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Disgusted as the title states.
ABS sensor lead consists of two 16 strand ALUMINIUM wires. Recent discovery as to finding a simple way to repair the dreaded abs fault warning on the display I get every time I turn the wheel too much with out forking out £80.00 for 1 new lead. I have already resoldered the abs module, cleaned the sensors and the cog.
So me thinks no proiblem, just replace the broken wire with new wires but low and behold they are made from ALUMINIUM which is no longer sold as far as I can see.
So this brings me to my next hurdle. Can I replace the ALUMINIUM 16 strand wires with copper just using the same connectors?
Or better yet, can I replace the old 16 strand ALUMINIUM wires with 16 strand copper wires and use new connecting crimps to fit through the existing connector heads. If so where can I find the connector crimps?
Frustrated and don't see why I should fork out a huge sum of money for what equates to a broken 16 strand speaker wire which should be an easy replacement.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Last edited by St. Stephen; 05-16-2021 at 08:02 AM.
Reason: .
I do know that aluminum and cooper do not mix. If your pins are cooper and aluminum wires go into it, there is a short waiting to happen.
Just cutting the original wire and soldering cooper to it won't make the connection at the sensor any better.
Do you have the tool to get the pins out of the connector and replace it with new or get the old aluminum wire out of there and solder the new one in. Painful I know, but it will eliminate that part of the equation .
I do not know, but I would question whether it is aluminum or silver tinted, oxygen free copper wire..
Hi and thanks for your reply.
I honestly don't know but I am only presuming it's aluminium. I didn't see any copperish tint that you would expect to see from a broken tinted copper wire.
The ABS connectors are generally available, AFAIK. Rockauto has them. They are the appropriate ends with lead wires. Not super cheap, but would let you do your own repair. OTOH, the Jaguar wire has extra rubber-reinforced section, presumably to provide longer life. Also, it might be worth checking that a part no-longer-available (turned down?) has actually been superseded by a later part with suitable fit. I know the exact part for my early '03 is NLA, but the part for the next VIN range reputedly fits just fine.
I do not know, but I would question whether it is aluminum or silver tinted, oxygen free copper wire..
Originally Posted by cjd777
I do know that aluminum and cooper do not mix. If your pins are cooper and aluminum wires go into it, there is a short waiting to happen.
Just cutting the original wire and soldering cooper to it won't make the connection at the sensor any better.
Do you have the tool to get the pins out of the connector and replace it with new or get the old aluminum wire out of there and solder the new one in. Painful I know, but it will eliminate that part of the equation .
Hi, the connector and the pins are original Jaguar abs lead connectors from a 1996 xk8. I have had the pins in and out a few times from a spare set I picked up at the scrap yard just to see what was going on before I tackled my own. They are easy enough to get out and put back in as they are only held in by a plastic clip that just lifts up and then pull them backwards out of the connector..
Here are a few pictures of them in the connector and out. As you can see the aluminium wires are connected to a silver metal alloy female crimps. These in turn connect to 2 goldish coloured male pins on the abs sensor on the wheel.
The ABS connectors are generally available, AFAIK. Rockauto has them. They are the appropriate ends with lead wires. Not super cheap, but would let you do your own repair. OTOH, the Jaguar wire has extra rubber-reinforced section, presumably to provide longer life. Also, it might be worth checking that a part no-longer-available (turned down?) has actually been superseded by a later part with suitable fit. I know the exact part for my early '03 is NLA, but the part for the next VIN range reputedly fits just fine.
Best of luck, keep us posted.
Cheers
I have had a look here in the U.K. and found SNG Barrat will sell the original lead ( part number LJB3410AD 1996 to 2002) for £86.00 new.
I'm thinking there should be a simple way to repair two 16 guage speaker wires alot cheaper than that. Soldering is out of the question as regards copper to aluminium wires and aluminium 16 guage wire is nigh on impossible to find not to mention trying to solder aluminium wire? The connectors I have are just fine but if I can replace the old aluminium wire for copper wire, ( unsure ), I'm going to need new crimps so not sure whre to find these either.
Follow up.
Now completely unsure if these 16 guage wires are ALUMINIUM or TINNED COPPER?
Okay further update, Quick You Tube to find out how to tell the difference and these 16 guage wires are in fact tinned copper as I have just done a flame test on the bare strands and they simply glowed orange whereby aluminium would have curled up and burned.
Thank you folks for all your advice and input. Now I can work on rewiring or soldering these leads.
Cheers
Last edited by St. Stephen; 05-15-2021 at 02:38 PM.
Hi Stephen,
I have yet to encounter this (surely only a matter of time), but I would replace the wire with a length of round 3A or 5A flexible mains cable (think table lamp or similar). Just find some with the same diameter as the original harness. You will need to either transfer the rubber boots and anti-abrasion reinforcements from the old cable or fabricate new.
You can either join to new pigtail ends, or - since you're obviously comfortable wielding a soldering iron - re-use the existing pins after removing the old wire. Just cut it off right at the crimp, swop the seals and then solder the new wire onto the top of the crimp. It's a bit more fiddly this way, but neater, and you will have one less joint in the wire...
I have done this several times when repairing wiring.
Hi Stephen,
I have yet to encounter this (surely only a matter of time), but I would replace the wire with a length of round 3A or 5A flexible mains cable (think table lamp or similar). Just find some with the same diameter as the original harness. You will need to either transfer the rubber boots and anti-abrasion reinforcements from the old cable or fabricate new.
You can either join to new pigtail ends, or - since you're obviously comfortable wielding a soldering iron - re-use the existing pins after removing the old wire. Just cut it off right at the crimp, swop the seals and then solder the new wire onto the top of the crimp. It's a bit more fiddly this way, but neater, and you will have one less joint in the wire...
I have done this several times when repairing wiring.
Thank you for your help and guidance on this, cheers.
Stephen
Self-amalgamating tape is good for waterproofing connectors, etc.: You can also use it to add a protective section on the cable where it might chafe, if the old ones won't come off the harness.
Aluminium is too brittle to use in wiring and I can't think of a single reason why aluminium would be superior to copper wiring anyway, so I'd bet the house on it being normal wire.
I'd also say that although the part from SNG sounds expensive at £86, your original one has lasted 25 years, so it's not a huge investment for another 25.
Aluminium is too brittle to use in wiring and I can't think of a single reason why aluminium would be superior to copper wiring anyway, so I'd bet the house on it being normal wire.
I'd also say that although the part from SNG sounds expensive at £86, your original one has lasted 25 years, so it's not a huge investment for another 25.
Cheers for your reply. I tried a flame test of the wire and it glowed organe proving it was copper and not aluminium or it would have simply curled up and burned.
As for SNG Barrat charging £86.00 for a single ABS lead and it lasting for 25 years being a good deal. I would tend to agree with you had it not been for the myriad of other repairs I have made in the past 2 years to this car. After a while, £86.00 for what essentialy is two 16 guage speaker wires in a rubber sheath with a rubber grommet a couple bushings and 2 connectors starts sounding expensive.
I fancy having a go at making my own to see how it turns out. I'm going to use the same connectors, grommets and bushing from the old ones but just change the female pins that connect to the ABS sensor for new ones connected to 2 new 16 guage copper wires in a rubber flex cable and some amalgamated tape. Cheap as chips, all in, I'm £10.00 down for both wires and new connectors.
Ok job done and all sorted. Made my own new leads, they work, here's how. Thank you everyone for your help and support.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124285548...r=425170591729 2 CORE TWIN FLAT 12V RED BLACK ELECTRICAL AUTO CAR AUTOMOTIVE MARINE CABLE WIRE £3.59 5m roll 0.5mm 11 amp thinwall flat wire = Two 16 gauge wires inside their own insulated positive and negative sheaths inside a further black flat rubber insulted sheath.
Cut a length of this new wire a bit longer than the old ABS lead wire.
10 x Genuine DELPHI Female Socket Terminals & Seals for GT150 Sealed Series
A. These connect to the positive and negative wires ( you will simply need to crimp these to the new wires, ( I used a pair of needle nose pliers to do this ) which in turn you will then use to replace the old female connector pins that are housed in the original black and yellow plastic ABS lead connector head. ( I did this as a precaution just in case it was the pins that were damaged and not the wire. Short of splicing open your old wire you won’t know for sure). Save the black and yellow head as you will use it again. If it sounds confusing it’s not. Just copy the existing wiring setup. Make sure you put the pins back in the way they came out or they won’t lock in. Best to replace both ABS leads at the same time, this way you can look at the other one to make sure it matches everything on your new one.
Next
Remove the yellow plastic connector head, it just pops off with a bit of gentle persuasion. After that, look inside the connector and you will see a small black plastic tab on each pin which the female pins are held in place by. They need to be lifted in order to release the pins. I used a small scalpel knife to lift the black plastic retaining clip in the connector ( a long needle will work too ) and then simply pulled backwards on the connecting wire. It just slides out. Save the little rubber boot that fits on the end of the connector because you will need it. Although the e-bay advert shows these little rubber boots I didn’t get any when I ordered the female pins.
By now you should have the old pins out of the head. Cut the wires and take off the rubber boots.
That’s about it for that end. Crimp your new wires to your new female pins and replace them back into the old connector head. Make sure no new copper wire is left exposed past the little rubber boots. Wrap these ends up with an almagamting tape like your old ones were - £4.89 E-bay https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...+tape&_sacat=0
At the other end of the ABS lead I soldered both new 16 gauge copper wires to their counterpart old 16 gauge tinned copper wires on the head. I reckoned this connector sees no flexing or any other reason to be damaged so simply reused it. This worked fine. Same scenario as the other end. Remove yellow plastic insert piece, ( tweezers worked well), lift plastic retaining clips, pull male pins out. As stated I just reused these pins by soldering my new wire to them.
Before reconnecting the male pins to this connector I slid a small piece of heat shrink insulated tubing over the newly soldered wiring and then taped up each wire with electrical tape. After that I wrapped a bit of amalgamating tape over each soldered joint to be safe and reinserted them back into the connector and reinserted the yellow piece. Again make sure they go back in the same way they came out or they won’t lock in.
After fabricating my own new leads I tested them on the car first by running the new leads over the edge of the car instead of running them through the engine bay. This is where you'll be glad you made them a bit longer than the originals. Battery was disconnected first before messing with wiring.
After being satisfied that the ABS traction control warning light wasn’t going to come on after firing the car up and turning the wheels both ways on full lock ( front of car was jacked up at this point made life easier) only then decided to reconnect the lead the way it was.
It should be noted that I also removed the old rubber bushings that fit around the old leads. There are 3. Two of which are zip tied to a metal arm and the other has a slot in it to slot onto a holder on the chassis. I put these back on my new leads and used amalgamating tape to hold them together.
There is a circular grommet on the old lead that you can slide onto your new lead before fitting either connector head.
As a further precaution because this new wire's external sheath isn’t as durable as the original I used some plastic corrugated wire protector. I wrapped this from the ABS sensor to the portion of the lead to the long piece or rubber bushing that fits around the lead and to the chassis of the car. This I then taped together at each end with more amalgamating tape and job done. Zip tie in place and took it for a spin, no more ABS traction control warning lights.
05-15-2021, 10:47 AM
NOT Disgusted - Problem solved - ABS lead
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