ABS activating all the time - no dash lights

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Dec 30, 2019
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I have a 2011 Pathfinder and I’m having this issue now for the past 2 drive cycles where the abs actuator is constantly cycling irrespective of what speeds I’m driving - incidentally I didn’t drive past 50mph on both drives. So I’m not sure what it would do at highway speeds. Any time I hit the brakes it feels like ABS is kicking in, which is disconcerting, irrespective of what time I’m traveling or whether I’m driving straight or going through a

I noticed over the past month I would get abs to actuate the first time I hit the brakes, but now it’s all the time even after I’ve driven 20-25 mins with multiple brake actuations. I could be going 45mph and tap on the brakes, abs gets activated. This is all in clear weather conditions. No ABS light on the dash. Turning off VSC doesn’t result in any difference. Reservoir is just below the max line. Tires are all same size/make and are set to the same pressure +/- 1 psi.

I pulled out the ABS fuse and sure enough no ABS kicking on (but it also makes me lose the speedometer in addition to 4WD and causes slip, VSC, ABS and brakes lights all come on).

Using my blue driver, here are the codes that I got:
1. U1000 (this one popped up for Meter/MA, intelligent key - as current, transmission - as current, AWD/4WD)
2. P1808 (under AWD/4WD. Description is vehicle speed sensor - ABS)
3. P1815 (as current under transmission. Description is manual mode switch/circuit)
4. P0615 (as current under transmission. Description is starter relay).

None of the these codes came back when I cleared them out and it’s been about 40-45 miles since.

Yesterday, I was able to pull out the ABS module connector and take measurements per PBR’s thread on here.
Drivers-side Front: Red/Dark Green- 0.743 repeatedly 5-6 times.
Passenger-side Front: Black/White - 0.742 only once. Shows open after the first reading.

Passenger-side Rear: Purple/Light Green - 0.745 only once. Shows open after the first reading.
Driver-side Rear: Blue/Pink - 0.743 repeatedly 5-6 times.

I plugged in my Bluedriver and scanned it for codes while I was out on a drive. This time ABS/VSC Off/Slip lights all came on after 0.5 miles and the code Reader pulled C1115 (ABS sensor abnormal code).


After I got home last night from work, I was able to mess around for a few mins.
1. Put it up on jackstands and I can’t feel any odd play in the front wheels. They rock a little side to side but nothing when I grab them at 12 and 6. The small movement at 3 and 9 o’clock positions seems to be the slack in the steering rack maybe?
2. I rotated the wheels and couldn’t feel any difference really between the driver and passenger front wheels. The passenger side wheel has a bit of a metallic scraping sound when I rotate it. But it’s only when the wheel speeds up and slows down to come to a halt.
3. I took off the wheel speed sensor connector on the front passenger wheel. It read 0.732 consistently in the 2k ohm setting on my multimeter. I’m getting 12v on the harness side with key on and 0v with key off.
4. I tried to re-measure at the ABS controller harness again. Same as morning, I got consistent resistor readings for the front and rear drivers side sensors. I get zilch when I try to measure the resistance for the front and rear passenger sensors. This one is really confusing me - what would cause me to not be able to read any resistance at the module, but reading resistance at the sensor itself with verified continuity
5. The ABS/VSC Off/Slip lights all went off magically as soon as I was leaving work’s parking lot. Came home and scanned for codes, nothing. The C1115 from earlier is gone now.
6. Brakes aren’t warped and the front pads only have like 5k on them. The rear pads have about 40k on them. No pulsations in the brake pedal outside of the the awful ABS kicking on constantly.
6. There’s something in the drivers side that’s constantly clicking away as I’m driving - I think it’s coming from the ABS controller, but I can’t say for sure. Either ways, no matter what speed or what steering angle I’m at, tapping the brakes results in the ABS actuating.

Does anyone here have suggestions on how to proceed ? I’m lost and am hesitant to take it to a shop because I hate to have them throw parts at it in the hopes of fixing it.

TLDR: ABS activates all the time without any warning lights, irrespective if speed or steering angle. P1808 and C1115 pulled up once each but haven’t shown back up again once cleared. Continuity was wheel speed sensor itself but it won’t read anything at the ABS module connector for the passenger side (F&R).
 
I'd 'throw' a speed sensor at it, and return it if it wasn't the issue. Not as scientific as you prefer but easy and in my opinion most likely culprit.
 
The sensors at the local auto store is really expensive compared to RA’s Ultrapower brand ones. I do see quite a bit of corrosion where the sensor plug into the hub, especially the front passenger side.

Can I just order the Made in China ones from Amazon that’ll arrive tomorrow to do my test drive and confirm? If it solves the problem, I’ll return those and buy the Ultrapower ones from RA. Next day shipping on RA is $30!!
 
This is a known problem with Nissan wheel speed sensors. My '07 Maxima suffered from this and as you've already learned, removing fuses causes other issues. What I did was, disconnect one of the speed sensors and that will disable the ABS without affecting other systems, alteast in my case it did.
 
That’s a good idea, I guess I hadn’t thought of that. This morning I was able to verify continuity in the harness between the ABS module and both the front sensor harnesses. When I took out the driver’s side abs sensor connector, there was some dry dirt accumulated - cleaned that out.

While I await the Amazon sensors, I’m planning on removing the existing sensors and cleaning up the mounting surface. I might even plug in the sensors and take it for a drive to see what it does.

Is there anything else to check? I did a couple of voltage and ground checks on the pins related to the ABS module on the main harness per the FSM and those all seem to check out.
 
I think you're on the right track with your testing approach. Typically, either rust or debris gets between the sensor and it's mating surface, causing the air gap to change between the sensor and the exciter ring, and this causes intermittent traction control engagement. In my case, trouble codes were present for a RR sensor despite not having any ABS or SLIP icons illuminate. To avoid getting into any expenses with speed sensors and/or broken bolts, I drove it with the ABS light on without incident until I sold it. Good luck!
 
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Thanks! I think you’re right about the corrosion. I got the rotor and caliper off. The ABS sensor bolt came off without a whole lot of fuss.

I tried to take a picture and it shows quite a bit of corrosion underneath the sensor on the surface of the hub. However, as with everything on this vehicle, the ABS sensor itself is permanently part of the wheel hub. I suspect the other side is also the same.

Given the options, I’m thinking of replacing the wheel hub assembly. Any recommendations on what brand to use?

Ultrapower is about $50 a side with 12 months warranty. SKF is about $125 a side and Timken is about $150 a side. I’ve not had good luck with SKF in the past.
There’s a Mevotech TXF bearing hub for $125 with lifetime warranty. At this point, I’m leaning towards either the Ultrapower or the Mevotech TXF, given that the truck is only driven about 5-6k miles a year.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
6BC537A9-8A05-4952-A4CD-7638889CE009.jpeg
 
Looks like the speed sensor has seen better days. Just to be sure, did you recently replace any tires or tire? A new tire against a bald tire may give you issues..but not normally.
 
I was surprised at how easily I got broken/seized WSS's out of a New England JK just drilling them. Being mostly plastic (like an Oldsmobile MPV - Mostly Plastic Van) they tend to release their press fit once you've bored out the center. Very different application I realize.

Good excuse to order some cheap bore brushes before installing the new sensor, just to polish out any rust.

I put an Amazon Chinese $7 WSS in my '07 F150 years ago. 40k+ miles later it's still going strong. It appeared identical to the one I removed in every respect including overall insulation/wire OD, rubber mounting grommets etc. At the time Dormans at O'Reilly were ~$70 and I bet they were No Better and Probably Worse (the motto of Dorman)
 
Thanks! I think you’re right about the corrosion. I got the rotor and caliper off. The ABS sensor bolt came off without a whole lot of fuss.

I tried to take a picture and it shows quite a bit of corrosion underneath the sensor on the surface of the hub. However, as with everything on this vehicle, the ABS sensor itself is permanently part of the wheel hub. I suspect the other side is also the same.

Given the options, I’m thinking of replacing the wheel hub assembly. Any recommendations on what brand to use?

Ultrapower is about $50 a side with 12 months warranty. SKF is about $125 a side and Timken is about $150 a side. I’ve not had good luck with SKF in the past.
There’s a Mevotech TXF bearing hub for $125 with lifetime warranty. At this point, I’m leaning towards either the Ultrapower or the Mevotech TXF, given that the truck is only driven about 5-6k miles a year.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
View attachment 111933
I would try to save the wheel bearings, repace only the sensors if you can. Why waste perfectly good bearings? Besides, bearing quality is all over the place and quite frankly, I don't replace as many as I used to, so I'm unable to recommend one at this time other than a genuine Nissan part.
 
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@i6pwr - good point. The tires have been on the truck since I got it. They’re all the same brand and same tire size. All wearing the same, between 8-8.5/32.

@GSCJR, I’m thinking of going with the TRQ brand and rolling the dice. Timkens and Moogs seems to be all over the map from what I’m reading on the forums. So might as well get something with lifetime warranty is my thinking. The passenger wheel bearing was starting to get a little loud but I was planning on doing the change next spring prior to the ABS issue.
 
I’m going to look into this tomorrow, neat idea. My thinking is to see if I can’t get a self tapping screw in there and use big pliers to yank it all out. That being said though, the bearings on both sides are very crusty which makes me lean towards wanting to change them anways since I have everything but the 32mm axle nut loosened.
I was surprised at how easily I got broken/seized WSS's out of a New England JK just drilling them. Being mostly plastic (like an Oldsmobile MPV - Mostly Plastic Van) they tend to release their press fit once you've bored out the center. Very different application I realize.

Good excuse to order some cheap bore brushes before installing the new sensor, just to polish out any rust.

I put an Amazon Chinese $7 WSS in my '07 F150 years ago. 40k+ miles later it's still going strong. It appeared identical to the one I removed in every respect including overall insulation/wire OD, rubber mounting grommets etc. At the time Dormans at O'Reilly were ~$70 and I bet they were No Better and Probably Worse (the motto of Dorman)
 
Before you do that remove the axle and check the tone ring, if it's cracked, chipped or extremely rusted there's your problem.
I’ll check this hopefully here in the next day or two once i figure out my next steps. If I’m not mistaken, looks like I gotta take the hub assembly off to inspect the tone ring
 
I would try to save the wheel bearings, repace only the sensors if you can. Why waste perfectly good bearings? Besides, bearing quality is all over the place and quite frankly, I don't replace as many as I used to, so I'm unable to recommend one at this time other than a genuine Nissan part.

Because more often than not, the hub bearings failing is why the speed sensor can't deliver the RPM signal.

I'd suggest the opposite, that it's very rare that only the sensors need replaced. Anything can happen, not impossible for them to fail but they don't just wear out like parts with friction do, tend to break trying to remove them or possibly road debris damages the wiring, otherwise, contamination from worn out hub bearings is more common.

I've heard mostly good things about SKF, but who knows with the global manufacturing situation where the country of origin shifts. They would have been on my short list along with Timken. Ultrapower is just not on my radar, wouldn't bother using 3rd tier parts for a hub.
 
Because more often than not, the hub bearings failing is why the speed sensor can't deliver the RPM signal.

I'd suggest the opposite, that it's very rare that only the sensors need replaced. Anything can happen, not impossible for them to fail but they don't just wear out like parts with friction do, tend to break trying to remove them or possibly road debris damages the wiring, otherwise, contamination from worn out hub bearings is more common.

I've heard mostly good things about SKF, but who knows with the global manufacturing situation where the country of origin shifts. They would have been on my short list along with Timken. Ultrapower is just not on my radar, wouldn't bother using 3rd tier parts for a hub.
Free play or noisy bearing? I would definitely rule those out first, I agree.
 
The front passenger side is noisy to rotate, almost feels crunchy.

For bearing choices, I see a number of old posts recommending WJB - can someone please chime in if they have used the economy line (which is WJB515065) or the standard line (which is WJB515065”HD”).

The part number above for the WJB looks exactly the same as the Ultrapower one and the pictures look similar too, interesting.

Meanwhile, I need to go procure a BFH to pound the current bearing hub off the cv.

Based on my reading around, it looks like the TRQ brand bearing from 1A auto is going to last about 5-10k miles given reviews across various boards. So those are out at this point.
 
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I wouldn't get the economy line of any brand, unless you were just about to sell it. Decent quality usually runs $100+ at the lowest cost sellers like Rock Auto.

Sometimes it's not that hard to get the CV axle out, more work getting it out of the knuckle.

Before you made the comment about SKF, I would have suggested that, Timken, or FAG. At least if getting it from Rock Auto.
 
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Fair point about the value lines. Timken from what I’m reading is not quite what they used to be and is all over the map. I was tempted to use FAG, but idk if I’ve ever seen them on a Japanese OEM vehicle, but again admittedly my sample size is limited to what me and family/friends have.

I just ordered the SKF bearings which’ll get here next week - maybe I’ll have better luck this time. Some of the folks on the Chevy and Ford truck forums seem to be having good luck in recent years. Until then, gotta figure out how to get the current wheel hubs off as they’re rusted on far worse than just about every YouTube video I’ve seen thus far.
 
I was able to get the hub assembly on the one side off, it’s certainly quite notchy. New bearings should be here Monday.

I was planning on using anti seize on the bore where the bearing sits in, the mating face for the hub and applying some on the cv spline as well as the mounting bolts and axle nut threads. Any thoughts/recommendation on this?

FSM states these to be at 44 lb ft and 101 lb ft respectively. Should I drop the torque values by 15% to account for anti seize?
 
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