wheel speed sensor

[Guest steveskyhawk]

Any chance this speed sensor (eBay item# 380371711206) is the same value as a wheel speed sensor. A new cable could be fabricated if the sensor fit the hub.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Doubtful, that's the vehicle speed sensor that mounts in the transaxle. Believe it is physically larger than a wheel sensor. Also talks to the BCM to supply signal to compute MPH. Doubt the EBCM uses the same parameters.

That being said, the only way to know if it could work for sure would be to try it as dimensions and electrical resistance aren't available.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

We are becoming so desperate for wheel speed sensors that I for one am looking at everything. My hope is that we find somthing in current production that can be substituted

[padgett]

Far as I know ABS600s and ABS1466s are still available from BWD. Just ordered/received a rear a few months ago. Only problem is that a sensor costs as much as an accumulator.

[DAVES89]

ABS600 is no longer available... anywhere. I called a number of car places and then went on line and ordered from a couple of places there. All came back out of stock.

The only thing I can think of is to place orders, [even if they get canceled], to create a demand situation. Maybe then they would make more.

I just got off the phone with my Advance Auto Parts contact. He said that there is now a cross reference for the BWD ABS600. It is now ABS500. I am ordering one out. It sells for about $75.00. It is a "universal" sensor. By that I mean it has a two hole mount at the hub. If you google it you will know what I mean.

Edited September 22, 2011 by DAVES89 (see edit history)

[padgett]

ABS500 is for a Mercedes and has a completely different connector. The ABS600 is still live on the BWD web site, might ask when they plan another run, do not think they want to hear from me.

[DAVES89]

Just checked my email. BWD, OE, and Wells [i am assuming all are from the same source as the email was generated from one office] have all discontinued production of the Reatta front wheel speed sensor.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

Last night I ordered a pair of front wheel speed sensors from Napa on line @ $139 each. Credit card was processed. Lets hope for the best. Will keep the forum posted.

[DAVES89]

ABS500 is for a Mercedes and has a completely different connector. The ABS600 is still live on the BWD web site, might ask when they plan another run, do not think they want to hear from me.

You are correct. I just went to Advance to look at the sensor and it will not work.

This morning I also called Raybestos and spoke to someone in Customer Service and he informs me that they have no inventory nor does he have scheduled production date.

I found one online parts house that had one Raybestos ABS530067 [for $97.72] left so I ordered it [he actually had it in his hand].

This brings me up to 6 front wheel sensors, so for 2 cars I should be in good shape until I am cured of this Reatta addiction.

However if anyone is really interested in getting front sensors, I would suggest that you either start shopping U pick yards [especially if you are in rust free areas] or as an alternative shop salvage yards in rust free areas for hub assemblies [the sensors should come along with the hubs]. These can be bought for $40.00 to $100.00 each.

At this point there appears to be adequate inventory of the rear leads available.

If you want to keep your Reatta all Reatta, I would suggest you start working on this now.

Edited September 26, 2011 by DAVES89 (see edit history)

[Guest steveskyhawk]

"If you want to keep your Reatta all Reatta, I would suggest you start working on this now."

Dave and I don't agree on many things but in this case it is unanimous. I don't have a problem getting anything for a Reatta except wheel speed sensors.

[DAVES89]

I don't have a problem getting anything for a Reatta except wheel speed sensors.

Why don't you pull sensors? It is an easy job to do, and if an ABS lead should fail, one would lose the anti-lock but still have good braking, so liability should not be an issue.

And being an obsolete part, a pretty good money maker.

I won't buy them from you, but you could sell them to Marck at NCReatta and he would sell them to others I am sure.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

I pull only the nice ones unfortunately many that I find are unacceptable. I don't sell anything that I wouldn't put on my own car. Don't need any help selling these. They sell to my customers just as fast as I can get them in.

[DAVES89]

Just got a phone call back from a salvage yard in a western state. He gets to keep the knuckle [hub assembly] to sell to others. I get the sensor lead. He has 5 each at $25.00 plus freight. Good deal for him, good deal for me.

[NCReatta]

I sell them as fast as I can get them in too.. Bad design on GM's part... I know Dave has devised a way to re-coat the sensor leads, but I have also seen that the weak point is where the lead goes into the sensor itself.. Is there a way to reenforce that?

[wws944]

When you guys find them at the PNPs, how do you know that they are good? Just a simple visual on physical sensor appearance, cable condition, and a resistance check?

[NCReatta]

When you guys find them at the PNPs, how do you know that they are good? Just a simple visual on physical sensor appearance, cable condition, and a resistance check?

I buy them going on cable appearance. I check the resistance once I get home. My Multimeter isn't in my parts bag.. Perhaps it should be..

[DAVES89]

The yard has no idea how rare they are. Typically one should expect to pay $5-10.00 at a U Pick.

They are not steel so they have no scrap steel value.

These ABS leads are probably one of the easiest parts to pull. At the wheel hub they are held in place by a #25 torx bolt. Grab the end at the hub with your fingers and with a little sise to side motion pull the sensor end out. If it comes a bit "hard" grasp it with a pliers and try. They then have 2 points at which the ABS cable is held in place on the strut which you can slide out of the bracket with your fingers. Then with a screwdriver "pop" the grommet from the fender wall. Push and pull the lead while looking into the engine compartment so you can see the pigtail connection. Just "squeeze" the connection with your fingers to disconnect. Should only take about 5 minutes a wheel and you need NO special tools.

You can test it at the yard if you want. Set your Digital volt meter to Ohms and it should read about 1100 ohms.

When you guys find them at the PNPs, how do you know that they are good? Just a simple visual on physical sensor appearance, cable condition, and a resistance check?

Edited September 26, 2011 by DAVES89 (see edit history)

[DAVES89]

I sell them as fast as I can get them in too.. Bad design on GM's part... I know Dave has devised a way to re-coat the sensor leads, but I have also seen that the weak point is where the lead goes into the sensor itself.. Is there a way to reenforce that?

Once the lead is held in place, there is no place for it to go. Should not be a factor.

[jonlabree]

Are there any cars that have the same sensors?

[DAVES89]

Any car that has the Reatta Teves system.

[wws944]

I have a used spare that has a resistance of 1100 ohms, which is a little lower than yours at 1200 ohms. One would hope there would be some buffering circuitry in the ABS control module for each of the sensors to ensure some tolerance to sensor variations. It would be interesting to know what the spec is.

[DAVES89]

I went back and changed my post. You are right, it should be aproximatly 1100 ohms. I was going from memory and didn't check to be sure.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

I have a used spare that has a resistance of 1100 ohms, which is a little lower than yours at 1200 ohms. One would hope there would be some buffering circuitry in the ABS control module for each of the sensors to ensure some tolerance to sensor variations. It would be interesting to know what the spec is.

The acceptable range for the resistance of a wheel speed sensor is 800 to 1400 ohms.

[padgett]

Agree, it is looking for pulses not a specific resistance. The measurement just indicates if the coil is good and no opens or shorts.

[DAVES89]

Turns out the guy I am getting the 5 leads from is a car enthusist and is willing to watch for any more Reattas that come in and will pull the leads for me. He checked all the Reattas he had in inventory and the yard guys just cut the leads as they only want the "knuckle" or hub assembly. He said there were 10 cut leads, but he grabbed me the 5 that weren't cut.

If you are interested in doing a search for ABS leads, go to Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market and key in hoods, then trunk lids, front door [right and then left] and chart what you find. I would use western states [California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado as they have a more moderate temperature as well as being humid. This will ensure that you will get a good looking cable without any cracking that they can easily remove. Do not ask them to test them as they will not [too much time]. You may have to buy the "knuckle" or hub assembly, but at less then $80.00 what can you do if you want to keep your car original. One last note on buying the hub assembly is that maybe you can negotiate having them remove the ABS lead [with them keeping the hub]. This will certainly help you save on freight.

Making these phone calls is not easy as you have to be able to "warm up" the guy to the idea of what you are trying to do, and you have to do it in the first few seconds of your phone conversation. I have a bit of an advantage as being an insurance agent on straight commision I have evolved my phone etiquette to be able to get appointments with the first call. [And now that the word is out as to what I do professionally I will probably be "shunned" and no longer be able to be on the forum. lol]

[Guest steveskyhawk]

I bought a new BWD ABS600 at Pep Boys yesterday.

[DAVES89]

They must of had it on the shelf. Ronnie will be posting my correspondence with BWD regarding the ABS600 lead.

How did your special order with Napa go?

[Guest steveskyhawk]

Nothing yet on NAPA. Pep Boys had one on the shelf in Indianapolis which they shipped to local store. It was around 175 bucks! Part is said to be on back order.

[Ronnie]

As requested by Daves89:

Start at bottom and read up.

From: Weber, Deborah <dweber@xxxx>

To: lemke1044 <lemke1044@xxxx>

Sent: Mon, Sep 26, 2011 9:41 am

Subject: RE: Web Inquiry

Dear Mr. Lemke,

I would not know what a WD's inventory of any part would be, especially ABS600 since it is out of production. I do not have a Wells cross reference number since they too are no longer making this part. However, Raybestos's part number (and I don't know if they are making it or not) is ABS530067.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Deborah Weber

Standard Motor Products

dweber@xxxxx

718-316-xxxx (phone)

718-316-xxxxx (fax)

From: lemke1044@xxxx

Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2011 9:51 AM

To: Weber, Deborah

Subject: Re: Web Inquiry

Deborah,

Thanks for the quick response.

As I have customers in need of those leads, do any of your clients have inventory? If so how might I get in contact with them to purchase from them?

Also would you be able to give me the part numbers of the OE and Wells units?

Thanks,

Dave

-----------------------------------------------------

From: Weber, Deborah <dweber@xxxx>

To: lemke1044 <lemke1044@xxxx>

Sent: Fri, Sep 23, 2011 12:28 pm

Subject: FW: Web Inquiry

Dear. Mr. Lemke,

Standard Motor Products has discontinued making ABS600 as has OE and Wells. I regret that I have no further information about this part.

Deborah Weber

Standard Motor Products

718-316-xxxx (phone)

718-316-xxxx (fax)

Name : David Lemke

Email Address : lemke1044@xxxx

Looking to purchase a number of ABS 600 Brake Sensor Leads. I was told that at present they are out of production. I am wondering when they are scheduled for manufacture?

[DAVES89]

Thanks Ronnie!

As I also called Reybestos and as they also do not have a date scheduled for remanufacturing these leads I think it is safe to say that what we have is what we have.

It might be advisable to buy what you think you might need in the way of rear sensor leads as they may also be discontinued. [i actually think they have been discontinued it is just that there is still inventory in the pipelines, because of the low demand. However I have never asked anyone at either Raybestos or BWD regarding production or inventory].

It kind of makes me feel bad for the guy who is just getting into this Reatta thing/illness and has no idea that the availability of parts are drying up. It may get so bad that you will see a vast erorsion of the amount of these cars [primarily daily drivers] and maybe then the price of the survivors will go up. However not on the daily drivers. [of which both of mine are in the daily driver class]. I spent serious cash on my Red [paint, carpet, sunroof, different seats, and then the same repairs most of us have done] and while I have stone chips in the hood and headlight covers, I no longer am interested in addressing that. Why? Because I have a fraction of the money in the Black then I do the Red and to be brutally honest the Black is a better runner. It will still be my winter runner, but the months of operating will be longer because it is spunkier, and the seats are more comfortable [no sun roof though, and it won't get one either].

At any rate sorry for going on a tangent, keep your eyes out for sensor leads [and any other obsolete parts] and good luck.

[padgett]

Suspect it is partly because the catalog never reflected the demand properly (showed for 1990 only). OTOH the 1466 (rear) is shown as the front for a number of cars.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

The new part I just bought had a tag on it that said "made in Japan". In light of the recent events over there it is possible that manufacturing has been interrupted. Our ABS problems probably aren't a priority understandably.

[padgett]

I have seen this happen before - first the catalog lists them improperly. Then because the counter jockeys cannot find it they say it is not available, sales plummit, and the mfg discontinues for low demand.

A year ago I tried to tell BWD about the issue but they were not interested. Maybe if more people try - they figure each e-mail indicates X sales (there is a multiplier).

[harry yarnell]

All this hand wringing over wheel sensors that are only needed for the anti-lock function, which REALLY isn't needed; we should worry more about the actual braking components, such as pumps, pressure switchs, and valves.

I can live without anti-lock, but not brakes.

[padgett]

Then a vaccuum swap is easy. I just like having the ABS.

[jonlabree]

Going to take a ride to the local u-pick yard tomorrow, but I need to know what tools I will need for the wheels sensors?

[DAVES89]

Your thumb and fore finger and a #25 torx. To be brutally honest Jon they will look great, but be rusted in place. [We are in the rust belt. I tried removing the front leads in my Black that has only seen two winters and they won't come out] I have used a vise grips to gently grab it so I could pull with a side to side twisting motion. Only on one car has that worked. Most times the sensor lead comes out of the hole but the silver protective barrel is left behind.

What our good friend Jim Finn does is remove the whole hub assembly and then he cuts the knuckle to get at the sensor.

Good luck

[padgett]

Kroil or PB Blaster and a pair of channel locks also. Remove the torx screw, spray with the penetrating oil, let sit for about five minutes while pulling something else, then tap and wiggle, tap and wiggle, after about five minutes it will come out just do not rush it.

BTW once upon a time I would pass on any with brittle insulation. Now as long as the braid is good, I'd grab it.

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Sensors are supposed to installed after coating with a GM P/N 1052856 anti corrosion compound or equivalent. Maybe someone here can fill us in on what type of compound this is. The two most common types are made of aluminum or copper but not sure of the magnetic properties of either.

To all who are collecting these sensors, I might suggest gathering the cables from the socket under the hood down to the sensor even it they are in poor shape or cut from a car whose knuckle has been harvested as the grommets and connector are removable and they will come in handy when a replacement cable and or sensor head is discovered.

[DAVES89]

Kroil or PB Blaster and a pair of channel locks also. Remove the torx screw, spray with the penetrating oil, let sit for about five minutes while pulling something else, then tap and wiggle, tap and wiggle, after about five minutes it will come out just do not rush it.

BTW once upon a time I would pass on any with brittle insulation. Now as long as the braid is good, I'd grab it.

Padgett you have spent too much time in Fl. where as you say rust must be imported. Here in the rust belt we grow it natually. There is no way to get a sensor lead out that has been inplace for more then 2 years. I know because I just tried removing one on my Black that has been in place for only 2 winters.

McReatta your adea is a good one regarding the sensor leads. Here in Wi. the cables stay looking like new, the aluminum cover for the sensor lead stays in the hub, but the rest of the unit is good.

If you remember I sent you one or two of them in a care package a year or so ago. I could get you more of the leads like that if you are interested.

Pm me if you are...