A couple of months ago I redid the majority of my brake system. New calipers, rotors, steel brake lines, pads. I replaced a faulty driver side ABS sensor. Brakes worked great for a month, exactly how they should.

Last month, my ABS system started engaging inappropriately. For those of us familiar with ABS problems you know that in addition to the physical juttering sensation felt through the brake pad there is also an audible clicking noise. If I depress the brake pedal even slightly the audible clicking noise can be heard even if there is no juttering of the brake pedal. However, the problem remains intermittent.


I do not want to pull the fuse and walk away


If there was a problem with the quality of the speed sensor I bought this would throw the ABS light on correct?

The only thing I haven’t replaced is the master cylinder. I pulled the ABS fuse for a week to see how the brake system would perform without ABS and the brakes were perfect. Would this rule out the master cylinder as being problematic?

Thanks!

 

Make sure the sensors are tapped down fully. If they creep up they "lose the signal" from the exciter ring in the CV.

 

That’s a good idea.

I just realized that I switched over to Defender brake calipers, but bought a Discovery 1 speed sensor. Any idea if these are compatible? The sensor seemed to fit ok into the Defender caliper.

 

Pretty sure the abs speed sensor goes into the top of the swivel.

By the way, how long before you got it working was the ABS down?
Doubt mine has functioned since 2012 or earlier.

 

I 'pulled the fuse and walked away' on mine a few years ago.
My ABS light kept coming on, blink test showed drivers side front wheel. I would tap it back in and it worked for a while then come back on. Swapped it with the other side, replaced the Bush Sensor, on and on and on.
Still out too, but found what was causing it. It was the wheel bearing going bad, and that was my 'death wobble' problem too. Figured it shimmied enough to cause the sensor to back out a little.

 

yes, you’re definitely right about that, don’t know why I was thinking it went into the caliper itself.

When I got my D1 the sensor was not working so the system was never engaged. Once I replaced the sensor it worked for 2 months without fault. The ABS light isn’t coming on so I’m thinking there was an issue with how I installed the sensor. I didn’t actually use the brass sleeve that comes with the sensor because the sensor was so snug to begin with which may be my issue.

 

I have two old D1 trucks, a 94 and a 96. Both have the problem when driving slow, and usually turning, the ABS will activate. That is really no good as I am approaching the edge of a cliff, or my wife's car. So I tried rebuilding the front hubs to spec with correct shims and bearing pre-loads. All to no avail, would work for a short time only. My son's scanner showed which wheel was at fault, usually front left. I found the only solution was to press down to re-seat the sensors often. I can now reach around the tire and feel where to press down with a screwdriver. I ended up removing the pump fuse, as suggested by Disco Mike, since I have no problem pumping the brake pedal if I need to. I just did not want to risk those heart-stopping moments any more.

The ABS system worked fine at driving speed, but failed at low speed. So I have a theory that the permanent magnets in the sensor might be weakened over time. Unfortunately, I am too poor (or cheap) to test out that theory.

I hope this helps.