Now my ABS light is on (99 Blazer). It had seemed like when it rained the ABS would kick in more often than it should (this is according to my wife I haven't been driving it). A couple days ago duging light rain it was kicking on, now today the rain is heavier, and the light is ON. First, I wonder if water is getting into the connection. Will a scanner point me in the right direction? It has a new (about 6 months old) hub/ bearing/sensor on the right front. and within the last couple months I have had the driver's side off to replace the ball joints.
I think first I will check the connections.

 

You may have a bad connection or it's possible that when you were doing the ball joint that some grease or dirt got on the sensor or the reluctor wheel.

 

Thanks Chevy. How hard is it to get to the reluctor? I have a spare used hub i can practice on.

 

I can't remember if you can see the reluctor from behind the backing plate. The reluctor is just below the speed sensor, so if you remove the speed sensor to see if there's anything on the sensor, you can spray some cleaner and wd 40 down in the hole where the sensor goes. I stole a picture from Hanr3's post in the do it yourself section to show you the bolt that holds the sensor in.

[IMG]local://upfiles/2910/39D59C33BB814890A206C11E44E188A3.jpg[/IMG]

 

Thanks.
Now she's telling me it's worse and locking up the brakes.

 

Well, I think I have it figured out. The insulation on the wire for the sensor on the side I replaced in the spring has opened up and is making contact with the clamp. I found that turning the wheels all the way to the left made the light shut off, turning them to the right made it go back on.
I wonder if they will cover this under warranty (the part has a one year warranty). If not, I wonder if the sensor from the original part will fit this hub. It's an aftermarket hub that I got from the parts store that my company deals with. The brand name is "Mevotech"
I am going to try and get under there tonight, in the rain, and cover the wire with tape temporarilly. Would it be safe to pull the ABS fuse and drive it for a couple days, until I can work on it?

 

Pulling the ABS fuse would be a bad idea, as I think the power assist for the brakes needs that to run... The brake pedal will be really hard to push without that fuse...

Unless we've got vacuum assisted brakes, then it won't matter...

 

Well, that didn't work, the wire is broken, not just bare it's an open circuit now.
I couldn't really see, but I could get my hand in there and it "feels" different than the other side, where it fits into the hub. Luckilly, I can do this job myself. I will probably use the lift at work....too cold out to do this in the driveway.
Now the light is on all the time. I wonder, is it safe to drive like this for now?

 

i had the same problem on both aftermarked hubs on my 98 blazer. the insulation split right at one of the metal clamps that holds it down. i just soldered the 2 wires inside back together, heat shrank each individual one, wraped electrical tape arround it, and then put more heat shrink over both wires.

so far its holding great, but now my drivers side one is busted as well, so i have to do the same. for now i pulled the ABS fuse (22 in the fuse box) and all is well. no touchy ABS system, and the brakes work fine.

what i found was that on the OEM hub set up, the ABS speed sensor isnot removeable from the hub, however on my aftermarket hubs it is replaceable. i dont know if just the sensor can be purchased aftermarket or not, but i tried to find one and everyone said its only avalible with the hub...

 

If the ABS is disabled the brakes will still work. I have replaced many OEM hubs and evey one of them had replacable sensors.
At least you found the problem, that's always the hardest part.