CEL P0500 Vehicle Speed Sensor Malfunction

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by solidsnake11

Sorry, but this is incorrect. Red arrow 48 magnetic strips in this seal. When you take the wheel bearing out you can see the dirt stuck to the magnetic strips. The front wheels have a dust shield but the sensor sits between shield and seal. Its part of the wheel bearing hub. That's the reason I posted on this old thread.
Attachment 182474

No worries. This is good stuff. I will look into this more carefully. There have been many rear wheel speed sensors broken by removing the axle while the sensor is in place. I've pieced this all together without firsthand experience. Haven't yet had to disassemble my own.


Do you know what's snapping the sensors?

[Ultramaroon]

Man, I have to write some corrections. Thanks very much for setting me straight.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by solidsnake11

Sorry. I figured it out when I was trying to do a cheap 5 on 114.5 conversion. Then again when using the lexus wheel bearing hub so I could use the lexus axles. You could count the magnetic lines maybe you can prove me wrong on how many they are.LOL

I think knowing the right part is way more important than knowing how many poles it has.

[Ultramaroon]

No, that was a picture of a disassembly failure due to rust. It shows the ferrous particles built up on the reluctor. Came from this thread. I took a fresh look at these pictures to make sense of it.

[aSlowbaru]

i would like to point out that yes i have read many forums before hand, but for some reason my scenario seems unique. the code it keeps popping up is P0500: speed sensor A. i cant seem to find any pointers to actually solve the issue so someone please help steer me to the right direction. since the code calls it speed sensor A, it made sense to start w the driver side front wheel/ abs position A. i went ahead and replaced the hub assembly & cleaned the abs sensor sense it seemed fine & not really dirty. but didn’t fix it. let me point out that this issues happens “sometimes,” i’ll be driving and i lose power steering, traction control, abs, & of course the speedometer stops working. i then pull over & turn the car off & then back on so the VSS can function again. but sometimes it will happen again rt away as i go down the road, sometimes it takes a while, or sometimes it doesn't happen at all. i also have a quick release steering wheel which kicks on the abs & traction control light on a few minutes into the car ride. but that has been like that since always, even tho it has resistors. the VSS issue started way after installing my quick release btw. please someone offer some advice. isa Subaru Brz 2014 6 spd.

[slockin]

I've spent my afternoon diagnosing a P0500 error code after installing extended wheel nuts and figured I'd share my experiences here. Hoping it helps the next person who is experiencing this issue.

Since I like to understand the system to better diagnose the issue, I found this

helpful. To use the video's terms, our cars appear to have an "Active ABS wheel speed sensor" with an "multi-pole magnetic encoder" (axial type). The magnetic encoder is part of the wheel bearing assembly. So, the only two parts to the system are the vehicle speed sensor and the wheel bearing. There is a metal ring that is attached to the axle (part number 28437FG000) - I believe that ring's only function is to keep dirt, water, and debris from affecting the wheel speed sensor. However, there is a possibility that it affects the magnetic fields needed for the wheel speed sensor to work properly (I am *not* an electrical engineer)

So, for folks that experiencing this issue after removing their hubs. Do you use a magnetic parts tray? I typically don't use mine often, but I might of when installing the extended wheel studs and put the hub too close to it at some point. I have a replacement wheel hub on order and will let folks know if this resolves the issue. I initially ordered a replacement sensor (which did not solve the issue), so my issue must be the wheel bearing.

Other notes:
1) If you a device that reads CAN (I was using a RaceCapture Track mk2), the wheel speed sensor will read 3766 kph or 2340 mph when there's no signal detected
2) The value is read immediately when putting the car into on/run. So, the ECU will know right away if it's bad.
3) If you are seeing the ludicrous speed numbers, you won't see good numbers until you turn the car off and then back on again (IT solution #1). So, if you forget to plug your sensor in, you'll have to turn the car off and back on after replugging in the sensor for it to be detected properly.
4) You can test the wheel speed sensors by swapping them and manually spinning the wheels.
5) RaceCapture Track mk2 makes a good diagnostic tool because I can see values for various CAN data and the formulas used to convert it into something usable. Since it also connects to your phone via Bluetooth, you have a wireless screen. Nice when I'm manually turning the wheels to see if the wheel speed sensors are working properly.

Anyways, I hope my ramblings help somebody out.

[slockin]

Just wanted to let folks know that I resolved my wheel speed sensor issue. I had replaced both the wheel speed sensor and the wheel bearing, but was still seeing the issue with the wheel speed sensor not being read properly. I was pulling the P0500 with Torque + bluetooth adapter, but I learned that it only pulls the generic DTC codes and you needed a better device to pull the vehicle specific DTC codes. So, I ordered a Autel MaxiLink ML629 scan tool and saw that I bad both current and previous DTC codes, which I cleared with the scan tool. After clearing the codes, I was able to read the vehicle speed codes with the RaceCapture Track mk2. I'm unclear if the issue would of resolved itself if I just drove the car around enough. I'm going to take the car for a drive after dinner tonight to make sure the wheel speed sensor issue doesn't pop back up again.