Abs Wheel Sensor Removal

[rg]

Folks,

Any tips on removing the remains of the bolt? There does not seem enough
space around the track-rod end to get a drill chuck past it.

I have already collapsed the sensor and got that out.

Rg

2.5

[noz]

Hi Rob,

I've had a look at my hub and I can see what your problem is. I wish I had a magical answer for you but this is the best I can do:

1. Use a small battery drill with a 1/4" chuck and you may get past the track rod end with the track rod end removed.

2. Go to your local workshop and weld/braze an extension rod to a 5mm drill bit to take you past the track rod end. This is fairly straight forward. I've done it before.

3. Disconnect the driveshaft, track rod end and bottom ball joint and pull the hub free to give you access to drill it out from the opposite side. The bolt hole is not blind.

4. Remove the hub in its entirety from the car leaving the strut attached to the car (not as bad as it sounds. I've done it 3 times to do wheel bearings) and drill it out on the bench. In the long term this is probably the best option. Although there's more work to get it to the bench, getting the bolt drilled out on the bench must improve the chances of the whole job being successful. After all you'll have to tap the hole afterwards to accept a new bolt.

To make matters worse the bolt to which you refer is coated in loctite before assembly, why, I have no idea. When I've replaced mine I've used copperslip grease on both the bolt and the body of te ABS sensor.

I don't know if you've used any heat on the bolt yet but be aware of the effect. Whilst the bolt is in one piece the heat can chemically alter the rust seal so that the bolt can come out in one piece. However with a broken bolt the heat becomes your enemy. If you manage to heat the bolt remnant up and let it cool down slowly ( the heat leaks into the surrounding cast steel hub) then the bolt hardens. The bolt then becomes much harder to drill out. The surrounding material is softer than the bolt remnant so the drill bit will want to wander off the bolt and drill out the casting instead. It makes for a very difficult job.

Sorry it wasn't better news.

Cheers

noz

[rg]

Cheers, Noz!

Thanks for the learned and kind reply.

Worst case, I can drill the whole lot out and fit a nut at the furthest end to accept a new bolt.

Bless 'em! Did no-one at PSA think about how the bare threads would sit out in the road muck?

rg

[rg]

Done!

15 minutes of heat, tweak with mole grips, ease back and forth. "Basted" with penetrating fluid for two days

In the end, I "backed" it out gently rather than driving it in further and out the other end.

In gripping it tight with the mole grips, I had inadvertently crimped a couple of flats onto the end. Some testimony to the poor quality of the material, my "King Kong" grip, or a bit of both.

rg

[noz]

Hi Rob,

Nice to hear you were successful. I hadn't appreciated it had sheared with a bit still left to grab on to. Most times you're not as lucky as that. It would normally shear off level with the object its screwed into with nothing left to grip.

A success story by anyone's standard.

Cheers

noz

[gale007]

I had a simlar problem with the ABS pick-up and managed to get the stud out and drilled out the the old pick-up and replaced it with a pick-up from an xanta wich was very easy to remove from the scrap xanta but had to be turned 90 deg and a clamp made to secure in place now working fine