tariqRX350

The car: RX350, 2009 with 70k miles.

While driving on road, tire went over a rock and suddenly almost all lights in the dashboard came on, luckily engine light was still off. VSC light would keep blinking and AFS light would come on and blink while driving. I tried all the "reset" tips and tricks found around the web but didn't work so I took it to my trusted mechanic and he showed me that cable had come off from what he called the ABS sensor (not sure as I haven't dug it up myself yet). He said I need to change the sensor as that is what has the "holding" mechanism for cable so changing cable by itself will not solve the problem.

For short term, he tied the cable to strut-structure so cable would not jump around as much and would not come off easily but it still may and all the lights that had come on are now off.

He checked the price and the sensor was priced at $680 and $100 for labor.... I was like as this was my first problem with my recent purchase of Lexus.

Any suggestions? Are there 'cheaper' alternatives for sensor or does it need to be specifically RX350? Any other ideas are welcome.

LSBen

You should ask your mechanic if he would be willing to do the work if you bring your own parts. He is clearly making his money from the parts. If you search on Amazon or partsgeek.com or other auto sites, you can find your abs sensor for around $200. Just type abs sensor rx350 on any of these sites. Try and use oem Toyota parts for electronics or sensors if possible. Good luck.

tariqRX350

Thank you for replying LSBen , I found the part at $57 at 1aauto parts website while Autozone and O'reily are offering it for $200-300. I also looked up at Amazon on your recommendation and there the price ranges from $46-282. Unfortunately my 1st-choice mechanic will ONLY use his own ordered parts, I do know another mechanic who will put parts I buy but on many occasions he was found lacking in troubleshooting skills or unable to provide good $$$ estimate.

Anyways, in this particular case I might be able to use 2nd mechanic, but first I wanted to get an opinion from anyone else who used ABS parts from other manufacturers. The part description says "Bearing and Hub Assembly", not too educated on how ABS works, so it looks like it has 'moving' parts in it which may make sounds or result in something else which I may not be aware of.

fastnoypi

your 2nd mechanic should be able to install no problem. It is even a DIY repair with 10 or 12mm sockets that are only needed if the ABS sensor you are replacing are in the front.

Regardless of who does the repair, it helps tremendously to clean the ABS sensor mounting area from rust after the old sensor is removed, so the new sensor can sit properly.
fwiw, i had no issues using ABS sensors from NAPA when performing the repair on my RX.

tariqRX350

The sensor, or "bearing hub assembly" is driver-rear. The exact part is:


when the first mechanic pulled vehicle up on the lift (?) it was (or so it seemed) easily accessible.

fastnoypi

It appears you have a FWD RX350, the AWD models do not use that style hub and ABS sensor replacement is more or less the same as the front ones but the plug harness is behind some of the interior trim.

For an FWD RX, you would have to remove the rear caliper, brake disc and pull the whole hub assembly off. Much more involved than the AWD ABS sensor procedure.

LSBen

Bearing and Hub Assembly is a completely different part than ABS Sensor you mentioned in your original post. Be sure to buy the correct part for your year RX350. The ABS sensor is different for front right, front left, rear right or rear left. So choose wisely

fastnoypi

I noticed on rockauto the sensor you are referring to is available without the hub, however it is much pricier than the whole hub you referred to on amazon.

I haven't worked on a fwd rx yet, but by the looks of the pictures. .just getting behind the hub is needed to remove /replace the old sensor if you get it as an individual part.

Good luck!

tariqRX350

You are right, it is FWD, not an AWD.
I was confused as well but the link to part in one of my above posts is correct as I saw it when the car was lifted up. My mechanic also printed out the pic of part we needed and it looked just like this.

For now I am going to live without replacing as all those dash-lights are off, but if the lights come back on again then I might go for replacing the whole bearing/hub assembly.