Wheel Speed Sensor - Brands?

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220629

Well-known member
I received this conversation. It seems best to just start a thread.

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Corky Jean

"I’ve replaced countless wheel sensors on my 2013-2014 Via. This was a new experience. I had ordered spare sensors to carry with me in the RV so I might save everyone time..have gone to Mercedes for a fix in the past and even they did not have one but had to order, waiting 2 days+ for arrival. If it came late Friday, the mechanic would be off the weekend and thus I got to spend 2 more days camping at the dealership..poor me, poor me.

So with all that said, this is the new piece. The driver rear sensor was out again, this made the 4th time. No problem I thought, I have a spare. However this spare was not a Mercedes made part, but a Bosch made part..the mechanic that installed this sensor worked at a smaller garage, but had years of expertise with BMW- Mercedes etc vehicles. He also had access to a computer that revealed the sensor location and could reset once replace. Seems lots of garages have updated and Mercedes released or it was stolen, information to allow others to work on their vehicles? I also have a small diagnostic-reset Device MB 11 that was used at the completion, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Long story longer; I had to order a Mercedes brand sensor and now it all works. Thinking, I’d finally saved some money and time, I had to start over. Mercedes part from a dealership $189. Online part $123 and lastly Bosch brand $62. Huge price difference. At last my question, has anyone else had this happen? Doesn’t Bosch often make parts for Mercedes.? Is it true Mercedes is now replacing these sensors for free? Why didn’t I buy a Ford Or Chevy.?? Thanks, Corky Jean"

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It does seem that the NCV3 wheel speed sensors are more problematic vs T1N's. Being a T1N owner, I don't have much information. NCV3 owners should be able to help.
There's some info in this thread.

Rust problems with NCV3 wheel sensors?

Copied and pasted from another thread. Rust problems with NCV3 wheel sensors? Rust relates to failures? Certain model year range? Lots of the issue is brake dust and rotor rust in the sensor. MB should have a lifetime warranty on this defect. Do we know this to be true? I've seen it suggested...
sprinter-source.com sprinter-source.com

*****
Corky Jean
PS not sure how to post to the group .......

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It appears that you have a NAS aka NAFTA NCV3 Sprinter (MY 2007 - 2018) Euro models rolled out the NCV3 in 2006. (I'm not familiar with Via.)

To post a new thread:
Go to the NCV3 Talk section. If on a computer there is an orange link in the upper right side. It has a little pencil icon with "Post Thread". Click on that, enter your title, and type the message.
With other devices look for the paper and pencil icon somewhere on the screen. (I'm not familiar with devices beyond my laptop computer.)

:cheers: vic

Added:
Some info worthy of the first post.

Thanks goes to Tifexplorer. :thumbup:
tjfexplorer said:
I found that the online fitment guides for my 2012 3500 RV did not provide the correct part number. I believe the number was for earlier sprinters that used a different sensor but it looks the same and will fit. I used the number on the bad sensor to cross to the correct aftermarket part made by the OEM mfg ATE on Rockauto. My MBII scanner showed 0 with the incorrect sensor. Once the correct sensor was installed the error codes cleared within the first 50 feet.
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avanti

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
Two things:
1) @Corky: Your msg is a bit unclear. Are you saying that the garage installed the cheaper Bosch item but that the MB diagnostic refused to clear the fault and that this is what forced you to buy a real MB-branded sensor?

2) Has anybody ever figured out which of the (otherwise identical) rear sensors has the longer cable?

Thanks.
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
Just a comment or two.
Installation
Many of these sensors especially at the rear on motor homes get zip tied up too tight getting strained & stretched due to axle movement especially when body roll is included . Hence always allow adequate cable run from the hub the junction sockets on the rear body cross member.

Heat attack
Beware of the tail pipe rotating on the muffler (.aka Silencer ). If the tail pipe comes adrift just a bit, the U shaped bend section over the axle rests on the ABS sensor wires or at best kisses then on bumps., Basically its the hot kiss of ABS sensor death if it is present.

ABS death by exhaust heat blast!
Again the tail pipe U section simply rots through (after all the pipe is very thin) hence blasting of hot exhaust gas bombarding the sensor harnesses.
In short ABS death by scorch.

On some models if the ABS wiring is chassis exposed and gets the heat treatment , that by itself raises the Ohm resistance of the wires /harness , ABS death by wave form strangulation..

Lastly the hubs themselves , Wear in the hub bearings on some models not allow the internal sensor ring to rotate upsetting the wave form output.
Remedy is to change out the half shaft bearing & hub at about $550 a side.
Drastic but sometimes necessary.
Dennis
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
Now having posted this and talking with MB service at Littleton there is yet another "prheeenom min nene een"!

Mostly affecting motor homes on 3500 chassis this one, and those that go off road with it, including 4x4 derivatives.
We and some dealers have discovered that the ABS system being so sensitive to an extended wheel slip signal variation, the ABS module picks it up as a sensor fault .
In many cases a simple activity of erasing the code by scanner is insufficient to reset the problem, which can only be eradicated by install of new sensor, which of course many of you have experienced.
Seemingly driving into heavy gusts of wind has a negative effect of swaying the rig, inducing the wheel on one side of the vehicle axle to "go light" on the road surface creating a signal difference , that difference is being picked up as a sensor fault.
Dennis
 
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avanti

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
lindenengineering said:
In many cases a simple activity of erasing the code by scanner is insufficient to reset the problem, which can only be eradicated by install of new sensor, which of course many of you have experienced.
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Does this imply that there is no actual fault in the sensor and that swapping back and forth between two sensors every time there is a failure would be equivalent to installing new ones?
 
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rollerbearing

Well-known member
Also - installing a new sensor? I assume the signal conditioning module can somehow be reset when a new sensor is installed- I can't see that there is any memory or anything "memorable" in/about the sensor itself - just a signal.

Can the above error be cleared after disconnecting and reconnecting the supposedly "bad" sensor from the module?
 
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Deleted member 50714

Guest
IMHO, yes, just gonna take awhile for the lethargic ECU and or other related systems to recognize the new data stream. Input-output latency. That's my hypothesis.

And illuminated CEL doesn't always equate to detrimental vehicle operation.

That's why the microwave oven was invented in America, Americans have no patience.

Curious, were these the front wheel sensors?
 
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Deleted member 50714

Guest
Bobnoxious said:
IMHO, yes, just gonna take awhile for the lethargic ECU and or other related systems to recognize the new data stream. Input-output latency. That's my hypothesis.

And illuminated CEL doesn't always equate to detrimental vehicle operation.

That's why the microwave oven was invented in America, Americans have no patience.

Curious, were these the front wheel sensors?
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Clear code, drive, and could very well take 500 miles. and if no discernible performance issues to worry about it
 
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Deleted member 50714

Guest
First thing I would do is check and clean the sensor connectors, slightest fluctuations in voltage can corrupt data, two corrupt hiccups and it throws a code.
 
avanti

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
lindenengineering said:
Seemingly driving into heavy gusts of wind has a negative effect of swaying the rig, inducing the wheel on one side of the vehicle axle to "go light" on the road surface creating a signal difference , that difference is being picked up as a sensor fault.
Click to expand...
OK, so this is interesting.
The other week, I was down in Mississippi, driving down an Interstate at the outer edges of a hurricane zone. Not too bad, but there was quite a bit of buffeting and cross-wind. All of a sudden, the old, familiar "Visit Workshop" message lights up, along with the usual ABS and CRUISE CONTROL messages. (There was no CEL, and the Scan Guage showed no codes). I sigh, smug in the knowledge that I now carry spare speed sensors for this POS vehicle.

Extensive previous experience suggested that I would stay out of limp mode until I came to a complete stop, so I pressed on as far as possible without stopping--creeping through stop signs until I made it to our campground. I pulled in, and without shutting off the engine, connected my trusty clone Star Diagnostics system to find out which wheel sensor it was this time.

To my surprise, it wasn't a wheel sensor at all. Rather, the fault code reported an implausible value from the steering position sensor. Switching to real-time monitoring, the values from the steering wheel seemed to be fine. So, I shut off the engine, cycled the ignition, and restarted. The code cleared, and has not returned.

This story has no moral.
 
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2

220629

Well-known member
rollerbearing said:
...

Can the above error be cleared after disconnecting and reconnecting the supposedly "bad" sensor from the module?
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Another "can?".
Can the battery be disconnected (negative switch driver position), DTC's cleared, and normal operation be resumed?

How does it know whether a sensor was removed or not? Continuity monitoring? The monitoring would need to be constant to see a sensor change/replacement.

vic
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
avanti said:
Does this imply that there is no actual fault in the sensor and that swapping back and forth between two sensors every time there is a failure would be equivalent to installing new ones?
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Well the sensors are "handed" so it doesn't work simply swapping them over.
Dennis
 
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rollerbearing

Well-known member
Driven I don't know how many hours & miles through constant crosswinds fighting them with the steering wheel hard over (class C RV Sprinter). I'm sure it has caused some odd tire wear!

Have gotten the ABS, visit workshop, loss of cruise a few times when hit by a oncoming semi wake (under these crosswinds). I seem to recall looking up that it was the yaw sensor under those conditions. Each time I had to conitnue on for more than a half hour before being able to pull off and power cycle the RV. All lights went off and cruise was restored each time.

Now I wonder about this wheel sensor error contributiing. I've never pulled any codes for this event - any Autels able to give the wheel sensor readouts (I have 3 diiferent Autels but haven't had much need for them YET).

2015 3500 V6 cab chassis class C RV
 
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avanti

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
rollerbearing said:
Now I wonder about this wheel sensor error contributiing. I've never pulled any codes for this event - any Autels able to give the wheel sensor readouts (I have 3 diiferent Autels but haven't had much need for them YET).
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Mine usually show implausible values (like showing 300 MPH while standing still). Usually leads to limp mode, but not until the next stop, as I mentioned.
 
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Mike DZ

2016 View 24V (2015 3500)
As I have noted elsewhere on this forum, I have experienced three different levels or flavors of wheel speed sensor failures. I called them soft, medium and hard. The soft was related to wind gusts and was corrected by engine power off and then engine power on. Shortly after all lights went out. Ops normal. Had this twice. The mediums showed up out of the blue - no wind gusts. Had one with slow speed braking and one with 65 mph driving. Slow speed braking failure activated my ABS and provided longer stopping distance, overshooting a stop sign. The 65 mph resulted in inability to shift to a higher gear, so once I was in a rest area, I could not shift from 1st gear. Power cycle of engine did not correct either one. Replacement of sensors did fix the problem. The hard failure stopped my engine at 45 mph and although the light display was the same (plus a cel) this was diagnosed as a bad ABS brick. About 10K miles since ABS brick replacement, NO wheel speed sensor failures of any type (soft, med or hard)
My theory - my NCV3s - the ABS was providing overvoltage or spikes to the sensors. This theory explains my experience, may not explain others.
 
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