XJ Mods VSB 14

[alexbrown64]

Reset the ABS fault code, pulled the wheels off, cleaned everything with brake cleaner, removed the sensors, cleaned them and set the air gap. Test drive and the code for the right rear sensor has reappeared. I took a pic of it when i had it apart, and the tone ring and sensor look pretty damaged from when the wheel stud backed out.



Any one have a spare tone ring and right rear sensor laying around.
Rock Auto has the parts, i think they call the tone ring a reluctor.

On a side note, also have a parasitic drain on the battery. If it doesn't rain, it pours....

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

Went to a wreckers and wrestled out another right rear ABS sensor. Got it for $30 and went home and installed it with a 1.4mm air gap.

Now, by the damage and the scanner reading, i knew it was either the sensor, tone ring or both. I took it for a drive and ABS light back on. Plugged in scanner and drove it.. scanner not picking up wheel speed from right rear wheel. I think all the magnets on the tone ring are completely ground off, so i will order a new one from Rockauto at $34 US. The pain is fitting it as i have to remove axle and get it pressed on.

See if you can guess which sensor is the old one in pic below..



Cheers,

[junglejuice]

You should be able to test the tone ring/sensor combo with a multi meter, may need to adjust the gap to suit...

[alexbrown64]

I would do JJ, but i with the damage to the sensor and tone ring from the stud backing out, one or both are knackered. I have just ordered a new tone ring from Rockauto and will install it. I believe with that in, i will definitely pick up a signal, whether from a multi meter, or scanner.
Updates to come...

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

I got the tone ring from Rock Auto in record time... unfortunately i wasn't home twice, so i didn't get it until the 3rd delivery day. Today was the day to get it in, so set about it. Jacked up the XJ, chocked it, put it in neutral, took the right rear wheel off, drained the diff fluid, pulled the cover off and then had a cup of coffee. My D35 has super 35 axles and an ARB RD105 locker. Went online to figure out which retaining bolt needed to be removed, so i could remove the pin and hence remove the C clip.



Got the axle out and set about removing the old dinged up tone ring. Leverage didn't work so i hit it with a 5 inch grinder and cut a small slot in it and it fell right off. Now you learn something new every day, and today i learnt that my ABS system is passive. That means my tone rings are not magnetic (the sensor is), and the grooves and ridges in the ring create electrical waves etc... what this all meant to me was that i could warm my tone ring right up and fit it to the axle as it is an interference fit. I heated it to 180C and it just slipped into position with no press necessary.



When i took my axle out, i noticed that the sensor mounting bracket was in a bad way. I took it off and straightened it all up so that the sensor would sit better. OK, axle and C clip back in, faces cleaned and black RTV slapped around and diff cover replaced. Sensor adjusted to 1.4mm air gap. Cleaned everything up, packed away and got ready for a test spin. I plugged in my scanner and went up the road to check it all out. Big thumbs up as the scanner reported wheel speed in all 4 wheels to be identical at 9 mph.



These Snap-On scanners are great, as you can scan your OBD 1 or 2 ABS system, transmission and engine. I parked the car up and ticked off another item.
Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

The last job on my list was to find the coolant leak. Even running the car up to temp, and with a black light, i could not find it. It just seemed to appear under the bell housing and was dripping onto the hot exhaust. I was dreading that it was the welch plug behind the tranny. I had been thinking for a while about making a pressure tester and looked online about various ways of going about it. It clicked to me that the simplest method was to use my existing Stant Lev-r-vent radiator cap and just put a bicycle tube valve in the end of the overflow tube. Cost was zero and it worked perfectly. How this works is that when you lift the Stant lever, it lets pressure into and out of the system. You normally use it to vent pressure off into your overflow bottle. I just went the opposite way. I used an old innertube valve and connected it to the end of the pressure bottle hose, and then used my old bike pump that has a gauge to pump the system up to 15 psi.



Instantly coolant came rushing out of one of my heater T's up near the cylinder head. This T is for the LPG system and it must of been weeping straight down onto a frame rail and then the coolant was working its way along to the bell housing. Took 5 minutes to make the tester, do the test and solve a problem that was bugging me for weeks.



You can make this pressure testing system for about $10. I had the cap anyway, but you can get one at Rock Auto for $3.50 http://www.rockauto.com/en/partsearch/?partnum=10331
A black light is great for spotting weeps. It makes your coolant glow and they are as cheap as chips on Ebay. About $3 delivered...http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mini-Alum...ebl8Qq4FWAQ0eQ

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

Since the XJ is now ready for engineering, i contacted a guy called Terry Southam in Perth. I have sent him the Dept of Transport application and response. He has a workshop/hoist and i have to get the old girl to him which will require a movement permit. Hopefully this will all happen and the next week and all go reasonably OK.

Below is a pic of the old girl showing modified tyre carrier, long range tank, lowered suspension, legal tyres that obviously dont suit the bushwackers and quick dissconect mudflaps.



Pic below shows the winch and light bar setup. All the other engineering work is in diff lockers, speedo calibrator, extractors, sunroof etc..



Cheers,