Abs warning light......maybe blown diff

So driving down the freeway today on my way to the 4x4 show the ABS light comes on but there seems to be no reason for it. I hadnt used the brakes in at least 20km.
I keep driving along at 120kph and test the brake peddle the car seems to brake as normal and the peddle feels the same as always.

Next the steering gets a slight wobble, so i slowly pull off to the side and gradually pull over, as im doing this i wind the window down to hear a cracking, grabbing with a little scrapping sound the type of sound a blown diff or cv makes.

So I call Nissan to get a tow, with the ute is still under warranty they send a truck no probs.

As I go to move the car onto the tilt tray the noise has now stopped but the ABS light is still on.

Then off it goes to my local dealer with me thinking WTF is it??

Could it be the..............

BRAKES???? (from the out side the rotor and pads seemed fine)

The DIFF???

A CV?? (It did have play in it in and out plus up and down but on both sides)

Or a wheel bearing collapse?? (there was a little grease spilling out around the edge)

I wouldnt mind hearing from you guys on what you think it could be,

Cheers,
Nath.

Sorry, Nathan. I saw the post and read it and thought "whoa, that don't sound good" but I've no first-hand experience with the bits that you're talking about so I thought I'd let someone else jump in first.

Anyway, for your steering to get a slight wobble, it has to be something to do with the wheel itself (possibly the rack, but more likely the wheel). That is NOT the CV - the CV doesn't support the wheel, it only drives it. It sounds to me like bearing, and if grease has gone everywhere, it probably gummed up the notches in the ABS which means the ECU will see one wheel's ABS not reading anything.

Remember that the ECU works out the vehicle's speed by using a "best average" approach from reading the ABS sensors - so it's watching them all the time. If 3 wheels are reading a reasonable figure and one wheel is not, then it would be fair (for the ECU and for us) to assume that there was something wrong with the ABS sensor unit on the remaining wheel.

I doubt that it's brakes, because the ABS sensor is on the other side of the replaceable rotor. I doubt that it's a diff, because the diff has little to do with the ABS (the ABS sensor is turned by the wheel).

Thanks Tony that does make sense.

My thought process was, if the diff or cv were failing or pieces of it had broken off and were getting flung around it may cause it grab at the shaft making it act like the brake was erratically grabbing one wheel therefor giving the ECU a reading that one wheel was not rotating at the same speed as the others.

I still havent got my self a copy of the work shop manual to see how it all fits together which would be handy right now.

Do you know where ABS sensor ring is located in reference to the bearing? Does it fit in between the ROTOR and the bearing?

Do you think is it possible for the actual sensor ring to crack? or even the gear that runs off it to have crunched some teeth?

Thanks again Tony.

i had a similar problem ended up being the wheel bearing

damosplaced said:

i had a similar problem ended up being the wheel bearing

Click to expand...

Thanks mate It does make the most sense.
I hope thats what it is because i think i will get my ute back allot sooner if it is

makes a hell of a noise hey i thought it was a diff or cv at first too

Yeah your not wrong, that crunching sound gave me shivers.

Did yours do it while just driving on the black top or while off road??

Similar problem to what I had.

http://www.navara.asia/showthread.php?t=14803

Ended up a wheel bearing in my case also.

Thanks for the link, as soon as i saw it i remembered reading it a few months back but had totally forgot about it, and your situation sounds identical to mine.
I also had been in a muddy trench a few weeks back and herd the noise but only for a second and dismissed it as grit it the brakes or in the rotor stone guard and never herd it again until saturday which was 1500km later.
Thanks again,
Nath.

Should have kept the '22 Nath they are much more reliable and nothing ever breaks

Yeah i know what was i thinking with this 40???? the thing is i have treated it like an absolute baby for the entire 90k of its life and not once have i given it a hard time and look what happens......... shheesh what a lemon

Swap it for the missus Yota, you'll be much happier.

KraftyPg said:

Swap it for the missus Yota, you'll be much happier.

Click to expand...

i would only i just cant put up with the nasty rash i get from driving it!! and the cream toyota sells just doesnt work.

Oh that's nice, let the missus have the rash. I hope it's not in a visible location.

nathand22 said:

Thanks for the link, as soon as i saw it i remembered reading it a few months back but had totally forgot about it, and your situation sounds identical to mine.
I also had been in a muddy trench a few weeks back and herd the noise but only for a second and dismissed it as grit it the brakes or in the rotor stone guard and never herd it again until saturday which was 1500km later.
Thanks again,
Nath.

Click to expand...

No problems! Hope it gets sorted for you.

She seems to have sort of strange tolerance to the Yota rash mmmmmmmmmm

You might be scratching more than your head if that's the case.

Ok I should have the ute Back tomorrow.

Turns out it was the drivers side wheel bearing, which had totally collapsed and the munched the ABS sensor which is why the ABS light was on and the broken bits and pieces were making all the noise.

Apparently Nissan still want to check the diff once the bearing is in because the noise was resonating through the whole housing.

Warranty job?

KraftyPg said:

Warranty job?

Click to expand...

Yes mate sure is, they even were a little apologetic