Mark Doiron

I've changed three unit bearings, and the unit bearing comes with the wheel speed sensor and harness: $About 150-170, depending on where you find it (the Napa one is virtually identical to the OEM part, BTW). It's about an hour or two job to swap out. Heck, anyone who off-roads their Jeep should:

A. Be able to do this.
B. Have the trail tools to do this. Make sure you have the 35 or 36 mm axle nut socket (size will have to be checked on each particular axle on a JK--I even heard of one JK that had 35 on one side and 36 on the other!).

Why are A and B above true? Because it's how you pull your front axle shaft. If you're out there wheeling, it's nice to know that you can hobble home if/when you damage one.

Biggy

13mm 12 point wrench is required as well which not everyone will have. Easy enough job though.

FirewalkerSahara

Not trying to hijack but my ESP, ABS lights are on as well and just like the OP, they turned on one day after I made a U turn, no off roading. I attempted to find the code myself by turning the key to ON x 3 and I did get the 6 dashes on the odometer, but no code appeared. It only said DONE as if there was no problem. Any takers on that? I have disconnected the battery, turned the wheels left, right, took it for a drive and still no code and no fix to the dash lights on. I am trying to avoid the dealership until I know exactly which sensor it is, (if it is one at all)

Mark Doiron

Excellent point. A six point will not work.

JK Lion

I just had the same issue...shortly after I got new tires, brakes, shock, springs (and supposedly an alignment) on my 2009 JKU. All lights would come on (intermittently) but ABS would kick in EVERY time I was coming to a stop. It did not throw any hard codes. Took Dealership 2 weeks to figure it out. Not complaining since they loaned me a new Cherokee. Anyway, they deduced that the cause was two fold...the previous shop did not do a proper alignment and the magnet on the speed control sensor was stuck primarily due to worn out hub and bearing. I did not mind their suggestion as I purchased a lifetime WRAP on my Jeep and it only cost me $100. That repair would have been over $700 otherwise.
It has been two weeks and the Jeep runs great so far. IMO Courtesy Jeep in San Juan Capistrano is the best service dept in this area. I won't share the bad experiences I had with other places. Courtesy is not perfect, but they genuinely care and try to fix your vehicle ASAP. My $0.02. I have to go to dealerships to have my warranty honored. If anyone wants to see my alignment report, PM me.

Mark Doiron

For those who may not be aware, the hub and bearing is also known as the unit bearing. Older vehicles had a hub with bearings on which the wheel rotated. We used to pull those out on occasion and grease the bearings. With unit bearings, much more expensive part, but such greasing isn't necessary (or even really practical). You just replace it once it fails. And sometimes failure is indicated through the ABS/TCS/ESP system lights. I've also had one just get noisy without any associated warning lights. It didn't even have 10,000 miles on it, so my supplier replaced it gratis.

JK Lion

Thanks Mark! Good to know. Seems like a bunch of different issues can trigger these lights. Good to know about the unit bearing as well. -Chris

Bman21

So I recently had the ABS, traction control and esp bar light come on. It seems to come and go no certain time that I can tell so far. It has been three days. It comes and goes. Tried to pull the codes and the code popped up and I turned the key off and code disappeared. Never to be seen again 🙁. I have not got into this much I have checked to make sure the battery terminal were clean and everything was tight. I have tried the turning steering wheel to the right then left the center and turning it off. Nothing worked so far. How can I get that code again. Any thoughts or tips to point me in the right direction? Thanks


the only thing I did right before the first time the lights came on was I removed and reinstalled the passenger and driver side windows.