Electrics: Anti Yaw Sensor Plug

[AidXC90]

Hello,
I've been lurking on this site for a long time, wondering where to start as I've got a lot of work to do on my '05 model UK spec Diesel XC90 with about 130 K miles on it, but now I have to post something as I'm stuck and would appreciate some advice.

I've had to replace the anti-yaw sensor due to bad footwell leaks. I'll write up a post about the footwell leaks in the future as it wasn't coming from any of the usual suspect places and I think the forum would find it interesting. But for now, the yaw sensor plug which connects the sensor to the car was also corroded so I've purchased a new one from Volvo along with 4 new red wires which now have green rubber gaskets integrated onto the end of them with the metal contacts. These gaskets were not on the original wires and I presume Volvo make them this way now to stop water getting into the sensor plug from behind, ie. in the direction from where the wires enter the plug. Anyway, I've spliced the new red wires onto the wires coming from the car (white, green, grey and grey/white), but I cannot insert the free end of the wires with the metal contacts into the rear of the plug.
Is there a special way to get these wires to clip into the back of the plug? I don't want to damage the new wires' contacts or the plug itself but simply pushing the wires into the holes, as I assumed one would do, does not seem to work. The new wires and plug are sold as a set or kit from Volvo so I doubt the wires don't fit the plug.
Any advice would be appreciated as I now cannot connect the new anti-yaw sensor to the car
Thank you,
Aidan

[S60D5-185]

Any chance of a photo of the wire ends please?

If they are like most auto connector wires that are located inside a plastic plug, there is usually a little integrated tang on the connector which latches it in place when inserted inside the plug.

[AidXC90]

Hello and thanks for your reply.

I hope these three photos come through.

The end of the wire does have a metal connector with, as you say, a little spring tang. This is the same as the old wire's end and they are hopefully visible in two of the images attached, but the tangs are facing the camera so they may not be very clear. I was able to remove one of the old wires from the old plug by depressing the tang and withdrawing the wire. However, I had to break a green clip inside the body of the plug in order to access all but the middle of the three wires per bank (the other two on each bank are obscured by the green clip). I hope the clip is visible in the photo called "Green Clip". It's hidden away between the blue plug and its black outer casing. I obviously don't want to break the new plug in that way. A reply from someone on another forum says I just have to push the wire in and it will lock in the plug. Well that's what I though I'd have to do so I tried that and it goes no further than is shown in the photograph called "New Wire In Plug". It doesn't click into place and clearly is being prevented from going further into the hole by something. I suspect it's something to do with the green clip inside the plug but I can't see a way to release that clip without breaking it.

Sorry if this is reply to you is not really clear. It's as fiddly to describe as it is to get it to work, but I hope you can still assist me with this little problem.

Regards

[S60D5-185]

those clips are exactly what I was expecting to see and seem to match the old ones.

On the new one that will not fully slide home, what happens if instead, you reinsert the old one? Does that slide fully home?

Obviously I cannot see what is stopping it but provided on your new clips, the tang is raised so that it is effectively a barb, it will lock in it's housing once you have sorted out why it wont go in properly.

Sorry I can't help any further but everything looks right with the cables so the block must be the area to look at.

[SwissXC90]

There are often tabs on the pins that lock into the connector body when inserted hard enough

You release the locking tabs by inserting a thin metal pin into the holes / slots next to the pin hole, from the front of the connector body. Insert gently until you feel it meet resistance, then continue pushing which moves the locking tab back. Do it gently and enough to release the pin, and then you can extract the pin.

Sometimes a jewellers screwdriver works, sometimes a straight bit of paper clip works, depends on the size of the hole.

tip: remove the black plastic locking shell from the connector body to get a better view of the connector body, you may see the pin locks better.

[AidXC90]

Thank you to both S60D5-185 and SwissXC90 for your input. Your ideas were approaching what I needed to do but were not exactly correct. Let me explain…

I found a tiny code on the plug and googled it which took me to the manufacturer’s website – a German company called Mouser, from where I accessed the detailed production drawing of that specific plug. On that drawing was a section through the plug which showed that the little green clips either side of the plug – which I thought were fixed in place – can be slid to one side after depressing a small catch on the top of the clip which engages with the blue body of the plug. Sliding the clip to one side opens up the deepest section of the holes where the terminals go into. Then the terminals can be easily slid into the holes and their own springy tangs click into place, as we all expected them to do. The green clips must then be slid back into place to further lock the terminals in place. I found that on the bank with three active terminals, I had to slide the green clip backwards and forwards to open up each hole in turn. It’s a bit fiddly but with a pin to depress the catch on top of the clip – it really is that small - and a tiny jeweller’s sized screwdriver to move the green clip back and forth it’s easy to do. The connections are now secure and the replacement anti-yaw sensor is now installed in the car.

So it’s been a very frustrating little experience, but thanks to a bit of googling, and advice from your good selves, I was able to persevere until I succeeded.

My first contact with this forum has been a useful one and I’m sure I’ll be back again in the near future, considering all that I have to do on this car.

Regards

Aidan

[S60D5-185]

Has the repair worked ok then Aidan?

[AidXC90]

Originally Posted by S60D5-185

Has the repair worked ok then Aidan?

Hello S60D5,

Well, all I know so far is that after I installed the anti-yaw sensor and switched the ignition on to read the messages on the binnacle read-out, the "anti-skid service required" message did not appear. From what I've read and heard on YouTube though, I'll need to take it for a drive of a few miles for the gyroscope inside the anti-yaw sensor to calibrate itself. I believe it calibrates itself during driving without needing to be taken to Volvo for any computerised finnickery, which I hope is the case.
But I've got a lot of work to do on the car before I get it back onto the road, starting with refitting the carpets and seats which I had to remove in order to fix the leaks which started the problem in the first place
Without the carpets in place, it's almost impossile to drive safely: with your heal on the metal floorpan it's almost impossible to reach the pedals adequately, so thick is the insulation material under the carpet - about 10cms or so of polystyrene and foam bonded to the underside of the carpet.

I'll update this thread further when I have a result from the test drive.

[volvo for ever]

You can swap yaw sensors from car to car as long as same model don't forget to carry out Bcm adaption ,,

[AidXC90]

Originally Posted by volvo for ever

You can swap yaw sensors from car to car as long as same model don't forget to carry out Bcm adaption ,,

Hello volvo for ever and thank you for your reply.
Sorry for the delay in my response, but can you explain what "Bcm adaption" is? It was my understanding that I would not have to connect it to a diagnostics machine/ computer for any re-programming or calibration after installing the replacement anti-yaw sensor?

Regards