ABS wire harness repair guide
 

Hey all,
I was having traction control light come on then ABS, from infrequently to every time i turned my wheel after turning on the ol' monte. I replaced the wheel hub thinking that was going to solve the problem, it did for a bit but then the problem came back. Before replacing the BCM, I decided to replace the wiring harness as the wheel hub fix did work for a bit so i thought it was the repositioning of the wire as I did the hub work.

After replacing the wiring harness I haven't had a problem yet (been 8 weeks).

Materials/Tools needed.

New wiring harness
Phillips screwdriver
flathead screwdriver
Soldering iron, solder, shrink wrap tubing (optional but recommended)
wirecutters/stripper
Dielectric grease (optional)
Compressed air (optional)
Plastic Fastener and Molding Remover (optional)

1- Jack car up, remove wheel, then unplug ABS sensor
Attachment 36439

2-Clean with compressed air, add a dab of dielectric grease and attach new sensor from new wiring harness
Attachment 36440

3- Use flathead screwdriver to open locking plastic clamps and continue to remove old wire. The new wiring harness comes with new clamps but getting them out of the body was so hard, I just used the old ones. Splicing somewhere here will make your life MUCH simpler, the bad part is likely only the first 6 inches or so after the sensor. Splice here and make your life easy (skip to relevant image) or do a bit more work and continue on...
Attachment 36441

4- Move splashguard found to the right of the oil filter. It's above the wire int he 2nd pic, the huge dirty black area. It's held in by 3 screwed anchors. Use a phillips screwdriver then flathead to pop out or molding tool. Likely the plastic part of the clips will break and need to be replaced. I bought a new set from O'Reilly Auto Parts for ~$3. I only removed the left 2 and pushed the splashguad out of the way, the 3rd one is more of a pain to get to without more tools.


Before splashguard is removed. Harness wire on the bottom
Attachment 36442



After removal. Notice the old wire harness on the bottom right, new wire harness being clipped in on the bottom left
Attachment 36443





5-The wiring harness continues with one metal clip attached right below the belt. It's still easy to remove and i used the new clip here. The dirty black splashguard is dangling on the bottom right portion of this image.
Attachment 36444

Side view. Notice old wire harness on right, new shiny one on the left
Attachment 36445

6- You need to remove the splash guard and the wire continues under the engine then meets with some others in a bigger bundle. This is where the wiring harness connects to. I spliced it in a few inches before they joined. Under the engine, so it was more work
Attachment 36446

different view
Attachment 36447

7- Cut protective tubing and then the old harness, and strip 1/4 inch off end (copper wires) then cut new harness leaving a bit of slack and strip it too (cheap aluminum wire). Note up is on the top right corner for this image for your orientation.
Attachment 36448

8- Soldering iron and solder. Also used this to heat the shrink wrap tubing
Attachment 36449

9- Slide on shrink tubing then move it out of the way (left side of image). Connect wires then I added solder, or you could use those copper crimps they sell at home depot then squeeze them together with pliers
Attachment 36450

Soldered
Attachment 36451

10- Move shrinkwrap over and gently using soldering iron to shrink it, place external cover over wires and secure into place if you have too much extra wire. I have a bit extra I used some duct tape. Large zip ties would work too
Attachment 36452







11- Reattach splashguards and wheel. Enjoy.




Hope this helps you out.

Good guide! I had to do that when I bought my 04 Pontiac GPGT. The front passenger wire became brittle, broke, and would intermittently connect. I still need to replace the hub since the bearings are getting bad - I just don't drive that much.

Cheers!

There's a hub replacement guide, I used that guide and then made a post with pictures. My issues was passenger side too.