ArthurX wrote:

> Hello All
>
> I'm faced with the doubtful pleasure of renewing a front outer CV joint
> boot. I've read up fairly extensively on the subject and think I know of
> most of the pitfalls, the notorious pinch bolt et al. The one thing
> remaining unresolved in my mind is the removal of the motion detector sensor
> for the ABS system. All the accounts I have read glibly mention removing the
> sense head without any reference as to the best way to do so. I have held
> the outer part of the head as tightly by hand as I can manage and it will
> not move at all. There are a couple of extremely inviting flats on the head
> of the sensor which just invite the application of spanner pressure, this
> I'm reluctant to do as the head appears to be plastic and the last thing I
> want to do is to damage it (the cable disappears to places unknown and there
> are no visible junctions, hence it could be quite tricky, as well as
> expensive to renew).
>
> Has anyone experienced similar problems? Did they find a a solution? Has
> anyone broken the head of the sensor attempting to remove it? If so, was it
> easy/ expensive to renew? Where is the connector for the feed wire for this
> item?
>
> Thanks kindly for all assistance.
>
>
The ABS sensor is removed by pulling straight out. If yours doesn't do that it
may have corrosion around it. When installed there is a grease used to keep them
from seizing.

OTOH, I am not sure why you want to remove it at all because you can remove the
axle by tilting the strut once it is loose and the ABS sensor has enough wire to
allow this.

If you do remove it you will need to get a part called an ablative tip to place
over it when inserting it again. The process is to replace th axle and then push
the ABS sensor back in until it hits the hub on the axle. When the axle turns it
wears away the ablative tip and the correct clearance it maintained.

The connection to unplug the ABS sensor is reached by removing the plastic wheel
well liner and you will see it.

The way I move the strut to remove the axle is to first jack up both sides of
the front of the car to remove pressure on either side from the sway bar. Then
remove the three nuts on the top of the strut (top of the wheel well in side the
hood). The rotate the strut down and remove the axle. this way you do not need
to mess with the pinch bolt from hell.