Fox Damage

[stimp1024]

Dash lit up like a Christmas Tree and after lots of investigation and crawling under the car I noticed the ABS sensor cable had been chewed right through, the dreaded Fox problem!

Ordered a new Sensor cable and fitted it and also protected it with sheathing. Annoyingly there was also damage to the cable that enters the car body work and despite attempts to work out if I could somehow remove the connector and re crimp it, I gave up and just did a regular cable join.

Now this is where I am a bit lost. I had an old OBD scanner that just gave a link error, so I bought a Motospower MP69033 but that reports no error codes present.

Bought an Elm327 Wireless adapter and the only software that seems to work is Car Scanner on IOS which reports the codes and allows me to Clear them, except it doesn't clear them.

So now I am unsure if the fix is OK or not. Some say the fault should clear on its own if fixed, some say you need to clear the code but it will come back if the fault remains. Since the lights don't go out on the dash after clearing I am now unsure if the repair is not fixed or if it is just a case of the getting the right scanner or software to clear the code.

I did the repair by ordering a new abs sensor cable and have double checked it is the correct part, alternatively I could cable join the old one and at least know that the sensor is definitely the correct one.

Another option I guess is seeing if there is something simple on the car I can disconnect to test if the code clearing works or not, since I am leaning towards it being an issue clearing the code. If anyone as ideas on that I would be grateful.

There are other software options to go for, all paid but before spending more money I would like to know if the lights should go out even if the repair is not good.

Hope someone can help with the above or provide the details of a known scanner (either software for the elm327 wireless or hardware) that will work on a j11 2021 QQ

[Pandjh]

For me once the cable was repaired the lights disappeared by themselves.

[stimp1024]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will re check the repair see if I missed something.

[martingreg]

HI i have 2007b J10 2l petrol cant conect with the ocu i have obdlinkxl

[stimp1024]

Update on this ...

It is now fixed.

The part I bought didn't seem to work, maybe the connector was also damaged in some way. I fixed this by using a piece of 2 core car cable on ebay (for harness wiring) to join the old sensor to the cable that enters the chassis. I have done away with the connector. I might buy a waterproof connector to fit at a later date but for now just happy the car is not reporting any faults.

It does matter which way the abs sensor is connected. I found that out by trial an error.

The fault does indeed clear itself so no need for a scanner to clear, obviously if you didn't know from the visuals that the abs cable was damaged then a scanner would at least help to get the codes and tell you where the fault was.

I recommend a cheap Wifi dongle and the Car Scanner App on IOS which is free. That at least worked for me. I stayed away from the bluetooth ones because I have terrible trouble with bluetooth connections in general and find wifi much easier to troubleshoot. I would suggest a cabled scanner is better because of the fixed wiring but as I stated earlier in this thread finding a cheap one that works for this car might be difficult.

As a precaution I have wrapped the cable in flexible conduit to prevent further damage, annoyingly after visiting my previous attempt (which I had protected) I noticed that the fox had been back but it seems the flexible conduit had worked, though there were some puncture marks and being as it is only plastic not sure if that will last long term. Looking to get some fox deterrent stuff but the reviews seem to suggest that doesn't work well. Looks like I will be at war with the foxes for a while!

[stimp1024]

Another Update to this

Car went in for service yesterday, the abs problem had been reported to the dealer before it was discovered to be Fox damage.

Obviously they were not impressed with my handywork and wanted £259 to fix the problem, the kicker, they don't protect the cable!, a lack of communication meant they thought the abs light was due to this repair rather than the original fox damage. They said it wasn't a professional repair (point taken) though to be fair if it was easy to get hold of parts I would have put the connector on and done a much better job.

Lack of communication being it is my other half's car and I really only wanted them to do a full diagnostic to check the car was functioning correctly and there wasn't any other damage that I may have missed.

They homed in obviously to my cable fix and thought that was causing a random abs problem, not sure where they got the random abs bit from, once the cable is severed the dash lights up like a Christmas tree constantly and doesn't once the abs sensor is connected.

However the fix was fine from my point of view and considering other stories have revealed this happening again and again I think having this repaired without protecting the cable would be money down the drain.

I was told the repair would be under warranty but of course not covered if it is chewed and they will not protect the cable, however another customer had got them to use cable protection (supplied by customer) and if we could have got them the same product they would have used it, obviously difficult to get them a product same day so refused the repair and will be ordering a connector from Aliexpress, the site says it is an abs connector for Nissan but no model? But it does very much look like the thing used in this car.

Fingers crossed it will be the right part my concern will be working out which way to wire it up, got a 50% chance I guess. I did try to dismantle the old connector to see if I could recrimp it but I am expecting you need a special tool to remove the pins which I don't have and they are very tiny. The good news is I have 5 of these coming so I can try both ways and may get some idea how it fits together which may help in taking it apart if needed.

I still have the old connector with the white and blue cable still attached so I can wire it the same as that I guess to start with.

Obviously this is a very common problem and the fact the dealer has been asked to protect the cable by another customer points to this being the case. Bit annoyed the dealer would have done the repair without protecting the cable (knowing the issues) but I guess they don't care, would have been interesting to know if they would have advised about getting it protected had we not known? I guess more repairs is more money for them!

If the connector doesn't work the other option is to buy suitable cable protection and supply that to the dealer so they can use it when they do the repair and protect it.

I have also been putting down fox repellent daily though reviews have said this doesn't work. I checked the car today and there hasn't been any further signs of chewing though.

I'll update again when the part comes and the repair done, giving all the part numbers that I have used. Shipping will be a few weeks from China so probably will be late December before I have any further updates.

[Ian_helping _Ruby]

Glad people have been having this problem. Sorry, not glad, but glad to see it is a common problem - I WOULD SAY MANAFACTURERS FAULT.
Same issue with the daughter's car a 2019 model. In Mid Jan 2023 ABS (and more) lights came on, on the dashboard, auto hill brake stopped as a consequence, she took it to the dealer under the warranty who charged her £100 + VAT to say it wasn't the sensor but the wiring after the sensor and as the wiring wasn't under warranty (what a joke) that could be a bit (£100-300) or a lot (up to £2000) and wanted her to agree to whatever the cost might turn out to be before they started any work. Disgraceful in my opinion. She is off work at the moment with a baby so could not agree to the unknown costs. I had a look and the wiring from the sensor (rear right wheel) up to the connector (18 inch approx) is fine but at the side of the connector that goes to the wiring loom it was corroded and one of the wires broken, it does look chewed, the other one was hanging on by a couple of strands of copper. The protective plastic sleeving does not go snug to the connector so there seems a way for anything fancying a nibble to have it to do so. I checked the left rear loom and there is the same plastic cover that goes to the plug but again not completely snug up to it and this looks slightly broken (or nibbled) so maybe this one will be next.
I feel this should be a Nissan recall issue as it affects (stops) the ABS, traction controll and auto hill brake from working.
And if not, at least a recall FOC manufacturers warranty repair. The loom and connector should be replaced with a type that is not easily chewable.
I was going to solder the 2 wires with some heat shrink wrap to make them waterproof but was worried that when she takes the car back (it's on a pcp) they might look and then charge her for the replacement loom anyway.
One last point I don't know is relevant but worth saying is when I looked in the wheel cavity in the boot to see where the wiring looms came through from the chasssis there were 2 little white plastic balls (3mm diameter) on both the left and right side entry points so the suspicious in me says the technician put those there to see if any one has looked/tampered with the wiring or to let another dealer know the issue had been raised in case of people taking the car for a second opinon?

[Ian_helping _Ruby]

Update - fixed for £9.95 with a connector from ebay. Pop the grommet in the boot out, pull the cable through the chassis and then you can solder the wires together easily. Heat shrink wrap and then pop back through the chassis and re-fit the grommet. Clip the connector to the the half that comes from the wheel sensor and then I wrapped from the grommet to the connector with insulation tape. That way if the sensor fails it can be replaced without any soldering.

[hyslopk]

Hi Ian,

I have just sent you a private message, I am keen to get some more info on how you fixed this. I have the same issue

Kyle

[Pandjh]

For the record, this ODBC wired scanner seems to work OK on my 2019 J11B:

Deal: Autel Autolink AL319 OBD II/EOBD Code Reader https://amzn.eu/d/hDuXooW