Question: 87 ABS sensor shape & discription

[boomdriver]

I am pretty sure That I have one that got wiped out when the rear hub bearing went south....it looks as though the tip is broken off.

My question is,
does the sensor (87-rear) have a little lip or tip that is a flat edge that protrudes over the rest of the portion that inserts into the knuckle? I have searched the web trying to find a pic of a c-4 wheel sensor and cannot find one and NONE of the parts stores have it either. It's going to have to be a salvage part, I just want to confirm that mine is damaged and causing my abs to fault. It has NOT been scanned because nobody has a scanner for the 85-87 c-4 abs off-board system.

If worse comes to worse,. I can just pull the other one and compare. But age, arthritis and a cheap floor jack forces me to ask first..

 

[vetteoz]

Best I can do at short notice.
Have a set from my '90 on the bench and recall they are the same type as what is my '87.
The ABS sensor has a metal tip similar size / profile to the teeth on the reluctor wheel
(1/4" x 1/16")

 

[boomdriver]

OK, Thanks..
I'm pretty satisfied that my bearing wobble took off the tip. I cleaned up the end and can clearly see fragmented metal where something was broken off the cylinder portion of the sensor. Its a small tip, looks like maybe only 2 or 3mm tall, so your measurements fit. It looks to be nothing more than a magnetic switch that gets triggered by the sensor ring and then counted by the ABS module. Pretty cool and really simple. Makes me wonder why someone did not think of it yrs before, it's not witchcraft as I once thought.

 

[vetteoz]

Makes me wonder why someone did not think of it yrs before,

The Bosch ABS unit the C4 uses was first fitted to a production car (Mercedes S class ) in '78
Bosch had a patent on the device since 1936 , they had it working in the '70's but had problems with the control electronics

 

[boomdriver]

Interesting factoid.
I wonder if there is a mercedes model that has the same sensors...because 86-87 corvette is NOT in production anywhere. With only 2 yrs, nobody wants to pick it and mfg when 88+ have many yrs of the same part to fit many cars.
I DID find a used one yesterday from a salvage across the country. UPS should have it here by the end of week. Selling a kidney to get it though, but there is'nt much of a choice. Its buy that or no ABS and I WANT my big brakes....and ABS is the key to making them effective.

I wonder also, IF someone could take an 88 system and transplant it to the 86-87. Wonder what the challenges would be? harness, knuckle mounts...Basically 4 new sensors, with the appropiate control module and the harness to fit. Mounts should be the only issue. It MAY come to that someday unless some aftermarket mfg picks up production of sensors. Currently there is just not enough demand to justify that.

 

[vetteoz]

I wonder also, IF someone could take an 88 system and transplant it to the 86-87. Wonder what the challenges would be? harness, knuckle mounts..

Got to pull my back wheels tomorrow so will check it out.
As I said ;without have the 2 sensors side by side ( 87 /90 ) they appear identical and use the same single bolt mounting into the knuckle adjacent to the reluctor wheel on yoke as shown above

 

[boomdriver]

Ok, let me know what you think. Someone from a local vette parts place said that he thought that one difference was the connectors, and I have been told that they cannot be sliced.