"ABS LIGHT" grrrr

[GoldieStroker944]

so talked to the ford dealer monday and they said most of the time when the abs light comes on that its the speed sensor on the top of the rear diff... well i changed it last night (there were some metal shavings on it dont know if thats common or not) but now the light will shut off for a a few seconds when i start up and then continue to stay on...anybody have anymore suggestions...

[NoRalPh]

Do you have Front ABS?

[GoldieStroker944]

well none of it works when the light is on but i assume i have abs all theway around??

[Highbeam]

My ABS light is on and has been on. The light being on means that the computer can tell you what needs to be replaced.

If you don't want to spend the money on getting the computer read then your most logical guess is the rear diff sensor since that is very cheap, easy, and usually the cause. Metal shavings on the rear sensor are normal since it is the magnet and usually cleaning it makes it work again. If the rear sensor is out, the speedo can be intermittent as well. If your speedo is working fine then....

Each front wheel has a wheel speed sensor that can fail and set the ABS light. These are replaced when you replace your front bearing assemblies. The sensor can be replaced alone but you ought to consider just replacing the whole bearing while you're in there. This is much more expensive than the rear sensor.

[kylev90]

Not to jack your thread but would this be the same for an OBS?

[bcoutsfly]

My ABS light has been on for a year now. A mechanic fried it with a torch trying to get my wheel bearing out. Check your front sensors, one could be bad, there only like $50 at NAPA. I just haven't got around to doing it yet.

[NoRalPh]

Get the truck scanned to find out which of your 3 sensors is out and replace it. Kinda simple.... I would want my ABS functioning for the cost of a sensor (plus you've now wasted money on one you didn't need.)

Find somebody with a scanner!

[GoldieStroker944]

sensor is not shown seperatly...as far as i can tell just bought two new front hubs and bearing assys and they look like they are molded into the whole hub assy so gonna put them on tonight and see what happens

[NoRalPh]

They are removable from the front hubs. They are held in with a 5mm cap head screw and you can replace just the sensor if that's all you need.

Be sure you hubs have the sensors in them now though.....

[Highbeam]

Is it pretty easy to swap out the bearing/hub assemblies? I think I have a bad bearing and ABS sensor as a result, might be a two birds with one stone deal.