Rover owners: Tools, Techniques and DIY Gizmos.

Having experienced an unusual freak incident with my latest project MG ZT-T 1.8t which ripped out the nearside front Wheel Arch Liner along with the ABS Sensor Cable a few days ago, checking the supply to and the readings from the actual Sensor is difficult because of the design of the Blue Connectors, both male and female. This first image shows the fiddly problem when checking the readings on a known ZT-T with correct ABS operation. :~

Some years ago, my very little used near mint Rover 620ti I've had tucked away for several years, lit up it's ABS light and it stayed on when I started it up to keep the fluids moving as I do from time to time. Lack of use in my experience, can often cause items to expire on unused cars and that is what happened here with the Nearside Rear ABS Sensor. When removing a known good replacement from a breaker yard car, I also removed part of the ABS Sensor Cable on the other side of the scrap car. Later, using some small crocodile clips and a few minutes with the Stanley Knife and Soldering Iron, I made up a little DIY Gizmo which enables the ABS Sensors on the 6o0s to be checked easily in a minute or two.

With that in mind I removed part of the ABS Sensor Cable and its Blue Connector from a Scrap Yard Rover 75. I made up this little DIY Diagnostic in the same way as I did years ago for the 600 version of the gizmo which is a very effective tool to enable the ABS Sensors to be checked using a Multimeter quickly. The following images show what I did. At next to zero cost. Five pairs of Red and Black mini Crocodile Clips can be obtained for less that three quid posted off ebay.

This is the end product which works well. You need to separate the Blue Connector and use the Male part to check the cable to the actual Sensor on the wheel hub assembly. The female part of the blue connector can be used to check the power supply from the loom in the engine compartment. :~

Here the Blue Connector has been separated show male and female parts. :~

Close up view of the Mini-Crocodile Clips. :~

Although both cables each side of the Blue Connector look undamaged, the lack of a reading from the actual sensor on the hub makes me suspect the cable was stressed during the incident and possibly severed the electrical connection somewhere in that part of the cable or Sensor itself. Having an identical car closeby to check its readings to use as a control comparison helps too... Prior to the incident, the ABS behaved itself well as it's one of the things I check on a newly acquired used car. Simply by driving it at say 30 mpg on damp or wet grass and applying the brakes firmly and feeling the ABS pulses on the brake pedal as the system does its stuff.