A silver Vauxhall VX220 on track
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ABS warning light: repairing a damaged sensor cable

An intermittent or permanent ABS warning light is often a broken wire between the loom and the wheel’s ABS sensor connector. How to find which wheel, and how to splice the wire and fit a new waterproof connector.

Applies to: VX220 and Speedster, NA, TurboDifficulty: InvolvedTime: Not stated

Parts

  • 2-way 8 A superseal connector (female only) (Usually on eBay for a couple of pounds. You only need the female connector, with its terminals and seals)
  • About 5 cm of 1.0 mm diameter wire (To extend the loom)
  • Solder, heat shrink and wiring loom tape
  • Sandpaper, 120 to 400 grit (To clean the tarnish off the exposed wire so the solder takes)

Tools

  • Crimp tool for non-insulated terminals, one that goes down to 1.0 mm
  • Soldering iron
  • Wire cutters and wire strippers
  • Small flat-head screwdriver
The warning light means the ABS has found a fault. Fix it properly and seal the new joint, because the connector sits at the wheel, exposed to movement, temperature extremes and road salt. This is one owner's write-up of his own repair.

Symptoms

The car develops an intermittent or permanent ABS warning. For an intermittent fault, work out when the light comes on. On the author's car it came on while applying full lock, so he traced it to one of the front wheels. A fault at the rear passenger side wheel will also show up as a faulty speedometer.

The usual cause

The fault is usually the wire running from the wiring loom to the ABS connector at the hub. Years of movement, temperature extremes and road salt make the cable brittle, and it shears at the connector. The photo shows the author's own earlier bodged repair.

The wiring loom running down beside the suspension to a cream plastic connector at the hub, with green and white wires showing at the connector
The loom running to the hub ABS connector, where the author had made an earlier bodged repair. Which wheel isn’t stated.

Pull on the cables to see if they are loose. The insulation can hide the fact that the copper core has broken.

What you need

See the parts and tools lists above. The connector is a 2-way 8 A superseal, and you only need the female half.

A black two-way connector housing with a yellow seal and red retainer, next to two metal terminals and two green seals, on paving
The 2-way superseal connector, with its terminals and green wire seals.

The repair

  1. Cut the damaged wire at a point before the damage, and cut the undamaged wire at the connector, so you keep as much length as possible.
  2. Strip the insulation and sand the exposed wire. It will have tarnished, which stops solder binding the wires together.
  3. Solder the new wire onto the old, and cover the join with heat shrink.
  4. Strip about 3 to 4 mm of insulation from the ends of the wires, push on the wire seals, and crimp the terminals in place.
A white wire with a green seal and a crimped metal terminal on its end, in the dark behind the wheel
A wire with its seal and crimped terminal.
  1. Push the terminals into the connector, and use a small flat-head screwdriver to seat the terminals and seals properly.
  2. Use wiring loom tape to seal the end of the trunking.
  3. Reconnect the ABS sensor.
The finished repair: the loom running down to a new black connector joined to the cream sensor plug, beside the spring
The finished repair, reconnected.

Crimping the terminals

  • Tool: a basic non-insulated terminal crimper is fine as long as it goes down to 1.0 mm. The author uses a different type because it is much easier to position the terminal. Look for a non-insulated crimp tool that works with 1.0 mm terminals.
  • Don't crimp over the seal. Push the seal further up the wire instead. It should work the same once seated, and makes the crimp much easier.
  • Fitting into the housing: watch the orientation of the terminals, as they will often only go in one way. A crimp tool that isn't up to the job can also distort the terminal so that it won't fit.

See also

The ABS cut-off switch guide covers the plug at the ABS module, and has a warning about the speedometer wire.

Help wanted
We don't know the wire colours at the connector or how to test a sensor, and there are no photos of the front hub. We would also like to know whether the same fault is common at the rear on the Turbo, and what resistance a good sensor should read. If you have done this repair, please tell us what you found and send photos.

Send us details or photos →

Sources & credit

Written up from these owners' original posts. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Last updated 2026-10-15