NA vs. NB ABS sensors - differences
 

Hi,

I am in the middle of my 96NA to VVT swap. Also swapped in complete reworked NB suspension parts (complete suspension.)
When removing the old setup I could save the rear ABS sensors but as usual the fronts were completely stuck and I could not save them.

Now I had a look for replacement - the suckers are so expensive...
What I did notice was - the vendors sell aftermarket parts that fit:

either the NA AND 99-00 cars, or the 99-00 AND 01+ cars.

Now why should a sensor that fits in the 99-00 cars and the 01+ not work with the sensor that fits the 99-00 and -97 cars?
I could get a set of used later sensors for quite cheap locally...

Thanks for your input...

Hey Sven, how you solved this? I am in a similar swap (VVT to NA - complete wiring) but I am keeping NA sensors...

I've send you a Pm

I used the original sensors from my '94 when I put a 2004 MSM ABS system in it. Works just fine. I am 90% sure the signal is the same. I know the toothed rings are.

GraemeD - great - thanks for info...

I put a 94 engine in my 99, was pretty strait forward, had to swap a 99 cam gear for the cam signal. not sure what you are going to do with the cas though. not sure if the 01+ can allow for it.

I´ll have complete NB wiring, ABS pump, booster and master cylinder, steering column, fuel system etc. swaped together with the engine... NB in NA body :)

Only the ABS sensors are a bit mystery - as I don´t want that plastic ones from NB (impossible to remove) - I left the NA sensors and just swapped the connectors on rears - fronts are the same connectorwise :)

I have the NA spindles and NA abs sensors running the 01+ abs in my car.

Perfect, thanks a lot - can you told me how you connected rear ones? I mean colors - they have different connectors, so I have to splice them to 01 wiring...

What about NB sensors on NA spindles?

I think it should work.. dimensions looks the same, but I didn´t measured it...

I can confirm that I have NA sensors in NB spindles and they fit and bolted up perfectly, so the opposite must be true too.

How did you connect them guys - does the colors matters?

Well, today I answered it by myself :D After waking up my VVT to NA swap (whole wiring etc) I had ABS light on - then tried to connect the rear ones on as blue-blue (R/H) and green-green (L/H) on each side and then the second ones and it worked... Pretty easy!

hey guys a little bump on this topic. How about swaping NB ABS unit to NA ABS car ? WHY? because NB 99-00 cars have a prop valve and don't use ABS for proportioning. That give you more room for adjusting the proportioning using one of those adjustable prop. valves like the one from FM. My question is how simple, or not simple is this swap ?

Very not simple.

Check. Big old pain in the bippy

I'm going to disagree a bit here. It's certainly not a bolt-in, but swapping an NB2 ABS unit into an NA ABS car isn't all that hard, a few people here have done it (Laur3ns, someone else who I've forgotten, I think). Basically all you really need to do is remove the NA hydraulic unit, mount the NB one securely, and then adapt the wires and hydraulic lines to it. The NA one is in two pieces (hydraulic unit is in the engine bay, ABS computer is in the cabin), whereas the NB2 is one unit (everything in the engine bay), so you need to reroute stuff like the sensor wires to the new location. The other challenge is that the NA unit uses banjo connections at the ABS unit end, whereas the NB2 one uses flared fittings, so you need to shorten the NA hydraulic lines, reflare them, put on a flare union, and then make a new short adapter hardline that runs to the ABS unit. It's a bunch of work, but none of it's hard, just tedious. Certainly it's less work than the ABS into non-ABS transplant that I did. :)

BTW, I'm not actually sure which of the ABS units have the "no prop valve" approach. I transplanted a 2001 or 2003 unit (I forget which) into my 99, and it has something that visually appears to be a prop valve. I don't know if it actually does any proportioning -- it might just be a "null" prop valve used as a union fitting so that Mazda could have better parts compatibility between ABS and non-ABS cars. I have a couple of brake pressure sensors, one of these days I plan to measure it.

--Ian

He asked if its simple. I would not say that it is simple. A lot of wiring needs to be redone. He wants a 99-00, which means it has a separate computer for the ABS.

New brake lines is not simple.

Its not hard per say, but definitely not simple.

If you want no prop valve, 99-00 is not what you want. 99-00 have a prop valve, as do (I think) 01s and maybe 02s. If anything is no prop valve, it's 03+.

So yeah, it's not a drop-in bolt on, but it's not *hard*. If you can put a turbo kit in a Miata and make it work, you can do the ABS stuff.

--Ian