L/F Wheel Speed Sensor?

[mncan1987]

In Feb. 05, my ABS/Trac Off lights started coming on intermittently. I took my car into the shop and they ran the computer dignostic. At the time, they stopped the scan after a 1/2 hour because they said that it may take another 2 hours before the computer found what was exactly wrong. Therefore, they said to bring the car (Alero '99) back in when the lights stayed on all the time so they could hook it up to the computer and find the problem within a 1/2 hour. The only "error code" that initally came up was "L/F Wheel Speed Sensor" and without hooking the car up to the computer longer they don't know what is exactly wrong with it. For the last 4 months the lights have stayed on continuously, but I have not brought the car in again yet. I have read the other posts about the same issue with the lights and it usually indicates a bad wheel bearing. Although, my car has not made any noise typically associated with a bad wheel bearing (I had to replace the right side a few years ago and the noise was quite loud - so I am familiar with the noise).

My questions are as follows:
1) If it's the sensor only, don't I have to replace the entire wheel bearing assembly anyway?
2) Does "L/F Wheel Speed Sensor" means the Driver's Side/Front??
3) With the help of my dad I would like to do the job myself, but not sure if I should just go ahead and buy the Left/Front Wheel bearing Assembly and install it or should I take it to the auto shop, hook it up to the computer to confirm it is the wheel bearing and not something else?

Any advice or suggestion is much appreciated! Thank you

[GTP Dad]

Why not just replace the wheel sensor and see what happens. If the bearing and sensor are one assembly like on a Grand Prix then you will have to replace the wheel bearing assembly to correct the problem. If the two are seperate then why replace a part that doesn't need replacing.

The biggest part of the job is removing the axle shaft nut in order to pull the bearing off. It is usually torqued to 125 to 150 foot pounds depending on the model vehicle. Check the spec on yours and make sure to torque it properly.

Left front is the drivers side of the vehicle.

[JTrujillo86]

It's all one part...

Jeremy

[ColKlinkEsq]

Not sure about the '99 Alero, but the 2002's have the ABS sensor on the wheel bearing, which makes it that much more to replace.