ABS Speed Sensor Service

Cleaning
For cleaning, once you've removed the rotor (or sensor), you're already half of the way there. Simply wipe off the grime with a degreaser-spritzed shop towel. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to blow the debris off with compressed air! Static voltage can be generated, and then conducted to the ABS computer, which can damage it. Of course, you could disconnect the sensor to prevent this from happening, but why complicate things?


To clean the reference ring, use a small non-metallic brush and a squirt of degreaser. Make sure to go all of the way around the ring, and be thorough about it. If the rotor has been removed from the vehicle, its okay to carefully blow-dry the ring with compressed air. The ring does not need to be hospital-clean, just free of major debris and metal media, especially in the "troughs."


On captive rotor systems, cleaning the sensor is the same, but you'll have to work through its mounting hole to clean the reference ring, which will take some patience and, of course, a brush small enough to fit easily through the hole. It's also okay to use carefully applied compressed air to the ring as you turn the rotor/hub assembly. Now you can finish the rest of your vehicle's brake work, with the comfort of knowing that you've attended to a very important—and often neglected—aspect of your braking system.