LARRY HAMMER’S EXPERT ADVICE ON BRAKE AND FRONT END REPAIRS
ABS SENSOR SPACING
Solving the Elusive Pulsating Brake Pedal Condition
A
brake pulsating
problem follow-
ing a brake job
on a Ford Explorer had
the technician on a ma-
jor exploration just to
come up with a solution.
The four-wheel ABS sys-
LARRY HAMMER
MIGHTY AUTO PARTS tem assumed a slippage
condition and performed
as it was designed to function. Later it would be
determined that the condition had been
artificially induced.
The customer had requested a disc pad
change, as a tire man had informed her that was
all that was needed. However, further inspection
revealed a long-neglected braking system, and
the customer was receptive to a complete system
overhaul. The technician performed a system
flush and a complete system tear down. The
system was resealed, rotors refinished and
cleaned, and new hardware and friction were
installed. The hydraulic system was bled,
affirming a good pedal height. It was late Friday
afternoon and the shop was still full of cars.
Cutting short the road test and burnish break-
in would come back to haunt him. The vehicle
definitely had a braking performance problem
that would have been obvious, had a thorough
road test been performed.
A VIBRATION AND PULSATION
The customer picked up the SUV and called
thirty minutes later complaining of a pulsation
when she applied the brakes. She claimed that it
had never done this before. After some assur-
ance from the shop owner that the brakes were
safe, she agreed to bring the car back in on
Monday for further evaluation. She had been
convinced that she needed a complete brake
service, and now the brakes were pulsating and
she was afraid to drive the SUV.
FURTHER EVALUATION
When the lady returned on Monday morning,
a road test was performed in her presence.
When the brake pedal was applied, a pulsating
sensation was present. It felt like a rotor with
excessive runout. Checking the runout of the
rotors while still on the vehicle revealed that one
© 2000 Mighty Distributing System of America, Inc. • 650 Engineering Drive, Norcross, GA 30092
of the rotors had borderline excessive runout.
And for the record, always check runout on the
vehicle and not on the brake lathe. Turning the
rotor corrected the pulsation, but the rotor was
now at discard thickness. When this was ex-
plained to the customer, and especially since
she had previously been involved in an accident,
she requested that both rotors be replaced.
(Before this process was over, the technician
would become an expert at switching rotors on
a Ford Explorer.) She picked the vehicle up that
afternoon and was back at
the shop early the next morn-
Gimme
ing, complaining that the
brakes were again pulsating.
This time the pedal had a
different feel, but it sure felt
a Brake!
like a pulsation. And this time
the ABS lamp was illumi-
nated. The new rotors were
trued on a lathe and the
runout checked on the ve-
hicle. The tolerances were
well within specifications, but there was still a
definite pulsation or oscillation. Accessing the
diagnostic memory reflected a wheel speed sen-
sor code. Tests were performed and the sensor
replaced, even though the test procedure failed
to identify a defective sensor.
Out of frustration, the technician installed a
second set of rotors. A road test confirmed that
the pulsation was gone and the ABS lamp was not
illuminated. Now the technician was really
puzzled. He knew how to machine rotors and his
equipment was almost new. The runout and
parallelism were well within specs. How could
the installation of another set of rotors have
corrected the problem?
THE DISCOVERY
The technician couldn’t stand it. He had to
know why the last set of rotors corrected the
problem. The rotors were removed for com-
parison against the first set. They appeared to be
identical, but they were not. Much later in his
evaluation, with the help of two additional techs,
they observed a difference in the depth in which
the sensor ring was pressed onto the hub of one
rotor. The sensor ring on one rotor had been
pressed on too far. This resulted in an increased
air gap for the wheel speed sensor, when com-
pared to its companion rotor. The difference
seemed minute, but was enough to make the ABS
system falsely sense wheel slippage, resulting in
ABS activation. And this was the reason for the
ABS lamp illumination. When the last set of
rotors was installed with the correct sensor ring
position, this satisfied the ABS lamp concern and
eliminated the pulsating symptom. To be certain
that he had positively identified the problem, he
reinstalled the first set of rotors, which again
resulted in the illuminated ABS
lamp and pulsating symptoms.
Further, he removed power from
the ABS control unit and the pul-
sating condition diminished. The
first set of rotors had introduced
the symptoms. It had been an ABS
activation, instead of a runout
condition. And he was ill.
WHEEL SPEED SENSORS
A close inspection of the front
speed sensor wires should be performed to
make certain the wires are routed properly and
no damage to the insulation has been incurred.
Check the wires closely, where they attach to the
sensor head, for evidence of cracking or other
damage. If those conditions are evident, re-
placement of the sensor will be necessary. Ex-
amine the sensor bracket to make certain it is
flush with its mounting and no corrosion is
present that can prevent full surface contact. Any
corrosion or obstruction can affect sensor air
gaps, resulting in inaccurate sensor signals.
Check the sensor ring for evidence of chipped or
broken teeth. If any of these conditions are
present, an ABS lamp illumination and false ABS
activation will likely occur.
Your chances of encountering the same are
great. This is the fourth one for us.
SUPERIOR SERVICE
QUALITY PARTS
INVENTORY SPECIALISTS
MIGHTY DISTRIBUTING
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OF AMERICA, INCORPORATED
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