I'M CONFUSED! Looking for some help from the pro's

[rlvis361]

ok so all the abs/brakes/traction control blah..blah..
So i did what everyone says to do and i hit up that search button!!

i took the car into the shop i use got a quote for replacing the front hubs...
so the quote came back and was $800!!! for the hubs and some battery terminals...

I did some more research and read the guides for doing it and figured no problem.. i bought the timken hubs and figured id get a better part...

well heres the fun part. tryin to take off the three bolts holding on the hub i figured out that someone before tried to do it and stripped out the top bolt on the drivers side.. anyway to make a long story short... bought new bolts put it all back together and all the damn lights are still on!!!

I need some ideas on where to go next... Thanx in advance...

[dpzelenak]

did you check all of them? and did you get any codes pulled?

[Silver GTP]

This is why reading the code that is turning on the abs light is worth doing. There are wheel speed sensors at all four wheels that can fail along with the abs module or a simple wire getting broken somewhere under the car. I would get the code read before throwing more parts at it.

[matt5112]

you can check the sensors by using the GM service manaul on GPONA.

they tell you the resistance across the sensor and if you spin the wheel you should get a minimum voltage.

If both check out, the sensor is probably okay.

[BillBoost37]

there are the wheel hubs and the wiring leading to them. Did you check your wiring?

[rlvis361]

Thanks for all the quick responses guys!

i am going to get the codes read and see what it says. i replaced both front hubs i didn't do the backs yet. after driving the car last night and this morning about 50 miles the lights are now off and everything seems to be okay.... but i'm not saying its fixed yet i've learned my lesson from that in the past..

when i was doing the work yesterday i did inspect the wire and plug for any damage and both sides looked okay from what i could see. My father in-law believes all my problems are from me having an old battery. i do plan on replacing the battery anyways cause this Arizona desert is hell on batteries.

[rlvis361]

ok update time.

so this weekend i remembered that i broke the bolt off the ground right by the battery tray and then my father in-law put it on the battery tray. everything was working great. but when i got it all taken apart the ground was covered in crap so i was thinking maybe a bad ground was causing my problem. i cleaned it all up reattached it and then spray painted over it to hopefully cut down on the dirt and corrosion build up on the actual connection. took the car for a test drive and about 2 miles down the road while turning all the lights came back on. i have tried 4 times to get the codes read but every time i go in to get them read when i turn the key back on all the lights are off. and the guy at autozone says there are no codes..... do the codes really go away that fast or is this guy lying to me?? so now im thinking the next things i will try will be to replace the rear hubs and the battery.

[Scottydoggs]

auto zone scanners dont read abs codes, just engine and trans codes.

i think you need a tech-2 scanner like the dealers have, and good repair shops will have it too.

[rlvis361]

WELL DAMN... i can say i didn't know that.. to be totally honest i thought all the scanners were the same but i guess i was wrong...LOL so i guess i will have to get the codes ran over at the shop i use. i think they ran the codes last time it was in there. i didnt ask for them. i dont really know why but i paid the diagnostic fees so that code printout is mine RIGHT?

[Scottydoggs]

yeah, if you paid for the abs codes to be read, they should have told you where the the problem is at least.

last shop i went to have my abs code checked wanted a 100 bucks, i wound up finding a lose wire on my own.

icing on the cake was this shop just opened, not one car in the garage bays not one car in the lot, you think he would have lowered the price instead of losing a customer.

[rlvis361]

yea i was thinking the same thing but the mechanic now that i'm thinking about it was like,"look at all these codes!" and he showed me this long receipt looking print out. he then stapled it to his copy of the paperwork and put it in the file. i didn't even think about asking for it. he told me that he wanted to replace the hubs but he said he didn't think that was the problem. so he wanted to charge me $1500 to "MAYBE" fix my problem . I think its time for a new shop.

[Scottydoggs]

so your abs light comes on and turns off when you turn the car off? so when you start to drive the light comes back at some point?

i'd check all the plugs at the hubs (all 4 wheels) and the wires leading to the harness for cracks or damage, put a little di-electrical grease on the male and female sides of the plugs and reconnect them. and see what happens from there.

[rlvis361]

the lights normally reset when i let the car sit for about half an hour but if the lights are on when i start the car they sometimes turn off or on when i turn corners ...ok ill look at the back connectors to see if there's any wear on them i already replaced the front hubs. i really hope it is just that simple. im tired of throwing money at this car.. for a car with only 60,000 miles on it. i cant believe all the problems im having, but i guess im paying for all the fun the guy before me had.

[Scottydoggs]

do they turn off or on when you hit rough pavement or bumps in the road? sounds like lose wires or a bad ground still maybe. if it happens when turning the wires may pull a bit.

[rlvis361]

bumps in the road rarely affect it... i plan on looking at the wires on the rear hubs today when i get home from work for wear or loose connections

[Scottydoggs]

clean the fronts up too and hit all 4 up with the di electric grease too, it cant hurt. it make a better connection, and weather proofs it some.

[rlvis361]

front hubs were replaced a little over a week ago. i use the timken assemblies and put the di-electric grease in them inspected both wires and they all looked ok.

[rlvis361]

both rear hub wires look ok and the plugs look intact. the problem has actually gotten worse its now almost every time i start my car. now i have another issue. the two may be unrelated but when i turn the car off with the lights on and try to restart it the dang thing wont start. but if i take the key and put it in the ignition 2 or 3 times it will start right up (maybe the ignition is going out too??)