How to tell if wheel speed sensor is bad

Devallee

Devallee

New member
I'm getting the abs/BAS and all those bad wheel speed sensor lights on my dash. I'm looking at the sensors in the front and they seem fine physically (I'm assuming it's the front sensor because when it activates it pulls the steering wheel to the right) Is here a way to tell if they're bad or not? Or should I just replace em anyways and see what happens? I figured I'd save myself a few bucks and am currently in the process of just cleaning them and plugging em back in. They seemed a little dirty so I'm thinking its possible they just had a bad connection. But is there a way to tell if they're bad or not?
 
noroad

noroad

New member
I think they go for about 18 bucks, might just want to eat the $36 bucks and change the fronts out. it is an very easy swap!
 
cozdude

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Sounds like what happened to mine. My traction control would kick in and I would pull. Replaced the sensors for $20 I think and all is good since.
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Devallee said:
I'm getting the abs/BAS and all those bad wheel speed sensor lights on my dash. I'm looking at the sensors in the front and they seem fine physically (I'm assuming it's the front sensor because when it activates it pulls the steering wheel to the right) Is here a way to tell if they're bad or not? Or should I just replace em anyways and see what happens? I figured I'd save myself a few bucks and am currently in the process of just cleaning them and plugging em back in. They seemed a little dirty so I'm thinking its possible they just had a bad connection. But is there a way to tell if they're bad or not?
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The only way you can tell for sure is to hook your Jeep up to a scan tool. It'll show you for sure if they are picking up a signal. Aside from that, if you are getting the ABS light on in addition to the ESP/BAS, you definitely have a bad sensor.
 
Jerms

Jerms

New member
One of mine went bad. The scan tool i used would only tell me if the bad one was in the front or the rear but not the exact one. Mine ended up being the front passenger. I had to guess at which one it was. Fortunately I guessed right the first time! There easy to replace.
 
bhawghead

bhawghead

Member
my 2008 is giving the four indicator lights ( esp/bas , abs, brake, skid ). they only come on once you get up to speed, but my hand held scanner shows nothing as to indicate which wheel sensor may be bad, do you have to have a different scan tool to check abs? I guess i am going to buy one of each front/rear and try replacing until i find the culprit.:idontknow:
 
noroad

noroad

New member
bhawghead said:
my 2008 is giving the four indicator lights ( esp/bas , abs, brake, skid ). they only come on once you get up to speed, but my hand held scanner shows nothing as to indicate which wheel sensor may be bad, do you have to have a different scan tool to check abs? I guess i am going to buy one of each front/rear and try replacing until i find the culprit.:idontknow:
Click to expand...

could be the clock spring!
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
bhawghead said:
my 2008 is giving the four indicator lights ( esp/bas , abs, brake, skid ). they only come on once you get up to speed, but my hand held scanner shows nothing as to indicate which wheel sensor may be bad, do you have to have a different scan tool to check abs? I guess i am going to buy one of each front/rear and try replacing until i find the culprit.:idontknow:
Click to expand...

as mentioned, could be clock spring but also check your wheel - make sure it's centered and tires pointing forward (straight), any slight turn in it will trigger the signals especially at speed.
check all your sensors make sure they are clean from grime, they are easy to pull and check- I'd have a couple of sensors on hand in case you find a bad one.
 
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aldaman

aldaman

Member
Hello,
For those of you that replaced your rear wheel sensors, can it be replaced without having to remove the wheel? My Jeep has a lift sitting on 35s so there is plenty of room to be under the jeep. Just wanted to confirm if I have to jack up the jeep and remove the rim. Thanks.
 

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aldaman

aldaman

Member
Just got thru replacing the speed sensor. Didn't have to remove the tire or jack up the jeep. Only thing needed was to disconnect the bottom half of the sway bar link to get better access to the sensor. No more ABS or ESP lights....:clap2:

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BobNH

BobNH

Member
Sorry to dredge this one up, but figured better than starting a new one.
Background-a few months ago, I had the abs, esp and trac kights all come on. I had been going down a fairly steep hill and had to stop at the end, which is when the lights came on. A few miles down the road, they went out. Today, same situation, sifferent hill, and they went out. However, many miles later they came on again, and havent gone out. I did the key to get the code trick, but no codes, just dashes and then done.
I had new hub aseemblies put on a couple weeks ago, after the first incident, and those hub assemblies came with sensors, so that seemingly rules them out. My next steps are to remove the rear ones to see what sort of buildup they may have.
Any thoughts on this, as to why I don't have any codes showing even though the lights won't go out now?
Thanks for amy input

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jesse3638

jesse3638

Hooked
BobNH said:
Sorry to dredge this one up, but figured better than starting a new one.
Background-a few months ago, I had the abs, esp and trac kights all come on. I had been going down a fairly steep hill and had to stop at the end, which is when the lights came on. A few miles down the road, they went out. Today, same situation, sifferent hill, and they went out. However, many miles later they came on again, and havent gone out. I did the key to get the code trick, but no codes, just dashes and then done.
I had new hub aseemblies put on a couple weeks ago, after the first incident, and those hub assemblies came with sensors, so that seemingly rules them out. My next steps are to remove the rear ones to see what sort of buildup they may have.
Any thoughts on this, as to why I don't have any codes showing even though the lights won't go out now?
Thanks for amy input

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Is your steering wheel centered. Even having it slightly off can cause this issue. Mine currently is slightly off and will throw no lights but then at times it will. I just haven't reentered it like i need to...haha.
 
BobNH

BobNH

Member
jesse3638 said:
Is your steering wheel centered. Even having it slightly off can cause this issue. Mine currently is slightly off and will throw no lights but then at times it will. I just haven't reentered it like i need to...haha.
Click to expand...
It goes straight down the road, and wheel is seemingly centered. I was going to try that centering trick anyway, but thought it unlikely as there were no changes prior, it just started one day.

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BobNH

BobNH

Member
Okay, did the steering wheel trick this morning. As I had said, I was going to anyway though I felt it could not be the cause, so thank you Jesse for the heads up anyway, as it worked. I did not want to post until I felt I had put it through it's paces, and it certainly got that today, so start engine, full left lock, full right lock, back to center, turn it off, then restart and go, they went out pretty quick, second or third gear.

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TeamFaust

TeamFaust

Member
Still relevant., same issues in my 2008 JKU. I figured Wheel Speed Sensor(s) this helps confirm (my TrailDash not showing info for these lights / sensor failures). Ordered a set of sensors and will work through them.
 
Disciple Off Road

Disciple Off Road

Hooked
Just had a Jeep come for gears but also stated the traction control was intermittently tripping. He had a FlashCal so a quick scan identified the driver rear sensor.

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A quick look revealed the problem pretty quickly. Definitely check wires as well, especially if a new lift was installed and wires weren’t properly clearanced.

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kevman65

kevman65

Hooked
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