Hi, I thought that I would post this in case it helps someone else.
I had the three lights come on and couldn't really figure out what was wrong, so took the Freelander to one of the local independant Landrover garages to pay my £60 and get it on their computer. The verdict was a front wheel ABS sensor had gone and their estimate was £300+ for fitting an aftermarket sensor, more for a Landrover original part. Sounds expensive but they weren't wrong when they said it would take time as they'd have to drill out the old one, so that was a realistic quote at garage rates.
As I was changing the car anyway, I decided not to bother fixing it, but the vehicle I was planning buying got sold while I was being indecisive. I therefore decided to have a go at fixing it myself and after reading what I could find here I ordered a sensor off Ebay (LANDROVER FREELANDER ABS SENSOR FRONT SSW100080 for £23, not the £150 Britpart part quoted by the garage).
Following the instructions in my Haynes manual I spent a miserable half hour trying the remove the undershield in the wing before I gave up trying to get the rusted but hardened and hence undrillable screws out, and moved on to trying to get the sensor out instead. I tried every tool and method known to man (and believe me I tried) before eventually resorting to the drill as predicted by the garage.
75% of the way through drilling it out I spotted the reluctor ring through a gap in the hub casting and happened to put my finger on it. To my dismay, it moved!!! My befuddled brain quickly realised that I had now spent an hour and a half trying to replace a perfectly good sensor!
So, next step was to dismantle the hub casting from the suspension strut which was a simple process. I found that the reluctor ring was actually in 2 pieces. My original understanding was that it meant I needed a new driveshaft, but a quick check here and a look on Ebay revealed a replacement ring for the princely sum of £7.30 eBay My World - carspares-direct
So I ordered that and a new genuine hub nut (also off Ebay) and both arrived in two days.
Today I cleaned up the driveshaft and fitted the new ring and my bargain basement sensor in about an hour and instead of getting the inner wing shield off, I simply pulled the end of the cable up using a length of welding wire (I did remove the grommet by splitting it and re-inserted it from the top).
I now have a fully functioning ABS/TC system again, also a warm sense of satisfaction from having saved some cash.
There's no way of knowing if the parts are up to the same standard as those the garage would have fitted, but to be honest I'd be surprised if they prove to be a problem during what remaining useful life the vehicle has.
The thing that really embarrasses me to say is that just after the lights came on, I remember driving along with the window open and wondering what that tinkling sound coming from the hub area was!
So, just another possibility when the 3 Amigos come on - check the reluctor rings, the front ones at least can be checked by taking the wheels off and and sticking your finger in the slot at the bottom of the hub casting, no furher dismantling is needed.
The real moral of the story though is never believe the computer!
regards
Colin
I had the three lights come on and couldn't really figure out what was wrong, so took the Freelander to one of the local independant Landrover garages to pay my £60 and get it on their computer. The verdict was a front wheel ABS sensor had gone and their estimate was £300+ for fitting an aftermarket sensor, more for a Landrover original part. Sounds expensive but they weren't wrong when they said it would take time as they'd have to drill out the old one, so that was a realistic quote at garage rates.
As I was changing the car anyway, I decided not to bother fixing it, but the vehicle I was planning buying got sold while I was being indecisive. I therefore decided to have a go at fixing it myself and after reading what I could find here I ordered a sensor off Ebay (LANDROVER FREELANDER ABS SENSOR FRONT SSW100080 for £23, not the £150 Britpart part quoted by the garage).
Following the instructions in my Haynes manual I spent a miserable half hour trying the remove the undershield in the wing before I gave up trying to get the rusted but hardened and hence undrillable screws out, and moved on to trying to get the sensor out instead. I tried every tool and method known to man (and believe me I tried) before eventually resorting to the drill as predicted by the garage.
75% of the way through drilling it out I spotted the reluctor ring through a gap in the hub casting and happened to put my finger on it. To my dismay, it moved!!! My befuddled brain quickly realised that I had now spent an hour and a half trying to replace a perfectly good sensor!
So, next step was to dismantle the hub casting from the suspension strut which was a simple process. I found that the reluctor ring was actually in 2 pieces. My original understanding was that it meant I needed a new driveshaft, but a quick check here and a look on Ebay revealed a replacement ring for the princely sum of £7.30 eBay My World - carspares-direct
So I ordered that and a new genuine hub nut (also off Ebay) and both arrived in two days.
Today I cleaned up the driveshaft and fitted the new ring and my bargain basement sensor in about an hour and instead of getting the inner wing shield off, I simply pulled the end of the cable up using a length of welding wire (I did remove the grommet by splitting it and re-inserted it from the top).
I now have a fully functioning ABS/TC system again, also a warm sense of satisfaction from having saved some cash.
There's no way of knowing if the parts are up to the same standard as those the garage would have fitted, but to be honest I'd be surprised if they prove to be a problem during what remaining useful life the vehicle has.
The thing that really embarrasses me to say is that just after the lights came on, I remember driving along with the window open and wondering what that tinkling sound coming from the hub area was!
So, just another possibility when the 3 Amigos come on - check the reluctor rings, the front ones at least can be checked by taking the wheels off and and sticking your finger in the slot at the bottom of the hub casting, no furher dismantling is needed.
The real moral of the story though is never believe the computer!
regards
Colin
