Wheel bearing issue, replaced & came back

[Rich_Ray]

Hello all,

First time here. For several months, when making a hard turn, I was getting an ABS "grunt" in the front left side of the car and the traction control indicator would flash. Also, occasionally I would get the message "STABILITRACK INITIALIZING" on my dash. From searching the web it appeared that this was a wheel bearing issue. 2 days before replacing the front left hub, I was also getting constant messages on my dash about failures in the ABS/traction system.

Upon replacement of the wheel bearing, this issue completely went away. Fast forward to a month later and it's doing the same thing again. I thought perhaps the right front wheel bearing was the problem but the ABS "grunt" sound is clearly coming from the front left of the car.

What I am trying to figure out is if the new wheel bearing has gone faulty already or if there could be another underlying issue.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Blue Bowtie]

What year Impala?

On many W bodies, the wire harness on the lower control arm is suspect. Check the connections and the continuity of the cable. It is a common enough problem that many parts stores stock a replacement harness section.

http://www.autozone.com/engine-manag...s/64295_0_4302

[Tech II]

Would also help to know which ABS code is set....

[Rich_Ray]

Thanks for the replies.

This is a 2013 Impala. Is replacing that harness a pretty basic operation or does it require disconnecting and removing a lot under the hood to get at the existing harness?

I would have to take it in to find out what error codes were generated.

Originally the problem started with hard turns (months ago) but I am finding out that now it is happening as soon as I put the car in gear and begin to accelerate, but it doesn't act up when I turn hard. I tested this a few times in the driveway today without even turning the wheel.

[Blue Bowtie]

The harness connects to the plug on the short pigtail from the hub, and continues to a plug on the main body harness. The job is easiest with the suspect wheel removed. The interior end at the body harness is usually only a few feet from the wheel, commonly along the subframe rail or near the radiator support. It isn't very far, since the replacement harness is only a few feet long.

Your description if the symptoms is classic, when flexing from turns stresses the harness until it eventually fails completely. Wire breakage inside the cable jacket is common.

[Rich_Ray]

One more question here:

I did have a diagnosis done on the ABS system and they determined that both the ABS sensor and the wiring harness had issues and need to be replaced. The local parts store has an ABS connector with about 12" of wire that could be spliced into the existing harness. Do you think this would be sufficient since most of the strain on the harness is right by the wheel where it turns?

This part is much less expensive and pretty simple to splice in versus running the complete harness back to it's original connection. Also, looks like nobody locally has the full harness and I would need to order it and wait for delivery.

Thanks

[Blue Bowtie]

So long as the moving part of the harness is replaced, and connections soldered and sealed, the problem should be solved. However, since there is substantial movement at the point where the harness transitions from the lower arm to the body, I'd think that 12" of wire might be a little less than what would be necessary to bypass that section.