1993 Subaru Legacy Station 2.2

 

Just a quick question: How can I remove those ABS sensors from the front axles? There's a screw but after removing it, the sensor won't come off. Is there anything special to do? Thanks for answering!

I've never had good luck with those.

 

Soak them with whatever penetrating oil type stuff you have over there.

 

I pry with a screwdriver, put channel locks and locking vise grips on them.

 

Often here they are just too rusted to ever come out complete.

 

Good luck.

 

I'm hoping someone posts a brilliant way to do this that I haven't tried.

by "screw" you mean a 10 or 12mm bolt right? if that came out i think you have a better chance than i ever do to get the sensor out, my experience is similar to daves that they just never come out easily without damaging them.

 

is there much rust on the bolt/hub? if so then that's not a good sign. but it's rare i ever get the bolt out, so sound slike you're a step ahead of us in terms of rust?

 

quality penetrant may help and let it soak for a few days, hitting it a couple of times. heat is your friend - you want to heat the knuckle the sensor slides into though and not the sensor istelf...obviously. tricky with plastic. the heating/expansion can help separate things.

I've gotten a few out by soaking them in PB for a few days, then some heat and more PB. Obviously be careful with the heat.

 

Usually they don't come out in one piece though...

easy to remove if you aren't trying to save it, but lets assume you will be trying to reuse it.

 

soak with penetrants, wiggle with some vice grips, not too much twisting at a time,just enough to make it budge slightly. resoak. wiggle, resoak, wiggle resoak. i have success on a few, and a few the metal just twisted apart on the housing to the sensor. if that happens, just beat them out.

 

i have also vice gripped it, then tapped on the vice grip.

I use the pb blaster+ vice grips. wiggle clockwise>counterclockwise. also sticking a screwdriver between the ear and the spindle helps with some upwards action. I agree with most here that they are usually rusted in and come apart in two pieces. Reinstall with a light coating of anti seize on the sides. Also apply to the threads on the 12mm bolt. If you are taking off the spindle to do a wheel bearing leave the sensor in the wheel and unplug it under the fender. There are two or three 12mm bolts that hold it in and a rubber grommet where it goes thru the inner fender well.

On my '01 the key was PB Blaster (I now have Kroil, even better), and to rock it back-and-forth just the tiny bit I could without twisting the body apart.

 

I wire brushed around it and then scraped around it with an awl, and also poked the awl between the 'head' and the metal a bit so I could get the lube right onto the barrel in the hole.

 

The twisting, even if its flexing the body of the sensor a bit, gets the lube down the hole and scrapes of a bit of rust in the hole, little by little.

 

Took 40 minutes or so.

 

Dave