Ok Hopefully i have this in the right thread. I need to borrow a front left ABS sensor for a 2000 bmw. i believe a few of the years were interchangeable as long as the car has DSC. The part costs about 120, and i cant figure out a way to diagnose the component it’s self and my bentley manual is pretty useless in that regard. Id’ just hate to spend the money on a part that isnt actually broken. Anyway here is the plan. I meet up with willing donor and slap part onto my car. Take a drive to nearest Autozone borrow scan tool and reset light. Than go for a quick spin and see if the light comes back on. Last time I reset the light it came back on within 15 minutes. So if it doesnt with the good ABS sensor than i know what to do. The willing donor will ofcourse be compensated with cash or lunch. BTW. If anyone has any ideas on how to test the ABS sensor drop me a line and LMK.
buy part from the zone put it on if it doesnt fix the problem take it back tell them its the wrong part just play dumb like you were grabbing the part for someone else and try not to scratch it up too much.
Thought crossed my mind i wont lie. If i remember though they dont give refunds on electronic parts. Than again I used to work for the bone so i might be able to sneak ne past them lol.
" dvom…resistace is at spec?"
Not too sure what its supposed to be at. I dont think its a regular inductive sensor. Because it has three leads exiting it. i believe from its appearence and the various descriptions in the bentley manual that it’s a hall effect sensor. Ya So i have no clue how to test it or even know what the reference values should be. Than Again I can always check out one of the good ones . But again im not really sure if Im supposed to get a ohm reading or what. For a 100 dollar repair manual this thing has been pretty useless. Ah well. I did pick it up for the electrical diagrams after all lol.
is just your abs lights on or are there other lights?
To really know whats going on with your electronics, use a real scan tool for a bmw that can look at the codes correctly. Basic scan tools will not give you an accurate reading, hense bring back your light.
PM bracketracer he has the correct scan tools that can pin point your problem.
If anything with the abs sensors, you can test out the voltage with a basic voltmeter to tell if its bad.
Sweet maybe Ill drop him a PM. Ya the basic tool was crap. Got to see my intake temps though lol. no but I had it scanned with the new snapon Brick looking tool. LOl its early and i cant remember the model. But ya it was the new gray loking fellar not the oldschool red one.
As far as testing it with a volt meter; Im not really sure what to look for plus Im not sure how sensitive these little fuckers are so I dont want to mess the good one up trying to get a base reading. Ah fuck it. Maybe I’ll tear into it tonight.
all a wheel speed sensor does it sences if there is a an object in front of it…in this case a ring with gaps in it…it sends out a signal like sonar…check to see what the 3 leads are what ever they must be there is deff a resistance value that has to be present…this is the proper way to test them…if you wanna be a back yard mechanic and buy the part then install it then bring it back no one takes back parts that have been installed…so do it the right way or pay someone a few buck on here to do it the right way instead of wasting money. there is rele no way for a wheel speed sensor to fail unless the wiring is shorted out or the ring is missing a tooth… your car car also throw a abs light if you have a bad wheel bearing or loose front end parts making the wheel unstable.
Ok. So today I got home from work, went to Appleby’s got home took a 15 minute power nap, got my head out of my ass, and decided to go do some work on my car (FINALLY).
I jacked up the front, took both front tires off, and disconnected both left and right sensors. I first tested the good sensor and via pins 1 and 2. 3 didnt give me any reading with either 1 or 2 (see ghetto ass diagram). So anyway pins 1 and 2 gave me a reading of 10.1k ohms. That reading fluctuated as I spun the rotor. So I than moved onto the drivers side sensor and got a whopping reading of zero. Every pin gave me the same reading. Suggesting that the sensor is acting as an open circuit. In other words its shot.
1 2
3
My parts order has been placed and I can now give my bentley manual a big FU buddy! For not giving me a step by step lol. Thank you all for your help:D
AARRGGG!!!. So something about my ABS parts order bothered me. And seeing as to how i was on the bavauto website looking at some other crap to order I decided to look up the ABS sensor again. Well needless to say my hunch was right. The sensor on the site said it was not meant for a car with DSC. So I called and the sales guy confirmed that the sensor he placed an order for is for a car without dsc. So after about 15 minutes or so of searching he couldnt find a damn thing that would work for my car. Any suggestions for an alternative? My other real solution is to start making calls to overseas locations. I really dont want to do that yet though.