Hello everyone
I just finished replacing both of my front bearings and after putting everything back together my ABS light is on... After closely examining the rusted bolts on the abs sensors I decided to just unplug the entire harness from the engine bay rather than risking breaking the bolts... after I put everything back together and started the car the abs light is no on... funny thing is that after I turn the ignition switch to on position the light is constantly on and then "flashes" once before its all solid again... I read the entire BR section on the service manual but was able to find any information on that specific issue... i check both connectors and everything is fine... I however did not disconnect the battery before unplugging the sensors... Anyone every experienced that before? Prior to replacing the bearings the car has been "abs" light free...

 

Sounds like there may be too much clearance between the sensor and the ring. Did you do all the work yourself?

 

nope took the spindles out of the car and had a shop press out and in the new bearings... the sensors never came out of the knuckle... I am thinking there has to be a way of resetting the ABS system since I didn't disconnect the battery when I unplugged them

 

Let it run for awhile and see what happen. I had the same thing happened when I took the ABS sensor out when replacing my axle. it was on and blinking for awhile. I took it for a drive after 5 miles then it went away, never came back.

 

I'm not referring to the sensor being in the wrong place. I'm referring to the gear (or rotor) being incorrectly aligned. Check the clearance between the sensor and gear as per FSM BR-112 Step 6. I've disconnected the sensor harness without unplugging the battery with no problem.

 

This could be the problem, too. Typically, this happens when the sensor is not cleaned off after maintenance is performed around it. It's a hall effect, so it utilizes a magnetic field. It needs to be free of debris.

 

That makes sense... most likely I will take the wheels off the car today after work to make sure the sensors are clean... I hope thats the problem but still... I already drive the car for about 10 miles out of town last night but that did not help

 

ok both sensors are cleaned (they never were dirty) I did the BR-48 self diagnostic procedure nothing...
the only blink I get is when I first turn the ignition on... the light blinks once and then is solid again?

 

is it on when the car is running and driving or just when the key is turned on? if its only when the key is turned on but turns off when you start the car than theres nothing wrong

 

nope... once you insert the key and turn it into the on position the light comes on flashes once and then it stays on, even when you drive/idle or what ever... there is something wrong but again I was not able to pull any codes out of the system. Prior to the maxima I had a 02 civic that the light came on and the procedure was the same short cut two of the pins on the OBD and thereyou go the ABS light flashed a code for the LR sensor very easy and straight forward... but the maxima I was not able to pull any codes even after driving the car for 5 min with over 40mph... no idea what to do next other than call nissan and ask them how much it will be to read that code...
once again the strange issue is that the light will flash once and then ABS light is on...

 

ok so I ran outside and shot a quick video of what is happening
here is the link:

 

I'd say one of your ABS sensors either broken or disconnected. On 2000 model it can be checked with multimeter as it's simply spool of thin wire - check for open circuit.

 

well i checked both connectors in the engine bay area and both look OK... I tried the wire test on the OBD panel but again nothing no codes...
do you know what the resistance should be on those sensors?

 

According to FSM: 0.8-1.85 Ohm.

 

thanks... will check today after work...

 

well front passanger came back to 1.345
front driver side came back betwen .245 ~ 3.45

FML... fix one thing another thing brakes... does anyone know if the aftermarket sensors are any good? OEM is close to $160

 

I don't really understand what your measurements for front driver side mean. I also hope those values are in Ohms and not kOhm/MOhms/etc. It looks like you didn't have good contact with the sensor. I'd ensure first that it's resistance really varies meaning there's bad contact in the wires or inside the sensor before jumping to replacement.

 

yes the front driver side will give out different measurements each time i checked it... the first time i disconnected it out of the connector in the engine bay are and it read 3.347 or something... after I pulled the wire from the under the fender and disconnected the 3 bolts that are holding the sensor wire in place it read less than .5 with the actual sensor still in the abs slot after i removed the sensor i gave it a nice cleaning but still got the 3.345 ohm on the screen...

 

You can look at 'parting out' threads and junk yards - it can be had for much less. Before doing that it turns out ABS has self- diagnostic mode which should provide you much better reason what it is unhappy about:

 

I tried that but nothing happened the manual is kind of confusing... it says to shortcut pin 8 I after driving for so long and so on and so on... I tried that and got no codes...
I am hitting the junk yards this weekend hopefully I can find one... I am also taking my voltmeter with me to test the resistance and so on...

 

I'd wait if I were you and made sure I can put ABS in diagnostic mode first. You see, it doesn't matter how good your sensors are if the 'brain' doesn't want to talk. I just don't want you to stat changing parts without enough reason. Your car, of course and it's your call.

The manual is asking to drive for 1 minute above 19 mph before starting the procedure to make sure ABS recorded fresh codes if any. Since presumably you already have the codes you can skip that step.

Are you saying that if you ground contact #8 on the data connector and holding it in place turn the key to ON the ABS light doesn't start blinking after 3 seconds? BTW, contact #5 on the same connector is ground, so all you have to do is to connect #5 and #8 with some copper wire.

Please pay attention to contact numbering so you're not reading connector turned 180 degrees. The numbers are actually stamped on the plastic of connector but not easily visible so I usually just use shape of connector for reference:

 

yes after driving more than a minute over the 19mph and doing the procedure I still get no codes... just the same one flash that you can see in the video... waited more than 3 seconds and still nothing... will try it again today just to verify... I actually have the manual downloaded on my laptop as I was doing the abs code procedure... it kind of makes sense that the driver side sensor is bad b/c I tested all the other sensors and all read within the normal range...

 

have you performed that procedure before on your maxima?

 

Nope, when I was replacing my ABS sensor I damaged it myself - the top part separated from the rest so there was no question about its health .

I haven't noticed FSM to be off in such cases, especially on multiple pages. If it really doesn't go into self diagnostic then may be controller itself is not functioning properly. I'd check if it is getting power at least.

 

well its confirmed... frond driver side abs sensor is bad...
has anyone used aftermarket sensors before? I went to the junkyard and found 3 maximas/i30 with good sensors but every single one of them broke in two after I tried to pull it out... I guess rust and plastic is bad combination... mine however came out pretty easy so now I have the housing cleaned and ready for a new sensors but I have no intention or funds to purchase OEM... I believe last time I checked those were running for about $160-$170 each

 

Sorry to hear that - I was hoping you could get away with blown fuse.

Check out 'parting-out' threads as well as For Sale classifieds. You can also post WTB in Classifieds. That's how I bought mine anyway. It takes time but on the other hand car is drivable so if you can live with that light you can get it cheaper.

 

123.15 @ Nissanpartszone.com I'm not saying it's cheap, but it's a lot less than the 170 you thought it might be. This is one of those parts you're just going to have to pony up for. Sorry.

Also, exactly how was it confirmed that the sensor was bad?

 

thanks for the update on the price... I believe I checked Courtesy Nissan Parts first and thats how I came up with the price for it...

Well I did have some problems with pulling codes the first time but the most efficient way for me was to measure the resistance of the actual sensor

 

me too, but hey life happens I already did post WTB in the classifieds section but to be honest unless is someone down south where the car is rust and salt free they will most likely damage the sensor when trying to pull it off just as I did with those 3 maximas in the junkyard that I found... but I will wait for now... who knows something might come up