[Mulchie]

Last week I served to avoid a lorry which was in the centre of the road. The near side wheels went onto a grass verge but, unluckily for me, hit a raised kerb around a drain. The impact bent the track rod which I was able to repair, however, I think I crushed the ABS cable when straightening the rod. Now I have lots of ABS related warnings. Has anyone repaired an ABS cable? Is it a job worth trying?

 

[Cuore_Sportivo_155]

definitely worth trying! And don't continue to drive like this, the sensors are active and get a feed from the ABS unit: you could fry it!

 

[Isotope]

My missus skidded in the snow last year very similar to what you described and hit the kerb, just one freaking day in the whole year!, and I claimed on the insurance for a whole new steering rack. I was advised that if it has bent the track rod end it may have done some other damage to the rack. I'm very handy with the spanners and software but the car came up with so many warnings that I let the tow truck take it away rather than try to drive it, it was like the car knew each sides wheelbase was different?

How did you straighten the track rod? Did you get the tracking checked after?

 

[cannonballuk]

I did a similar thing on my 156 while changing the front wheel bearing.
Splitting the hub I caught the plastic tip of the sensor, necking its off.

The new sensor took a while to arrive so we just used the car complete with an array of ABS, Traction Control not operable and ESP not communicating and took the hump!
Just like driving in the days before all these gadgets were fitted, no problem and I drive like I didn't anyway.

Sensor arrived some weeks latter and fitted. Battery left disconnected overnight as a precaution to clear previous standing alarms!
Battery reconnected, ignition on/off reset done and all alarms cleared.
Test drive on some flat grass showed everything working.
The sensors are Hall Effect type (similar to Crank and the Cam sensors) giving a high impedance output on the 156.
Hopefully the same on the G, this protects the circuits from shorts in wiring should this occur. Not to saying its not possible to kill the circuits, but made that much harder through good circuit design.

 

[Mulchie]

Thanks for the replies. The track rod was easy to straighten and the alignment was set. Car is running great, but DNA not activating and all the lights you would expect from no ABS return. I resistance tested the ABS connector under the bonnet and got no reading, hence my theory that it is the wire. Not sure if cable is 2 parallel wires or is a single core with outer mesh type. First would be an easy fix but second could cause problems. Still, nothing ventured etc ?

 

[Mulchie]

I had to delay the job due to one of my rear brake pads crumbling and my meagre budget went on replacement parts (good to get some use from my piston retractor).
I went to remove the sensor cable today and am confused as to how to remove it. The cable enters the body in the wheelarch and the next I can see it is coming up to the connector behind the suspension in the top right corner of the engine bay. Is there an easy way to free up the cable? There is very little finger space where the cable drops down from the engine bay. Any hints would be very much appreciated.

Btw was at the NI Italian Motor Club annual show at the weekend and there were some beautiful Alfas on display. A great day out and a big well done to the organisers.

 

[Mulchie]

Attempted the cable repair this evening. Cut the cable where it appeared to have been crushed against the frame and found the cable contains 2 wires and the crushing had caused the insulation to break which resulted in the wires touching. I cut the wires and soldered them ensuring that the wires were separated and insulated. No more warning lights and all works a treat. Definitely a job worth attempting and a relatively straight forward repair.