ABS light came on...

C

CLIPPER

I have a 1995 Legacy wagon and the brakes were worn so I took it into the
shop for service. I also mentioned that the ABS light came on very
intermittantly. They did the brake work then hooked it up to the
diagnostic and it said the ADSL codes were #27,#28 L/Rear speed sensor.

They wanted $400 to replace it. I said no thanks.

The light started coming on more frequently, so I did further research-

http://www.advanceautoparts.com/english/youcan/html/ccr/ccr20030701as.html

I pulled the sensor and it was covered with rusted metal dust. I cleaned
it and blew out the rotor.

Problem solved, cost $0. Though I did spend several hours searching the
net for the info. I hope this saves someone else the trouble.
 
Great story, and maby other Subaru owners do have self-repair stories like
this one.
It could save us a lot of money.
 
Was it easy to find the sensor under there? My 91 Legacy is doing the same
thing. Very unpredictable as to when the light will come on. Sounds
suspiciously like your description.

Can you point me to the sensor before I go crawling under there?

Thank you!

~Jeremy
 
Don't be surprised if the light comes back on. I also have a 95 that did
the same thing. I cleaned the sensor and the light was back on a week
later. Did this a few times until the light was just on all the time.

Does the car do anything else odd when braking other than have the light on?
 
They are easy to access once you've lifted the car with a jack and taken
off the wheel. A 12mm bolt holds it in place at roughly the 10 O'clock
position (looking at it from the driver's side and facing the car- does
that make sense?)

I gently pried it loose with a short, thin blade slot head screw driver.
Be careful not to blow it off with high air pressure- at least the article
warned not to as a static charge can build up and zap it.
 
I'll keep an eye on it- two days and so far so good. It used to come on
after a few blocks and good bump on the road. (I also think my shocks are
shot.)

When the light came on the ABS sometimes, but not always is was while
pressing the brakes. Then I would get the typical ABS grind noise but it
would last a bit longer than normal and the brake pedal would drop to the
floor. Then the light popped on.

That's about it. Sound familiar? I'll post again if my light comes back
on. Did you finally resolve your problem or is the light still on?
 
My problem was the ABS would kick in on dry pavement when slowing/stopping
like at a traffic light. The bad sensor was obviously sending a wheel
lockup signal. My pedal never traveled to the floor though, that sounds
like a problem with the hydraulics.
 
Well, you called it and thanks to you I wasn't surprised. :) The Light
did come back on and it came on more frequently after a two weeks hiatus.

I checked tthe codes again using the historical ADSL code-
http://www.troublecodes.net/Subaru/

Since the codes said it was the Left Rear sensor, I called the dealership
and ordered one- $150. It was a breeze to install. Jack the car and take
off the wheel. Undo the four 12mm bolts, pull the sensor from the wheel
hub - this can be sticky. Lift the rear seat and find the sensor wire
coming into the body- unsnap the gray connector. Then intall the new in
reverse order. It took me 45 min start to finish. The shop's estimate of
3 hours was absurd.

It works fine now.
(well, at least I'll get another two weeks ;)
 

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