ABS Lite - Accord '03 - 159,000 miles - 4 cyl

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Hi All,
So after a long drive, 1 hour, my ABS Yellow lite comes on. At times it makes a dragging sound, when i hit on the brakes suddenly from long drive. And when it’s a rainy day. I got the ABS Sensor replaced, it all came out to 300 dollars. hope i wasn’t ripped off). Should i have Replaced my “ABS Sensor” ? ____. Thoughts?
FYI:

  1. ‘Serpentine Belt’ replaced at 92,000 miles (now it’s 159,000 mi).
    i know you should replace every 60k-100k miles.
  2. ‘Brake Fluid Exchange’ was done at 130,000 mi (that’s 29,000 miles ago)
  3. All 4 Tires were changed at 129,000 ( that’s 30,000 miles ago )
  4. ‘Power Steering Fluid Exchange’ was done at 141,000 mi (thats 18,000 miles ago )
2

ABS will turn on if there is a problem with a wheel bearing.At 159,000 miles it is a possibility

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Thanks for your input.
The Mechanic said that the Light should NOT come on anymore but if it does, the Problem is probably be the “Wheel-Bearing.” I shouldn’t have problem with Wheel Bearing b/c my Front Brake Pads were change at 110,000 miles, 2012. And that was 49,000 miles ago.

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Has nothing to do with changing your brake pads. The bearings don’t get touched with a brake job. Wheel bearings are not to be taken lightly. Get them checked pronto!

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The ABS toe ring inside the hub will sense the slightless play in a wheel bearing and throw an ABS light.Most wheel bearings on a front wheel drive vehicule are sealed and cannot be replaced without pressing out the old bearing…an expensive job. This is a very serious issue since it could cause your wheel to seize and fly off.,causing serious injury to you and anyone else in the path of the wheel.Get it fix ASAP

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6

The ABS tone ring is part of a FWD wheel bearing/hub/ABS speed sensor assembly and sometimes play can cause this, but not always. Besides there are 4 of them.

It’s likely a wheel speed sensor, but at 14 years it could one of many issues.

The best thing to do is to have somebody pull the ABS codes stored in the car’s onboard diagnostic system, OBD. If it’s a speed sensor (or wiring) you’ll know which one it is. If not, you’ll know where to turn. Paying for diagnosis could be cheaper than guessing and throwing parts.
CSA

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How can you tell if your Wheel Bearing is bad ?

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Hunming noise from wheel like an helicopter taking off. You can check for play by grabbing each wheel at the 6 and 12 oclock position and rocking it side to side and feel any grinding while you rotate the wheel. Mechanics use a stetoscope or a long screwdriver to listen to each hub/bearing while the wheels are spinning.

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9

The OP is probably remembering on older rear wheel drive cars the wheel bearings got repacked when you got a front brake job.

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A cheaper way to go is to replace the hub assembly, rather than bearing. A quick way to check the wheel bearings is to jack it up, grab at top and bottom, and try to push top, pull bottom, then reverse. Movement will indicate a possible problem. A little is okay, more than a little is not. Some states put that as inspection spots to check, within a certain limit, it’s okay. But, yes, you definitely should check the bearing if it comes on again.

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11

I found this great video by Chrisfix about testing wheel bearings

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Thanks for the link to the youTube, it was helpful, Rascal243.

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I would think that it’s just dead battery(ies) in the wheel sending units if you are not having any other symptoms. I had the same thing happen. My mechanic took off a wheel, dismounted the tire to test it. Problem was each replacement was (a lot) more than I wanted to spend so, I left them and ignored the light. Besides paying for the units, you have to pay labor and re-balancing. Wait till you need new tires.

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This is an ABS problem, not a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) problem. There are no batteries in a wheel bearing assembly, only in the tire pressure senders. Different warning light altogether on the dashboard.

That was what your mechanic was telling you when he said - wheel sending units.

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Where did I say anything about batteries in wheel bearings? And, the sending units were the TPMS units.

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And that isn’t the problem the OP asked about nor did anyone but you comment on. So why point that out as a solution to the problem?

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17

Sorry, I forgot that there are separate idiot lights for each issue. I’ve never had any of my ABS lights go on.

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