Cheers Nige. Not had any luck with VCDS lite yet but haven't played around a lot. I've a feeling it will go out after driving just as it used to come and go before it finally died. At that resistance it's got to be dead for sure (compared to the others) so I'll proceed with getting the old one out.

NIge your beer money tally is continuing to escalate.

OK. Update. Attempting several things as they'll all want doing. Got the allen headed bolt out of the abs sensor without destroying it - which is good cos I didn't think I was gonna. Grub screw on disc loosened with some tapping and gentle use of a manual impact driver. Now didn't get sliders loosened so used penetrating spray all round and wire brush - gonna leave. It's WD40 Fast Release Penetrant that I used - not tried before but says you can use with rubber. Was worried about contaminating any grease that's already in there but done that now and hopefully will help for another time after MOT.

Anyway decided to forget getting caliper off for now and see if I could get the sensor out from the back. Chiseled most of it out but it's tight against the abs wheel and can't get enough plastic off to back it out the other way. Going gentle cos don't want to damage the abs wheel. Hack saw wouldn't touch the metal core. So once I get something to protect the nearby CV boot there from heat I'm gonna melt the plastic off and hope the last little metal core bit backs out of the hub (if that is the hub - I don't think it is - a hub is a round rotatey thing in my mind not the stationary bit?).

Might have to rig something with a damp cloth and then layers of aluminium foil wrapped round the CV boot. That should do it?!

I'm a real pessimistic sort so am pretty pleased with the progress I've made so far. Built a tiny bit of confidence with the car today. I can fix up old stereo amps so have a logical mind but chipping away at rusty old cars is a different beast, and when things go wrong the costs are usually a lot more.

Edited 3 March, 201610 yr by cosaw

Can you drill through the centre of the old sensor to put a long bolt through then put a nut on the end, just to give you some extra grip on it ?

Didn't try a drill was going to but once the back half came off with a whack of the chisel there wasn't much left to drill into. Drill is still worth a try on the magnet side (if it is a magnet) but as a hacksaw didn't touch it so I don't think a drill would. I'd say 80% of it is out it's just the last bit on the abs wheel side - forgot to take a pic but will do tomorrow before I start.

I tried a two setting 300/600^C heat-gun (on high) on the plastic from the old one and it melted it down ok. Once the plastic is melted it will hopefully collapse and push through from the front to the back with a little wedging from the front side. Think the metal core is much smaller than the hole it's just the remaining plastic that is creating a collar to stop it passing backwards. Would continue to chisel the plastic off but it means the metal core keeps jamming against the abs wheel and I want to avoid breaking anything else.

The CV boot is a fair distance away and with proper shielding I think we'll be alright. Nothing else there I've got to worry about melting? I'm away from the caliper seals and those slider pin rubbers on the front.

Job done!

I'd put the wheels back on on the night before my final day of work but I'd left it on the jack stands so I could get a quick start in the morning. The Friday morning I took the wheels off and obviously just the back and forth of the abs ring gently jamming against what remained (as I manipulated the wheels) just worked the metal core of the magnet out - on the abs ring side. Pretty chuffed with that result as didn't have to get out any more tools.

All that was left was the equivalent of a plastic bush left in the metal - just the barrel of the sensor left in the metal which i then gently hacksawed and tapped out with a punch. I then cleaned the hole as best I could of corrosion but without taking a large amount of metal away the sensor would not fit without force. The bolt was off centre so just applied too much sideways pressure and if I'd have forced it I think it would have failed. So I sanded the barrel of the new sensor down with some emery cloth until I could almost push it home by hand. I had some Servisol silicone grease sitting around in my stuff which I'd never used. I used it to lube the sensor and the mounting so that it went home really easy. Torque wrench settings, for the bolt, in Haynes said 10Nm but I thought that a bit much given that it didn't feel that tight taking out even though it was fragile. Lowest my wrench goes to is 8Nm so that was good for me - if I even needed to bother with the torque wrench. Threads were nice on the bolt and the head cleaned up well so I used the same bolt.

So I checked resistances at the pump end and everything read well. Put everything back together and as I expected starting the car was not enough to make the fault light go out. However, after rolling five car lengths down the road the light went out and hasn't come back on again in the 100 miles I've done since!

So I think the jack was around £55 and the sensor £15. Nearly half price over the £132 that Halfords wanted! I learnt a few things as well just for the cost of my time - all stuff which will come in handy with jobs to come.

Thanks to everyone who replied in the thread, especially Nige of course! A few other bits and pieces to do now to get me ready for MOT and then we can think about overhauling the breaks after that!

Edited 8 March, 201610 yr by cosaw

Nothing better than the satisfaction of knowing you've done the job yourself and it cured the problem :)

You shouldn't include the price of the jack as you'll use that on countless other jobs.

You shouldn't include the price of the jack as you'll use that on countless other jobs.

Fair point. Yes it's going to come in very useful that jack. Thanks again Nige!