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Old 05-15-2013, 05:09 PM
bubartribe bubartribe is offline
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2002 Altima Sedan
2004 Maxima
2004 Maxima
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 5
Exclamation '04 Maxima ABS issues

Just thought I'd share my experience with ABS on my '04 Maxima. About a month ago, my ABS started pulsing during normal braking sporadically. I took it into the local garage the next day and they couldn't find any codes and found that all the wheel sensors were all working(all showing all the same speed.) We noticed that the ABS pump would come on when driving forward without even using the brakes. At first, it didn't appear the pump would come on when going in reverse, but I later found out it would when going a little faster in reverse, again w/o using the brakes at all.
I then came home and found the posts pointing to TSB NTB 07-016b. I took the Bulletin back to the garage and scheduled a service to clean out the rear hubs. In the meantime, I disconnected the front passenger wheel ABS sensor "to disable the ABS system" to avoid my ABS actuator burning up. This is the connector found below the A/C lines near the power steering fluid well on the passenger side of the engine compartment.
When I took the car in to have the hubs cleaned out, I found out that both rear wheel bearings needed to be replaced. That's why the rear end had been making more and more noise for about a year? My car has about 168,000 miles on it. I took the car home to find some more affordable wheel bearings online. I ended up getting some Moog Wheel Bearings(which have been working fine) made in China. I also ordered two new style rear hub grease caps part number 43234-ZK30A to replace the now brittle grease caps that came with the car.
In the meantime, while I was waiting for the bearings, I heard humming the next morning when I went out into the garage. The car wasn't even on. I turned the car on and off and the humming stopped. When I started the car, the belt squealed from the load on the alternator charging the battery. Later that day, I determined that what was humming was the ABS actuator(aka pump or modulator.) It would come on when the car was off. I then found online that when this is happening, the ABS actuator would need to be replaced. Disabling the ABS sensor didn't disable the ABS system and save my actuator after all.
In order to save the battery, I found out I could pull the red 50A, 30A, 30A fusible link in the fuse box near the battery. I first tried pulling the ABS Cont fuse in the fuse box next to the Windshield Washer fluid but that didn't stop the pump. When I pulled the link, I also lost a lot of other things like power windows, remote locking, etc. I ended up cutting the two 30A links in the fusible link to disable the ABS without losing all the other functions. Maybe, I should have tried to snip the middle 30A link first to see if that would have worked without snipping the outer 30A ABS link, too.
So, I waited to get the bearings and see if we could fix the problems in the rear hubs. In the meantime, I bought a new fusible link to use when I wanted to see if the ABS was going to work after cleaning out the rear hub(s). I was hoping they were wrong about needing a new actuator if it stayed on when the car was off. The part number for that link was 24370-C9906.
I had also found that some had ignored the part of the bulletin that said the right rear sensor needed to be replaced when cleaning out the hubs, and they cautioned people to be careful about cleaning things up so as not to damage the rear wheel sensor, so I copied these posts and asked the garage to do the same, hoping to not have to buy any sensors. Just in case, I also found that I could get a rear passenger wheel sensor for $18 including shipping at Brand New ABS Sensor Wheel Speed Fits Rear Right Passenger Anti Lock Brake | eBay I couldn't find any of the other sensors for less than $90 ea.
When I picked up the car from having the hubs cleaned and the wheel bearings installed, I put the new fusible link in and the ABS and Brake lights came on. Something was still wrong. The garage then read the codes and read codes 1124, 1111 and 1110. These were all codes for the ABS Actuator.
So, I went home again and found a used ABS Actuator for my car, '04 Maxima SE w/o Traction Control or Vehicle Dynamic Control, part no. 47660-7Y067 for about $220, a lot less than a new one for over $1000.
When I got that, I took it back to the garage and had it installed to get my ABS functioning again. Took them about 4 hours. It is quite a tight fit and the brakes needed to be bled after disconnecting the old actuator and reconnecting the new. Now, everything is working great and it's nice to have the ABS functioning again for about $450, after replacing both wheel bearings and getting the hubs cleaned out for about $375.
Hope this might help some who may be having similar issues. Maybe, it will even alert others to get their hubs cleaned up and drilled out to drain as it directs in the TSB(NTB 07-016b) before the sensor acts up and burns out the solenoid in the ABS actuator.
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