2?s body gurus and brake peoples

[bigLSHO]

well like it says i have two seperate questions but both will work for this section. first off i was wondering what the best way to get the side paneling off is without damaging anything..trying to get to the underside of the doors. i think the rocker panel covers come off with screws...gen 1 btw.
second is for anyone with abs system experience. the kid i bought the sho off of - chris (sonicriot) says he had cut the abs wheel speed sensors because the abs light would flash so he did it to prevent them from kickin in randomly. i think he said that he had changed them but it eventualy happend again. in any case i was wondering where i can buy these sensors and where they r located on the car so that i can replace them. car has 96 brake upgrade, might have caused the failure of the sensors but def not sure. thanks guys
happy new year

 

[NJSHO]

I dont think that the brake upgrade killed the sensors. Cutting the abs sensors was a bad move since he could have just unplugged them. You can buy them pretty much any auto store. They are pressed, yes pressed, into the knuckles at all four corners. You will have to remove the knuckle and take it to a shop to have them pressout the old ones and press in the new ones. Once that is done you can pull codes on the abs system by following the procedures found here: http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=58540&highlight=abs+code Either way this is probably going to be $$$ to fix.

 

[rangerj]

The ABS sensors ARE NOT, REPEAT NOT, pressed into the steering knuckles. You may have to punch out or drill out the old sensors if they are rusted in place. This is common. Consider where the sensors are located.

If the holes that the sensor fits into are clean the sensor will slide in with little effort. I use a wire brush, like the 1/2 inch plumbing brush used for cleaning inside 1/2 inch copper pipe, to clean out the rust in the holes. Then I apply either anti-sieze compound or silicone grease to the inside of the hole and the out side surface of the sensor. The system will need to have all the parts assembled before you can attempt to diagnose any problems. The sensors with their pre-assembled harness are a bit pricey!

Note the old sensors get rusted into the hole in the steering knuckle and would give the impression that they are a press fit. They are NOT.

As for the outer trim panels on the doors they are securred by a couple of "acorn" nuts at either lower end inside the door, as well as some press pins, and the panel is "hung" on a channel that is rivited to the door. The panel should come off of the channel once the nuts are removed. Before trying to remove a panel go to a library and look at a referrence source so you can picture the fasteners and where they are located.

 

[NJSHO]

Hmm...we might have to consult the ford manual on this one. Mine (abs sensors) heavily suggested that they were pressed in.

 

[excidere]

well like it says i have two seperate questions but both will work for this section. first off i was wondering what the best way to get the side paneling off is without damaging anything..trying to get to the underside of the doors. i think the rocker panel covers come off with screws...gen 1 btw.

You will have to remove the door panels on the inside. Then you should be able to remove the plasic dust shield and get to the nuts holding the trim onto the doorskin... That is how you get the door portion of the ground effects off. For the rocker panel trim, there should be screws in each fender well, and some along the bottom. After you get all of them out the peices are hanging on little metal brackets... slide it around a bit and it should come off!

 

[rangerj]

The "speed sensor ring" (sprocket) is presses on to the drive shafts and the rear hub and bearing assembly. The ABS pick-up sensors, the ones with the wires attached, are NOT pressed into place.

 

[Shoaz]

I think the folks who live in rust-prone areas are just so used to not being able to get the ABS sensors out of the knuckles that they must seem pressed in. They're not, but rust will definitely make them more difficult to get in/out.

I've had the sensors in/out of knuckles on my AZ-only 95 and the Pumpkin quite a few times. Take out small bolt, take out sensor. Replace sensor, replace bolt. No problem.

 

[bigLSHO]

thanks guys...ill see what i can do and how hard it will be. have to get under the panels to the door and rocker to begin the body work. at least what i am capable of doin myself. dont neeeed abs immediately but its nice to get the info so that when it comes time i can handle it or know to take it to a pro with the right explaination. thanks again

 

[pjtoledo]

I think the folks who live in rust-prone areas are just so used to not being able to get the ABS sensors out of the knuckles that they must seem pressed in. They're not, but rust will definitely make them more difficult to get in/out.

I've had the sensors in/out of knuckles on my AZ-only 95 and the Pumpkin quite a few times. Take out small bolt, take out sensor. Replace sensor, replace bolt. No problem.

yep, here in the rust belt the new sensors slide in real easy. I have yet to remove one without destroying it

on the Gen I door panels,,,acorn nuts hold the bottom edge. back here in the rust belt the acorn nuts look more like rusted washers, a Dremel with a cutoff wheel works good. The metal strip near the top of the trim panel has acorn nuts at each end, and plastic pins every 6" or so. The pins pop into round plastic grommets in the holes of the doors metal skin. I hope you are already planning on painting the doors, you will probably scratch them up a bit removing the trim. That is, if there is any metal left behind the trim. Anyway, get a big wide scraper or putty knive, apply lots of protective masking tape, and slide the tool of choice along until you hit a pin then pop it loose.


Perry

 

[SonicRiot]

Those sensors were replaced (used) when I put in the knuckles for the brake upgrade. A couple thousand miles later, the ABS was going off sporradically. I found two failed sensors due to being improperly pinned back to the suspension and the wires were chafed. I was broke at the time and I had already disposed of the old sensors (doh!) so I cut the sensors and attempted to splice them. It worked for about 500 miles until the wires got too dirty from the winter and my crappy splice job failed. I ended up cutting them because the sensors were bad anyway. I never got around to replacing them.