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Persistent ABS light (er SS)


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Hello all,

 

So let me start this off here. I have my trusty 2008 Legacy 2.5i, at around 170k miles and climbing. Recently (few weeks now) , i had an ABS light followed by the ER: SS displayed on my odometer after driving in some pretty decent snow (NJ got pounded where i was). Im no stranger to these things, many a-time ive gone out for good fun in other models (even this one) and packed my wheels and hubs so full of snow, they trip an ABS light. No big deal, you remove the snow, or have it melt away and you're good to go, right?

 

Not this time around. It seems this ABS light has stayed on persistently. I did a little bit of research here and tried a few solutions to no avail so far.

 

1.) Checked everything and confirmed it was all clear of dirt and debris. No obvious wire breaks , and all 4 wheel bearings are brand new within the last year, so i suspect the ring(s) on them are clean and free of defect.

 

2.) I read that codes are stored in the TCU. A normal code reader does not seem to recognize or clear it, and using my trusty Tactrix 2.0 and the Romraider logger, i am able to go in and see real-time readings of ECU and TCU, and using the programs option for "read code" on both, it comes back with no codes.

 

3.) Tried the battery trick, had an excuse to replace it so i took it out and let it sit overnight in my garage, and low and behold, the ABS light with dash ER message still appears.

 

 

 

OK, short of just dropping this thing off at a dealer, is there any diagnostic way (i know where my test connectors are) to get this car into some boot mode or something where it will display a code referring to a possible bad sensor? Im starting to lean towards just a totally shorted out wheel sensor at this point which is why the code will not clear at all and remains even after ECU and TCU resets through tactrix.

 

Thanks in advance, and feel free to clunk me over the head with any obviously missed threads already touching upon this.... read quite a few but it always was solved by doing what ive done above...

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  • 2 weeks later...
Mine was caused when the ABS sensor wire got cut by road debris. I would go to the the indicated wheel (per the code) and trace the sensor back through the wheel well until you find a break, if no break pull the senor out of the hub (single 12mm bolt in the knuckle) if that is cracked replace it. If that is good then your ABS module could be failing.
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Well what happens is the ABS sensor relays movement, if one wheel isn't moving or being detected as moving it throws the error. So all four wheels are moving AND it gets the input from the speed sensor on the transmission and its happy. One or more breakdowns in that network (ABS + Speed sensor CAN) and your ECU isnt happy
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, final results:

 

 

The rear left ABS sensor tip was sheered clean off inside the hub. It appears a small rock made its way in, dinged the protector ring, and proceeded to grind up inside the hub leaving dust, grit and scrape marks all inside. After cleaning it out, i smoothed the dinged up part of the ring and installed the new sensor, and its all good.

 

What are the odds a small pebble can do that? I have not been on any dirt trails in awhile too.

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