Flood-prone valleys, steep hills and ABS sensor corrosion
Purley sits in a valley, and the Caterham Bourne flooded parts of Purley and Kenley in early 2014, with flood alerts issued again since, including in 2024. Driving through standing water puts wheel hubs, sensors and their connectors under water, and although they're designed to cope with rain and spray, prolonged soaking and road grime speed up corrosion. The result is often an ABS light that comes on after wet weather, then clears, before eventually staying on. It's easy to ignore at first, but the system is switched off each time the light shows.
The hills are the other factor. Roads up to Russell Hill and around the valley are steep and winding, and on many cars the same wheel speed signals control hill-hold and the automatic functions of the electronic parking brake. When a sensor fails, those features often stop working along with ABS and stability control, which you'll soon notice pulling away uphill. Purley Cross and the A23 Brighton Road also bring heavy stop-start traffic, which wears brakes and means more frequent brake work, another common time for sensors to be disturbed.
We start with the ABS fault codes and live wheel speed data, then test the sensor circuit and inspect the ring or bearing encoder. Sensors that have been exposed to a lot of water are often seized in the hub, so we remove them carefully and clean the mounting before fitting the new one at the correct gap. If a connector has corroded, we repair it with a sealed connection. You'll have a written quote before we begin, and if the bearing is part of the problem, we'll explain why.
The route is up Foxley Lane (A2022) through Woodcote, then right onto the A237 and north through Wallington to Hackbridge, about 4.5 miles. With only the ABS light on, most cars are fine to drive carefully. Repairs are covered by our 3-month workmanship warranty.