GGAutobiz: Ok It's NOT Your Brakes

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Ok It's NOT Your Brakes

I had a recent complaint of poor braking, noise and sinking pedal on a 2013 Dodge Avenger. The customer had replaced the brake pads but still had problems and both the ABS and Traction warning lights were on. I agreed to take a look.
A brake inspection was done at each wheel and there was no obvious problem. I had my tech put everything back together and I pulled the ABS codes C1032 and C1044. I pulled up data view of the wheel speed sensors to watch while I gave the car a brief test drive. I noticed immediately a noise from the right rear. I also had a very erratic wheel speed signal from the right rear.

So what about all the braking complaints? I think the noise was not from the brakes but from the bad wheel bearing/hub assembly in the right rear. The play from the worn bearing and the metal shavings gathering on the tone wheel inside the hub were making the wheel speed signal erratic enough that it could trigger the ABS to engage. An engaged ABS can make it hard to stop and make the pedal feel hard as though it isn't working. I can't say for sure, never had a problem with braking when I drove it. But definitely the bearing was bad.