another ABS thread

[whynot]

So I found the procedure on here about pulling the codes for the ABS on my 99 legacy outback. 

I have a 24, 26 and 29. 

I believe it is right rear and front left sensors. 24, 26 abnormal speed. Is 29 just a repeat of them, any one of 4 speed sensors abnormal speed and I should start by removing the tires and cleaning the sensor and tone ring?

 

Thanks

Doug

[nipper]

The sensors may just be eroded. Inspect them they should be little perfect cylinders. Cleaning may help. Inspect te tone rings but usually it takes something to upset them. 

[the sucker king]

hey I am trying to do the same diagnostics on a 2000 outback with an ABS light and I can't find the connector, and I was told it is the same procedure for the 2000-2004 outbacks as the legacy outbacks, can you give me any help? I also have a 97 outback that I can compare to, I can't find the plug on that one either. I have a printout of the procedure I just can't find the connector!

Thanks

[whynot]

in looking I saw there seems to be 2 different places, one above the OBDII port, and one on the other side. above the gas pedal. That is where mine is. From the drawing I found, it looked like it would be a big connector, like obd, but it is small. 

Mine was above the gas pedal, there was a lot of connectors, some green that I have seen referenced.  above those there was a wire bundle running front to back, and it was in that wire bundle, toward the firewall almost like 1/3 of the way. The connector is not much bigger than a quarter. If I need to maybe I can get a picture and figure out how to post it.

[idosubaru]

in genearl if you have multiple codes - clear them and see which ones come back.  but if it's two wheel sensor codes they could both be bad. 

 

the connector is always above the gas pedal.  if you can't find it - you're not trying hard enough - don't expect it to be a big flashing neon sign standing alone in a vacuum for any skinny monkey to find - you have to stand on your head and look up with a flashlight when they're taped up under there with the wiring harness.  it's likely stuffed/ziptied/taped tight to other wiring.  give it some good effort, lighting, and you'll find it. 

 

google it - there's lots of threads online about it. 

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=diagnostic+ABS+connector+subaru&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=628&tbm=isch&imgil=2NekA2bOu6KguM%253A%253BHnZ15792uX1smM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.subaruoutback.org%25252Fforums%25252F81-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension%25252F76345-97-legacy-outback-abs-diagnostic-connector.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=2NekA2bOu6KguM%253A%252CHnZ15792uX1smM%252C_&usg=__Q56OHU66oF2sQEtFG1wQ1RSIIC4%3D#imgrc=_

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/113645-how-to-read-abs-codes/

[subaree]

There has got to be SomeOne who really does know, but searching every forum post including the ones here with pictures seems ridiculously without a solution. I have a 2002 outback limited sedan auto with an EJ253 shortblock swap. The abs light has been on for a long time, i found a wiring problem near the right front sensor connector and repaired it. I have driven it, and tested both front sensors for resistance as well as voltage generation and both are good. Before i disconnect and test rear sensors, i would like to run a diagnostic self test to read stored codes and then clear them to be certain fault actually still exists. But the Famous All Elusive Black connector is also on my subaru not to be found. This seems beyond belief that so many of us cannot find it and there is no follow up after others find them, and no clear spot it actually is. Something like this should not be so hard to locate. Here are pictures showing 2 black wire loose terminals, alongside 2 unplugged green connectors, and 2 differrent WHITE connectors BUT NO BLACK connector anywhere ???!! Some say above gas pedal to right of column, some say between deadpedal and column on left side = how can there be so many different false locations ? Probably i am going to end up continuing my sensor testing with no diagnostic terminal solution, yet if this connector is black and near the 2 loose ground terminals then is there Another loose set of grounds elsewhere ?? Any real knowledgeable help on this will be appreciated by me and all the other subaru owners trying to locate this diagnostic connector..

[nipper]

Yes research is hard. We shall just wait for somone with more knowledge to show up.

 

I shall sit here and thumb through the FSM for light reading. 

[whynot]

Those look like the correct wires, the plug should be near by. Like I said above, I found mine between those green connectors and the firewall on that big wire bundle above them. The connector is no larger than those green ones.

I read what I guess is bad info on some posts. But that is where I found mine. I also read that sometimes they may be the same connector, in a white color.

[subaree]

Thanks, i will try again to look for the black plug, but i have gone in there both on my back directly which is brutal to do, as well as using the mirror with my led worklight and i could only find these white ones within a reacheable distance to those 2 ground terminals. It could be the white ones but i tried the lower right from clip and got nothing, i will try again. Does anyone know the actual color code on the diagnosis wire so we all can look for that as an identifier.. 

[Bushwick]

Yes research is hard. We shall just wait for somone with more knowledge to show up.

 

I shall sit here and thumb through the FSM for light reading. 

I think the frustration comes from incomplete posts where someone states there is an issue, asks for help, then never follows up with the solution that fixed the issue, assuming they ever did actually fix it. I know this has been frustrating in my own personal experience more than once, and tend to just ask vs. countless searches and redundant reading. 

[subaree]

That is exactly what would help us all find solutions, and many promise to post a follow up after solving the issue but never return to do it, so then we never find out, i am thinking that if mine has to have it, that maybe it is the white plug and when i tested it, that i may have only powered it too briefly to get into diagnostic mode because i was afrain of shorting the wrong circuit. The one bigger white plug does look like the black one everyone describes it must be, but they all claim it to be black only. I am going to retest terminal 6 on that white rectangle plug in the next couple hours after one more search for a black connector.

[subaree]

Nope, its not either white connector, not the big rectangle one 1/4" x 1" on the second from end lower right terminal white/blue stripe wire = plugged in the ground and no flashing even after a whole minute, and not 5/8 square white one as there is no wire at lower right, searched and not a black plug within reach of those 2 grounds. Can anyone identify the color of this diagnostic wire so i may search for that. Actually i guess i am just going to have to go thru the basic caveman diagnosis procedure starting at each wheel sensor plug and visual, and go from there. Because i as well as many others were apparently damned with the very bad joke of a missing black abs diagnostic connector.

[whynot]

. But your pictures look like what I remember. All of those plugs. in post 6 first photo the big wire bundle on the way back to the firewall is where I found mine. 

I will try and get a photo tonight. and see if I can figure out how to post it.  But on my car it was above those connectors taped into that big bundle. And toward the firewall. It is not any bigger than the green connectors. I tried 3-4 times before I found it and found some better pictures on some other sites. It is small, and mine was taped in the loom.

Edited April 22, 2016 by whynot

[subaree]

SOLVED = no abs diagnostic connector exists on my outback, so i examined all sensor lines visually which looked good. Then i got the terminal identifyers for the pump unit connector and tested each sensor from the beggining = all were fine except the right front which i had already tested sensor and fixed the wire so i tested the sensor again and my repair was still good, then i tested the terminal to abs module 14 & 15 ( subaru manual is incorrect on this one sensor circuit = they say terminal 13 & 15 but 13 is empty and i found by testing it is in fact 14 & 15  that actually go to right front wheel )  This circuit was good, so i plugged in sensor and from abs module nothing, wiggle test intermittant at plug from body to abs sensor. The whole problem was the terminals in the body side plug of right front abs sensor connector. With long needle nose pliers and a few attempts at gently twisting terminals so they would make good contact i now get solid uninterupted by wiggle test resistance in right front abs circuit all the way from abs module in right front engine bay to the right front wheels abs sensor and all the way back. Sometimes as in this case, BASIC circuit testing finds the problem because in abs it is almost always a sensor, but in mine it was in the sensor plug. I wish i had never heard of this diagnostic plug since it wasted many countless hours and days to weeks of delays in fixing it all because of research and tearing the dash apart. Now the abs light comes on for a few seconds as it should and goes right out..  ( for anyone who is interested, my 2002 outback limited sedan has a push button start mod that really works great, it was a necessary testing tool at the time and it worked so good i installed it permanantly left of column on dash, and key on then push to start, i left key unable to start to make this the only way to start it which makes it a functional mod, another is what i was told by many knowledgeable people that only 2001 and 2002 ej251 would work, but i put in a 2005 forester ej253, and it worked out great with 02 intake and pulleys )

[whynot]

see if this photo helps

Edited April 23, 2016 by whynot

[the sucker king]

so in a previous post I said that the diagnostic connector was hard to find, well I found it and it was actually one that I had first found but it did not look like the one in the diagram so I continued to look and look. anyway here are some pics and I can tell you that these instructions apply to my 00 outback. to find the connector- there are two green connectors that are very easy to find above the gas pedal. They are compatible male and female plugs that are just dangling, not hooked up. If you follow the green connectors back to where they emerge from the taped up harness, the ABS diagnostic connector emerges from the same place. It is helpfull to pull out the connector as far as you can, this required re-routing it through the jumble of harness. I think the reason a few in this thread have said "but the two test wires are no where to be found" is because they are taped up tight right where the connector as well as the two green connectors emerge from the harness. start unwinding tape and you will find the terminals. The ABS diagnostic connector and the two test terminals are the ONLY THINGS THAT EMERGE FROM THE HARNESS AT THE SAME POINT AS THOSE WIRES ATTACHED TO THE GREEN CONNECTORS, so if you trace the green connectors to the harness, you will find it. at least on my 00 outback. here are pics. it is the white connector dead center in first pic. in the other two pics one ground terminal is plugged into possition 6

 

hope this helps somebody, in regards to comments about wanting to be lead to answers without doing research, the questions asked on this board are part of research in my opinion, I know a lot more about subies than most, and I have asked more dumb questions than most, it is how we learn here, besides what is this message board for, anyway? I agree that posting results/solutions is important because often when you search the board with specifics, you come across 10 threads with no answer. I love you all.