Escape ABS help

bigmoose

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I'm fighting an ABS issue on my '13 escape, AWD, 1.6L. initially the abs light came on, hill assist turned off, and the vehicle thought it was spinning a tire so it would cut power. Temp fix was to turn off traction contry so it would drive ok. Hooked up my IDS tool which reported a rear right wheel sensor...easy. swapped that out and drove fine this past month.

Today it all started again. This time IDS is telling me both rear sensors. I did order another one to replace the left rear. However, I find it odd that it's reporting both when one was changed recently.

Is anyone aware of other common problems related to both sensors? ABS module, some connector/harness that handed both wheels? Or is this just bad luck and I need to do actually replace both(one being fairly new).

I plan to replace the left rear and see how it reacts first. Just looking for other pointers.
 

Crimson2v

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Did you notice any rust on the mount for the abs sensor. Sometimes the sensor fails to read properly due to rust jacking and could cause issues. Are the codes hard faults?
 

Fastback

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Could be the mag pickup in the wheel bearings. Had this on the ol lady's 13' Escape.
 

bigmoose

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Did you notice any rust on the mount for the abs sensor. Sometimes the sensor fails to read properly due to rust jacking and could cause issues. Are the codes hard faults?
Here are the codes. I'll check the rust. There is definitely some.
IMG_20200906_135820.jpeg
 

Crimson2v

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is it AWD or FWD? If its not rust jacking on the sensors I would check to make sure all tires are the same circumference, that could throw the sensors off.
 

bigmoose

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is it AWD or FWD? If its not rust jacking on the sensors I would check to make sure all tires are the same circumference, that could throw the sensors off.
AWD. Tires are a little over a year old with 5-7k on them. Great condition and equal tread depth. No issues the until recently.
 

Crimson2v

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Ok just check the mount for the sensor to make sure the rust is gone and it is flush to the knuckle. Also if you can check the tone ring to see if there is rust there too.
 

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My escapes tone ring is sealed in the half shaft. It's not on the wheel bearing assembly.
Wheel speed sensor is different than the tone ring, which I believe is for the Abs. Like I said, just went through this. Same symptoms no hill assist, had to turn traction control off to get moving. Had to replace both rear, which are a replacement hub, with the new bearings already installed. I did the research 6 months ago so, i could be off in my estimation. Ford replaced both rear hub assembly, did the ford pinpoint tests, and did a recall on it also. Just giving you some food for thought. Hope you get it nailed down. Damn new cars and their electronics! Haha.
 
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Crimson2v

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Wheel speed sensor is different than the tone ring, which I believe is for the Abs. Like I said, just went through this. Same symptoms no hill assist, had to turn traction control off to get moving. Had to replace both rear, which are a replacement hub, with the new bearings already installed. I did the research 6 months ago so, i could be off in my estimation. Ford replaced both rear hub assembly, did the ford pinpoint tests, and did a recall on it also. Just giving you some food for thought. Hope you get it nailed down. Damn new cars and their electronics! Haha.
The wheel speed sensors and the tone ring are both part of the ABS system. The tone ring can be incorporated to the hub bearing or pressed onto the axle. The wheel speed sensor generates a signal from the tone ring which gets sent to the ABS module. This is how it can sense wheel speed and wheel slip for traction control.
 

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The wheel speed sensors and the tone ring are both part of the ABS system. The tone ring can be incorporated to the hub bearing or pressed onto the axle. The wheel speed sensor generates a signal from the tone ring which gets sent to the ABS module. This is how it can sense wheel speed and wheel slip for traction control.
Sounds great, letting this guy know how the problem was fixed on the wife's escape. Ford pinpoint test called for replacement of both hubs in rear. No problems since then for me. But maybe different on the 1.6 vs the 2.0 ecoboost. When I did the brakes, they have 2 sizes of brake rotors. One for the 2.0 and the 1.6. I get how they work, just giving input on how the issue got resolved for me.
 

bigmoose

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I changed both the rear hub assemblies last fall. Maybe the 2.0L setup is different. I know they made changes mid model year 2013, I'm lucky to be after mid model year so my hubs have external torx instead of Allen bolts for the hub assemblies. I would not want to have to deal with a rusted out Allen bolt.

Once my new sensor comes in next week I'll take some pictures and post them up.
 

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I changed both the rear hub assemblies last fall. Maybe the 2.0L setup is different. I know they made changes mid model year 2013, I'm lucky to be after mid model year so my hubs have external torx instead of Allen bolts for the hub assemblies. I would not want to have to deal with a rusted out Allen bolt.

Once my new sensor comes in next week I'll take some pictures and post them up.
Right on, sounds like you should have this wrapped up soon then. Have a great Labor Day Gentleman!
 

kevinatfms

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I was going to say, they used to have the tone ring teeth break off or would crack the tone ring itself. Sometimes nearly impossible to see the crack and the ring would be tight. Pry a little here or there and small crack would turn into a ABS nightmare.

Double check the tone rings if they are on the half shafts or hubs. Just rotate them slowly and pry very gently with a small screw driver. You may see cracks which is all it takes for them to miss the magnetic pick up and truck starts freaking out.
 

bigmoose

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I was going to say, they used to have the tone ring teeth break off or would crack the tone ring itself. Sometimes nearly impossible to see the crack and the ring would be tight. Pry a little here or there and small crack would turn into a ABS nightmare.

Double check the tone rings if they are on the half shafts or hubs. Just rotate them slowly and pry very gently with a small screw driver. You may see cracks which is all it takes for them to miss the magnetic pick up and truck starts freaking out.
Definitely not on the hub or rotor. The sensor sits on the spindle a fair distance behind the hub facing downward. The sensor sits right above a smooth stainless ring on the half shaft. I assume the teeth are sealed in this ring. I'm aware of standard teeth tone rings and this is not like those. I plan to replace the other sensor and clean all rust off each spindle. Also plan to double check and put some dielectric grease on my fittings.
 

kevinatfms

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Definitely not on the hub or rotor. The sensor sits on the spindle a fair distance behind the hub facing downward. The sensor sits right above a smooth stainless ring on the half shaft. I assume the teeth are sealed in this ring. I'm aware of standard teeth tone rings and this is not like those. I plan to replace the other sensor and clean all rust off each spindle. Also plan to double check and put some dielectric grease on my fittings.

Its still a hall effect sensor. Just because its "sealed" does not mean it hasn't cracked the internal tone ring. There is still some sort of ring with either a pickup tooth or a magnet attached to it which rotates around the bore of the wheel hub. If its either cracked or the magnet has come loose would both cause erroneous readings after short drives.

And going by your location(Point Judith/Narragansett was my wife's home for a few years and loved visiting her / also I went to college in Providence) i am assuming that maybe the water/moisture of the area is causing havoc with those sealed sensors. Wouldnt be the first time Ford screwed up a wheel bearing design.

Are you by the shore or farther inland? Have any massive rain storms lately?
 

bigmoose

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Some more diagnostics. I got in my new OBD scanner that supports ABS. It's the scantool MX+. My old standard MX did not read ABS. This way i can do everything on my phone via bluetooth. I was using a VCM tool with IDS but that's a pain in the but to use and lug around.

So I assumed once I fixed my right rear sensor that the code would clear itself. It appears it does not automatically clear. I cleared all ABS codes and drove around some more and only the rear left sensor is throwing a code now, so that's good.

So I'm guessing it's just my other sensor causing all the problems. I have the part and plan to swap it tomorrow. Stay tuned.
 

kevinatfms

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Some more diagnostics. I got in my new OBD scanner that supports ABS. It's the scantool MX+. My old standard MX did not read ABS. This way i can do everything on my phone via bluetooth. I was using a VCM tool with IDS but that's a pain in the but to use and lug around.

So I assumed once I fixed my right rear sensor that the code would clear itself. It appears it does not automatically clear. I cleared all ABS codes and drove around some more and only the rear left sensor is throwing a code now, so that's good.

So I'm guessing it's just my other sensor causing all the problems. I have the part and plan to swap it tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Any water intrusion? Id use some dielectric grease in those connectors.
 

bigmoose

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I replaced the left sensor and seems to be good, made trip around town without issues. All the wires and connections looked good. Hit them with dielectric grease. Hopefully this fixes it. Time will tell. Weird both sensors went out within a month of each other.
 

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