I'm under the impression that the teeth for the sensor are part of the hub and the sensor "pick-up" are press fit into the spindle. This pics show the hub and sensor ring from my 93 parts car:





I no longer have a subscription to the online manual for my 90 so I can't verify that this is the samr set up for the older gen. Justin...?

@justin:

I know very well that mph and kph are something different, actually by a factor of about 1.6. And my Bonnie has run several times >100mph, on the autobahn. By the way, to make this clear: the "Autobahn" is something everybody lives near to in Germany, because "Autobahn" is the german word for highway. So all the "interstate"-highways are called Autobahn, and most of them are not speed limited :P

I have also brought my 90 SSE up to 100 MPH ( 160 km/h) and I have no problems with my synsors at all. The axle was replaced way before I went that quick with it. And you know what, going that fast I had to tell my fiance to look at the speedo cause we both couldn't believe how smooth a ride it was going that fast. The car rode like a dream and you really couldn't tell we were going that fast. Felt more like regular hwy speeds.

Well, you guys are all lucky bastards. However, I have the original suspension. Shocks back from '89, and they don't work very well. Like I have stated, the car just felt like it was floating, and I felt helpless trying to drive her. Yeah, it was smooth, but it certainly wasn't comfortable. I also have blown end links [like they have a lot of slack] and blown ball joints. These all together mean bad high speed handling. And, if I knew that my end links and ball joints were shot, I never would have attempted the run. I just didn't know how important an endlink was, nor how to tell when a ball joint is worn.

Randy: I have my FSM around here somewhere.. I'll check up on that today sometime.


-justin

Okay, now do you guys know if the ABS wheel-speed-sensors are compatible between the model years? More specifically, can I use an '88 sensor in my '89 Bonneville? Thanks for all the input!

Any 87-91 will do. You can also grab them from any H-Body, including LeSebre, Olds 88, etc. Just be careful, olds had Pontiac 92 styling in 91. So, in theory, you could use an '86 Olds 88 WSS in your '89.


-justin

32 means right front wheel sensor as noted but if intermittant it could also be a loose connector or a misaligned sensor (gap between sensor and the teeth is supposed to be .020"). It is adjustable.

Teves is German. Perhaps you could find out what the difference between 32, 36, 42, 56, & 76 is (all just say RF WSS in my manual but suspect they mean more than that).

Would think you could get sensors locally but if not try jfinn@cpinternet.com, he usually has a stock of "experienced" units.

This is kinda off topic, but at what speed would valve float be a prroblem? ive been to 175 km/h in 3rd gear (3.33 ratio) and i was a few ticks below redline. Also it must have caused a lot of heat because afterwards i think the oil on the block was smoking :O
Anyway, I replaced my left wheel speed sensor because I damaged the old one getting it off I think the part was 200+ CAD from GM, but dont quote me on it.

Eckoman, personally I would not go through all the trouble to replace the sensor, hub or whatever the exact problem problem is with a used or salvage part. There'* a reason why yours, mine, Justin'* and many others have gone bad. Any used one that you install is bound to fail if it hasn't already.

That'* just my two cents. I love saving money too by obtaining used parts but there are certain parts that should be new.

Wouldn't bother me - the sensor is just a coil of wire, an electromagnet - no active components - and what is measured is the flux when a metal spike passes through ithe field. They can fail and the failure can be intermittant (heat related) but *in general* age is not a factor.

As to why engines get hot at WOT, two factors. IHP and gas consumption. Cooling systems are generally sized for something like 80 mph cruise in top/lockup (say 2500 rpm) at 120 F. Internal friction (IHP) goes up with nearly the square of the rpm so there is a lot more at 4800 than at 2500. Friction turns into heat. You really do not want to think about the accelleration forces on the reciprocating parts.

Second at an 80 mph cruise you are consuming about 4 gallons per hour of gasoline. At WOT/100 mph this is more like 12-16 gal/hour. Gas produces energy which produces heat. Now some of that is used to take care of the IHP so it is not completely additive and some additional cooling results from the speed (cold outside temperature helps) but you can see why WOT & near-redline is going to generate a *LOT* more heat than a high speed cruise and the lean-out that is likely occuring under those conditions is going to make it worse.

This is part of the reason that I like to run an engine cooler than stock and get concerned at any sign of overheating.