ABS/ETS Lights On; Sensor? Wheel Bearing?

[melou]

My ABS light and ETS light have been coming on periodically for some time, during driving; they shut off when I crank the car again, per the manual. I thought this would be fixed when I had new brakes put on (and was told this by them). The lights continue to come on about 1/3 to 1/2 of the driving time. I've been back to them 3 times to see what is wrong with the brakes, which by the way don't feel quite right. They adjusted them once; then said they "re-did" the brakes without new pads, etc. They told me no messages would be stored in the sensors, and I had to come by when the light was displayed. I did this, but the shop they took it to said they shut off the car before taking a reading, and the lights weren't on when they looked for fail codes. The guy there told me it was a loose wire my ignition, which is about to fail (he said), and he got the lights to come on when he "wiggled" the ignigtion. I've tried that umpteen times in each position, but can't get them to come on.
Then I took it to the dealership; they say 98 Achievas store all codes, and any sensor can store a message. They said a reading showed a bad speed sensor. They told me that speed sensors are part of the wheel bearing/hub assembly; it's all one unit so I need to replace it at a cost of $430. Double this, because I know my right front wheel bearing is going out; I can hear it, so the bill for both is $870. Not sure I want to put that kind of money in a car with 162K miles on it, though it has run like a champ for 6 years; my only repair has been a new alternator, in all that time.
So, are speed sensors embedded in the hub assembly? Do I really need two front wheel bearing replacements on both left and right? Or should I just replace the noisy right one and replace the speed sensor, if it is somewhere more accessible? Dealership says that I'll hear the left, after I fix the right.
I just wonder if I'm getting the straight story. What does anyone out there know about hub replacement and speed sensors? By the way, since the dealership took a reading, the sensors have stayed off; luck? One more question...I've asked for a printout of the sensor readings at two shops; one said they didn't print one out, as asked, so oops, while the other said you couldn't print out the fail codes. Who is lying the most?

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by melou

My ABS light and ETS light have been coming on periodically for some time, during driving; they shut off when I crank the car again, per the manual. I thought this would be fixed when I had new brakes put on (and was told this by them). The lights continue to come on about 1/3 to 1/2 of the driving time. I've been back to them 3 times to see what is wrong with the brakes, which by the way don't feel quite right. They adjusted them once; then said they "re-did" the brakes without new pads, etc. They told me no messages would be stored in the sensors, and I had to come by when the light was displayed. I did this, but the shop they took it to said they shut off the car before taking a reading, and the lights weren't on when they looked for fail codes. The guy there told me it was a loose wire my ignition, which is about to fail (he said), and he got the lights to come on when he "wiggled" the ignigtion. I've tried that umpteen times in each position, but can't get them to come on.
Then I took it to the dealership; they say 98 Achievas store all codes, and any sensor can store a message. They said a reading showed a bad speed sensor. They told me that speed sensors are part of the wheel bearing/hub assembly; it's all one unit so I need to replace it at a cost of $430. Double this, because I know my right front wheel bearing is going out; I can hear it, so the bill for both is $870. Not sure I want to put that kind of money in a car with 162K miles on it, though it has run like a champ for 6 years; my only repair has been a new alternator, in all that time.
So, are speed sensors embedded in the hub assembly? Do I really need two front wheel bearing replacements on both left and right? Or should I just replace the noisy right one and replace the speed sensor, if it is somewhere more accessible? Dealership says that I'll hear the left, after I fix the right.
I just wonder if I'm getting the straight story. What does anyone out there know about hub replacement and speed sensors? By the way, since the dealership took a reading, the sensors have stayed off; luck? One more question...I've asked for a printout of the sensor readings at two shops; one said they didn't print one out, as asked, so oops, while the other said you couldn't print out the fail codes. Who is lying the most?

The first shop you took the car too is telling you a line of BS .
The ABS module stores DTCs as a history code to aid in diagnostics..the codes are WSS specific, so if a RS WSS is setting a code, then there is the one you need to diagnose.
One the 98 Achieva, the WSS are part of the hub assembly and have to be serviced togather.
The diagnostic tool (Tech 2) used by the dealer does not have the ability to "print out" information..all diagnostic info must be uploaded to a Techline PC using a TIS program then It can be printed from there..unfortunate part is that each individual frame must be printed individually ( a lot of paper and a lot of ink)
For the most part, DTCs are documented on the RO.
If you have a bad hub bearing and it is not the side with the bad sensor, then you are going to have to replace both of them.