Yesterday, I thought that I had a wheel speed sensor issue. When I drove my car about 4 blocks, the ESP/BAS trouble light came on. Luckily, it was only because my parking brake was not fully released. The light came on because driving with the parking brake partially engaged can heat up your brakes, lower your brake fluid, or spin your wheels unevenly. This tricks your car's computer into thinking there is a stability or braking problem, triggering the light. If this happens to anyone, you now know the cause of the ESP/BAS light.
Well, I was wrong. My wheel speed sensor is failing. Since I do not have a scanner, I cannot tell which sensor is failing. Auto Zone also advised me that its scanner could not identify the problem. So, I am forced to go to the stealership or my local mechanic. I thought that I would start by getting an estimate from them to replace this $48 part. I was shocked to learn that it wanted $550 ($320 parts/labor and $230 diagnostic charge). What a ripoff! I am hoping that my local mechanic can do the job for half of this. I am taking my car to him on Monday. I will report the results.
If it's a $48 dollar part then you should be able to perform this yourself once you know which sensor. If it's embedded into the wheel bearing then it will be more time consuming.
