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Wheel speed sensor

Tiny
ARTHURWE515
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
  • 3.7L
  • V6
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 18,000 MILES
When I drive my vehicle the ABS light is on and after a short time my emergency brake light comes on and will not let the transmission shift but if I shut it off while going about 20 mph and restart it and rev it to about 1,500 rpm shift from neutral to drive it will kick into a higher gear and stay in that gear until I start the process again. Sometimes it will shift like nothing is wrong for some time then lock it into gear at some point while I'm driving or stopped. One of my wheel speed sensors has a broken wire and when I used OBD tool code 501 came up with code 700. Could a wheel speed sensor be the problem?
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Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020 AT 5:19 PM

12 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Short answer, yes.

I attached the process on how to replace the wheel speed sensor. Clearly we could have another issue but we need to start with replacing that speed sensor and then retesting the system.

Basically the wheel speed is needed to determine if a tire is slipping for ABS operation. When we don't get a good signal from one of them, it sets the ABS light and brake light. The fact that a wire is broken is where we need to start.

Let us know what you find.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/abs-wheel-speed-sensor-test
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Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020 AT 5:29 PM
Tiny
ARTHURWE515
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Okay update: I ordered the wrong wheel speed sensors so the rear wheel speed sensors have been replaced and I'm waiting on the front ones. But I have a question that maybe I overlooked the answer to. Does it matter which wire I connect the new connector to? Since the old one was ripped out I don't really know how to put the new one in, I just assumed that red was hot black was negative or neutral.
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Friday, June 5th, 2020 AT 6:14 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
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Good question. Yes this does matter. However, we don't want to splice together these wires because they are part of the ABS system. It can be done but we need to cut and solder.

Can you get a picture of where the wire was ripped off and maybe a close up picture of the actual wires and we can figure out if a wiring repair is possible or we need to get that harness from the module to the sensor?
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Friday, June 5th, 2020 AT 8:15 PM
Tiny
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I think there's plenty of wire and I already bought the new connector, so I'm going to try it. Regardless I just need to know which wire is positive and which one is negative. There's an orange and green and a purple and green.
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Saturday, June 6th, 2020 AT 8:43 AM
Tiny
ARTHURWE515
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Another thing I forgot to mention is the person I bought it from said they twisted those 2 wires together thinking it would complete the circuit. I have checked fuses but I don't know if there is a relay or something more expensive that they might have ruined. Do you have a checklist that I can reference?
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Saturday, June 6th, 2020 AT 9:21 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
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Okay. Here is the wiring diagram and just to level set, there is no positive and negative on this speed sensor. There is a sense signal and sense supply.

The supply wire (dark green and purple) is basically where the ABS module supplies the voltage needed by the wheel speed sensor. The signal return (dark green and tan or maybe orange) is the return from the sensor telling the ABS how fast it is spinning.

These wires need to be connected to the connector pins on the connector or the ABS will not get the correct signal.

I included the wiring diagram and the connector view so that you get the wires on the correct pins in the connector.

As for twisting the wires together, that is just going to tell the ABS module that the sensor is shorted and most likely did no damage. There are no fuses or relays for this as it is a direct input to the ABS. Clearly they didn't know what they were doing so I am sure your repair will be fine. Just make sure you solder the wires together and not use a butt connector because that will not hold up and can distort your signal.

The reason I said we don't want to make wiring repairs on this is because you are adding the possibility of added resistance. This is going to distort your signal back to the ABS which means the ABS is going to think this wheel is traveling a different speed because the other wheels don't have this. However, if you solder them in you should be fine.
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Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 2:40 PM
Tiny
ARTHURWE515
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Thank you so much. I'm still waiting on the new wheel speed sensors to show up. My plan was always to solder and use the brass crimp connectors that they gave me just as an extra security, so fingers crossed that will work. If not I guess we'll be looking at a new harness. I'll keep you posted.
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Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 3:19 PM
Tiny
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Sounds great. I am sure that will be just fine. Just remember to use heat shrink wrapping to protect your wiring and repair. I seem to always forget to put that on the wire before I solder it at least once on these wiring repairs and then I have to cut the wire and redo it with the wrap on there before I solder it.

We will wait to hear back. Thanks for the update.
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Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 5:17 PM
Tiny
ARTHURWE515
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Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It turns out it was an ABS sensor issue but it wasn't the one that had the broken wires. The Jeep runs great now transmission shifts fine but I did come across a new issue. It seems to burn oil but never all of it. The person I bought it from said it's done that for a while and he says it only uses so much and then it stops I cleaned my PCV valve and that didn't seem to change anything. When I fill it with oil it smokes out of the exhaust so I was wondering if maybe it was piston rings or could the oil be leaking from somewhere else I've never heard of a car that only uses so much oil and then just stops burning it from a visual inspection I don't have any oil leaks anywhere so I am baffled.
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 AT 8:21 PM
Tiny
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That is great that you got that figured out. However, we need to get a new post started with this issue because we need to keep each post to one issue. The only reason is, others will not find the solution to this new issue related to oil burning under a wheel speed thread. Not only are we here to assist you but hopefully in helping you, others will find solutions to their issue if it is the same.

Sorry for any inconvenience. Here is a link to get a new post started. Thanks

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/new
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 AT 8:28 PM
Tiny
ARTHURWE515
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Yeah, I thought that after I sent it. I'll try to get to it tomorrow I have to sleep for work.
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 AT 9:26 PM
Tiny
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Sounds great. Thanks again for using 2CarPros. I will look for your new post or one of the other guys will respond. Thanks
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Thursday, July 30th, 2020 AT 6:02 PM

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