ABS Light on Again (3rd time in a year)

[cheezwizard]

Hello, fellow sexy-car owners. '99 3.5 GX here.

The first time the Anti-lock light came on, it was the r/f speed sensor. Had the hub assembly replaced. ABS light came on again about 8 months (less than 4k) later. Right front speed sensor again, replaced under GM parts/labor warrantee.

That was about 3 months ago, and now the ABS light is back on. I don't think it's the r/f hub this time.

I noticed no diff in braking/steering performance the previous 2 times ABS lit up.

This time, there's an occasional grinding sound when breaking, usually during a turn. It can be felt thru the brake pedal and sometimes the steering wheel.

The ABS light is usually off when first starting and driving the car, but turns on after a minute or two.

I stopped into the local GM dealer today, but they were booked. The service manager (a very nice dude) couldn't even pull the code for me. I set-up an appt for thursday morning, but will probably stop by a well-trusted local garage tomorrow morn.

The only reason to go to the dealer would be if it's another r/f speed sensor failure, as it'd be replaced for free. Like I said though, the characteristics are different this time.

I just put 700+ miles on the Olds, going up to Maine and back. We did lotsa passing and average speed was maybe 80mph. She was a sweety as usual. As soon as I got back to town though, ABS lights up.

There was a good bit of road work going on in the area I visited, really bumpy stuff. I don't know if that was a factor.

If anyone has an idea about what my problem may be, or has had a similar experience, please, do share. Why did your ABS light go on?

[cheezwizard]

Dag-nabbed dealers!

Turns out it was indeed the r/f hub again. This time, "Mr.Goodwrench" did a more thorough inspection and found I have a corroded harness thingy. So it looks like I probably never even needed to replace the $400 (from dealer) hub assbly (part#12429204).

Dealer said the harness would be $168. I think he meant for just the part, but maybe included labor(?) I got home and did some searching, found the harness (part#12189672) for under $40 from gmpartsdirect dot com. No doubt I coulda got the hub assembly for lots less too.

I guess I'll just buy the part online and have a non-GM shop put it in. Is there any recourse for me to be refunded by the dealer for the hub I didn't need? If not for their misdiagnosis, I'd have saved several hundred bucks. Or is that just how the cookie crumbles when dealing with mechanics?

Aww shucks y'all! No more parts from the dealer for me!