ABS/ Brake wear wiring on rear hub carrier

[Cloudsurfer]

I recently had a tire fail and shred itself to pieces, and in the process, tire debris really tore up the wiring that runs up from the hub carrier into the rear trunk area that carries the wheel speed sensor and brake wear signals. Is this section of wiring replaceable as a unit? I have to figure it's offered for collision repair, when wheels get ripped off these things....

[JFP in PA]

I recently had a tire fail and shred itself to pieces, and in the process, tire debris really tore up the wiring that runs up from the hub carrier into the rear trunk area that carries the wheel speed sensor and brake wear signals. Is this section of wiring replaceable as a unit? I have to figure it's offered for collision repair, when wheels get ripped off these things....

You do come up with interesting problems…………… As I believe your car is a 2003, I think the news is bad: The ABS wiring circuit diagram does not show any disconnects other than the ones near the actual wheel speed sensors. Some of the earlier years had a disconnect just inside the trunk area, but that seems to have disappeared in the later models like yours. You may want to do some exploring, as I have found the connection locations in these diagrams to not always be completely accurate. In any case, the wiring is nothing special, so you can do some splicing to get back on the road.

[Cloudsurfer]

I recently had a tire fail and shred itself to pieces, and in the process, tire debris really tore up the wiring that runs up from the hub carrier into the rear trunk area that carries the wheel speed sensor and brake wear signals. Is this section of wiring replaceable as a unit? I have to figure it's offered for collision repair, when wheels get ripped off these things....

You do come up with interesting problems…………… As I believe your car is a 2003, I think the news is bad: The ABS wiring circuit diagram does not show any disconnects other than the ones near the actual wheel speed sensors. Some of the earlier years had a disconnect just inside the trunk area, but that seems to have disappeared in the later models like yours. You may want to do some exploring, as I have found the connection locations in these diagrams to not always be completely accurate. In any case, the wiring is nothing special, so you can do some splicing to get back on the road.

Haha that I do! Yes, the car is an 03. I'll have to do some investigating. I'm assuming this runs into that giant loom that runs below the DME in the rear trunk, hopefully there is a disconnect so I can replace the whole mess. Otherwise, I guess it's off to splice and solder....

[Cloudsurfer]

Did some digging, and those wires do join that giant loom in the rear trunk, and there is no disconnect in them, so I guess it's time to do a little soldering....

[JFP in PA]

Kind of thought that would be the situation; in any case, it still is not that bad a project.

[Cloudsurfer]

Kind of thought that would be the situation; in any case, it still is not that bad a project.

Just finished! Took me about an hour, the tire debris only actually cut 2 of the wires, so I cut back the obscenely thick insulation on the whole assembly, spliced in some new wire to repair the damaged two, heat shrunk those two that I had to solder in splices, and then used liquid electrical sealant and electrical tape to put the whole thing back together, and slid some split sheath around the bundle to offer some added protection.

I'm pretty confident this should be a long lasting fix.

[JFP in PA]

For future reference, you may want to look at 3M automotive "Scotch Loks".

They are gel filled, self stripping crimp connectors that are water proof and made for automotive applications. Come in a variety of sizes, we use them on (and under) cars all the time, never had one come back with a bad connection.

[Cloudsurfer]

For future reference, you may want to look at 3M automotive "Scotch Loks".

They are gel filled, self stripping crimp connectors that are water proof and made for automotive applications. Come in a variety of sizes, we use them on (and under) cars all the time, never had one come back with a bad connection.

I'm aware of them, and think they're awesome and have used them before. I didn't use them here, since a) I wanted to keep this bundle as close as possible to its original thickness, and since I was only splicing two wires of the entire bundle and wouldn't have been able to get enough wire length from what was left to fit the scotchlok in, without cutting the entire bundle and scotchloking all of the wires.

I made a lot of effort to ensure that my fix is weatherproof (given its location on the car) and am confident it will not cause future issue :)

Edited April 9, 2011 by Cloudsurfer