Hi

I'm needing to replace the front driverside ABS sensor on my late 99 freelander (had FL on the machine at non-dealer Landrover garage)

The guy at the garage quoted me £230+vat to replace the ABS sensor and told me the ABS system will no longer work properly (i agree with that) however the price 'i didn't' agree with, however cutting a long story short;

Is it possible to fit a second-hand ABS sensor unit?

I have read on here, it is possible BUT a dealer in second-hand landrover spares told me otherwise and said I would need the complete hub, if I want to go down this route! I.E fitting a secondhand ABS unit (I'm confussed). Think I'll just buy new one of ebay but would be interested in clearing this up.

Anyone?

i would say you are geting well ripped off there,yes you can use a second hand one but i would recommend a new one i have done abs sensors on my td5 disco before but not on my fl yet but its is something you can do yourself if you can hold a spanner lol i dont know how much they are but i just fitted one to my peugeot 206 gti and that was £45 i would doubt you need the the complete hub,of course i could be wrong and somebody will be along to say otherwise

of course you can change just the sensor. the problem lies in getting the sensor out, it's quite common to have a real struggle to get it out, and end up destroying it. It may not be obvious you've damaged it. Best bet would be to buy a new sensor and fit that. Hub does definitely not need changing, except for one poor soul on this forum who managed to destroy the hub trying to remove the sensor.

good luck.

for example

Land Rover Freelander 2001 Front ABS Sensor on eBay (end time 14-Mar-10 13:14:58 GMT)

I got one off ebay recently for £40. It was a back one though. The fronts are the same but just have a longer cable and an angled wiring grommet. They are about £70 at the moment. From experience unless a second hand sensor has only been in a few days and is well copper greased you will invariably damage it on removal (which will cost £40 at a breakers anyway!) You get good access to them with a decent drill to get a stubborn one out or failing that disconnect the hub/ strut bolts and driveshaft nut, drop the hub towards you and punch it from the inside out. I'm about to do one soon and again from experience thats the way forward. I have done the replacement hub thing and it works but you are risking double work if it's not right.

I'll probably remove the hub (sounds the sensible option) as I've limited experiance with Freelanders. Thank you for the 1st class advice lads. :tea: