Rear wheel bearing with ABS

[Jaba]

I bought one of the above recently at GSF.

Tried to fit it at the weekend but although it is the correct part no - both GSF and SKF, I think it is the wrong part. The ABS ring has a much wider spacing than the usual BX type.
The teeth are every 6mm instead of the standard 3mm. This will make the ABS ECU think the wheel is going at half the speed of the others and will probably mess up its correct operation.

It is listed as being for BX and 405 among others.

Anyone seen this and think its OK before I take it back. I could easily be making a wrong assumption. Perhaps the ECU only looks for the wheel moving or skidding and not the actual waveform frequency.

[jeremy]

I think the answer is that all BX have Bendix ABS and Peugeots use a combination of Bendix and Bosch ABS. When I bought a driveshaft for my BX TD I was asked if it had the coarse or fine teeth - that there was a difference was news to me.

[docchevron]

I'm fairly certain that it would upset the abs as it would as you state think the wheel was rlways half speed so when braking would think the wheel was locking more than the rest. This would affect both rear wheels since they are not independant on the abs circuit.
I'd take it back and demand the right one!
I've noticed a growing complacency with GSF and others to assume 'one part fits all' when in fact, it dont!

Cheers
Chris G

[Jaba]

Well I went back to GSF and was offered a refund.
I had meanwhile ordered a further ABS rear wheel bearing. It arrived while I was there. It was a Corteo and was the right one for the BX.

So I am now the proud owner of a new rear wheel bearing. Just got to fit it now.

I got 6 new spheres as well. They were all dated this year - unlike the last lot I bought that were around 2 years old when I bought them. So I am happy with GSF again - at the moment.

[Way2go]

I got 6 new spheres as well.

Where are you fitting the 6th one, Jaba.

[Jaba]

Where are you fitting the 6th one, Jaba.

Well I do have a plan. With 3 BXs to keep running I still have 9 spheres that I have not replaced.

Sphere life is interesting. The accumulator sphere that I replaced passed Jeremy's test once and the FD clicked about every 5 secs. It was dated 1998 - and was a Cit part. Its replacement clicks every 12 secs now and passes Jeremy's test two and a bit times. The front spheres had just gone hard and were dated 2001 - 5 years, not bad.

I was speaking to someone from Pleiades recently about spheres. He had a (possibly controversial) simple rule of 2 3 and 4 years for sphere life.
Two years for the accumulator as it works the hardest, 3 for the fronts and 4 for the rears because they have the least work to do..........If only Citroëns were that predictable.

Regarding Jeremy's test - I have thought about a more complicated alternative.

With the system fully pressurised - switch off the engine then measure the suspension rise after moving the suspension height lever to maximum. By doing this every now and then it could be possible to know when the acc sphere is getting past its sell by.

[jeremy]

Jaba - what rise in the suspension are you expecting to see?

You'll find that a new sphere in fact gives a smaller rise than a part worn one - as it gets older this drops off until it gives no rise at all and soaks you in LHM as you remove it.

Incidentally with a new sphere the regulator should not click at more than 30 second intervals and this can be a minute or more. The leakage is probably through the non return valve in the regulator which can be easily re-seated for no cost.

[Jaba]

OK Jeremy - I did say I was only thinking about it. My thinking was along the lines that if it did work and was reliable then you could actually measure the sphere performance and deterioration over the years.

Heyho. Bang goes another theory. Thanks for putting me right.