all that time jacking up the car and fighting with rusty bolts on the sensor, only to find out a simple twist of a screwdriver would have fixed it. At least with a Tacoma you know it's probably got some rust hiding somewhere, but it still stings to lose a whole afternoon and the cash for a part you don't even need. Feels like the car's just messing with you sometimes, you know?
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