DIY: Fixing ABS TCS Lights on.

After I installed my new shocks, I found ABS and TCS (Car with squiggly mark) came on. It was immediately after I turn on the car for the first time, and Position sensor reset did not fix the problem. After a quick search on the RX8Club Forum, I found I must have damaged one of the ABS speed sensor wires.

On RX-8, there is a speed sensor on each wheel for ABS, TCS and VSC system. I could take it to a dealership pay $$$ to get diagnostics, and then $60 for the parts and $$$ for labor to get it fixed. Or using a simple Multimeter to check each sensor wires to see which wire has been damaged. Of course, I went to my tool box, and dragging out my old, but trusted multimeter…

I was not thinking of making a DIY here, so there’s no picture. If I work on the car next time, and if I remember, I may come back and add pictures to this entry…

To check Sensor/Wire in the rear
Remove the side lining of the trunk, by removing several plastic plugs and 4 (2 on each side) hooks on the back panel (where you hook the trunk net).
you will see one wire on passenger side, and two wires on drivers side coming from the wheel well. One one the passenger side (and the one a like on drivers side) is the speed sensor wire. Press the tab on the connector to disconnect, and then check the resistance. The sensor should have minimal resistance. If there are no connection, that is the wire or sensor damaged.

Unfortunately both rear sensors were working fine. so I put everything back on and moved to the front.

To check Sensor/Wire in the front
You need to jack up the car, set jack stand (don’t be lazy here, you can kill your self!), and remove front wheels.

Remove the front side splash panel. There are several plastic screws inside the wheel well, and 3 metal screws and 2 plastic screws under the bottom.

Now you can see the connector of the speed sensor wire. Disconnect the connector, and test the resistance.

In my case, the front passenger side sensor/wire did not conduct any current.
Now, test the sensor itself to make sure it is a wire problem not the sensor problem (If it’s sensor, I need to buy a whole new hub assembly… )

You can disconnect the front wire from the sensor, so test the sensor’s resistance. Luckily my sensor was working, so it must be the wire.

I dig into the “old electric junk box”, and found a cable it would be perfect for replacing damaged one.

Since I need to use the connector part, I cut the wire leaving enough to splice with new wire, strip, twist with new wire, then solder them. as it will be under constant vibration from the wheel, it is important soldering them together! Then I wrap with electric tape, water proofing tape, then cover with electric tape again, and finally with zip tie. I found a cable management cover thing(Something look like this), so I put them on as a protective cover.

I hook them all up and now I’m crossing my finger it will fix. I have been drinking some beer while working, so I couldn’t take it out for spin after finished…

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