Just finished replacing the front wheel sensors & pads on my 03 TL and my VSA & TCS light finally went off but now every time I brake, especially the last few feet of the braking, the ABS engages. I feel it in the pedal.

Any ideas on the cause? Anyone had this issue? If so, can you share your remedy. This only happens the last few feet of braking.

Thanks

 

It's possible there is rust or debris under one of the sensor mounts creating too much of a gap between the sensor pick-up and tone ring. Pull each sensor and thoroughly clean the area where the sensor sits. Also double check the tone rings for debris between the teeth.

Other possibility is a bad sensor. What brand did you use?

 

Thanks Iggy, but I did clean by wire brush the mounting areas where the sensors sit as well as the tone ring teeth on the shafts. The replacement sensors are Standard Motor Products (ALS804 and ALS977)

Carlos

 

You are playing the guessing game without a scan tool that can talk to and graph ABS parameters to zero in on the offending sensor.

Wire brushing metal with rust can sometimes be misleading in that the rust will shine giving the illusion that it's bare metal. I'd still double check that those sensors are seated properly.

 

poor tires can also initiate ABS in the last few feet of braking....
good tires = good traction. poor tires = no traction = abs activation

 

Do you have tires of the same size all of the way around?

 

Justnspace,

Tires are in good shape.

Horseshoez,

Same size but not the manufacturer.

 

Keep in mind, not all tires of any give size have any given diameter.

 

at least I'm on the right track!
you got poor tires!

 

Well, I replaced all the tires with brand new ones of the proper size and speed rating and I still have the issue. Remember I installed new sensors and made sure the teeth on the shaft ring were clean.

Any other ideas???

 

Whens the last time you bled the brake lines? I am wondering if you may have air in your brake lines /abs modulator and brakes are engaging inconsistently (and at some points locking up).

 

Whitetiger5,
Its not locking up but at 5mph or less the pump engages and you can feel it in the pedal. I will try and bleed the brakes to get out any air.

 

Get hold of a scan tool that can give you live ABS data to determine the offending wheel.

 

After the information about abs pumping at low speeds, I would have to agree: looks like a fault in the ABS wheel sensor circuit. There is a section on how to inspect the wheel sensor distance to the tone ring. Regardless of surfaces being cleaned; I would check the distance between the sensor and the teeth (there is a section detailing the tolerances in the service manual) to make sure they were within spec. If they are, I would next suspect some defect in the sensor itself.

Wheel sensors generally don't go out at the same time and don't require you to replace them in pairs. you probably could have gotten away with buying both, replacing one at a time to see which one might have been giving you problems and then returning that which you didn't need.

 

Yes, but I already replaced both with new at the time of the cleaning, so I dont know that it could be the sensors. Its possible it could be the tolerance issue but I wont know until I get the codes. I will get an ABS reading from a local Autozone to pinpoint the issue.

Thanks .

 

New parts fresh out of the box can be defective, particularly non OEM aftermarket.

 

Iggy,
They are OEM.

 

I think what Iggy means is a genuine honda / acura part. Personally I would buy only oem for any critical system components (ignition coils, timing belts, motor mounts, sensors, solenoids, relays, transmission fluid to name a few).

 

Whitetiger5,
They are genuine Honda/acura parts not OEM aftermarket. Got them directly from the Acura parts department. back from vacation so I will get the codes read and see what the issue is.

 

You stated that they were Standard Motor Products...That is not a genuine Honda part. The genuine Honda part number is 57450-S0K-A52