focus_ghia

It's not been the best week for my MkII Ghia. I have an engine management issue which looks like it might be a faulty ECU that needs replacing according to the auto electrician I saw today. But I've now been hit by an equally alarming issue. After I left the garage I went to get a couple of tyres fitted. My fronts needing doing and I bought some Toyo's from Camskill and found a local place willing to fit them for £20. As soon as I left the tyre fitters I heard a tapping sound from the front left. I just thought it was some of the remaining sticker on the tyre that would soon wear off on the road. As I turned the corner to my road I braked and my brakes totally locked up as if the car thought it was on ice. Straight away the ABS light came on. I got home and immediately checked the tyres. There was no label left of the them, but on the front left 3 of the bolts hadn't been tightened - I couldn't believe it. I took the wheel off and inspected everything, and all looked fine, so I put the wheel back on and went out for a spin. I was still hearing the noise but now it sounded like it was coming from the front right. Off came the front right which looked fine apart from one of the wires which had come out of it's clip behind the suspension. I noticed that there is a tear in the sheath and some of the wire is now exposed. There also appears to be a slight 'dent' in the suspension strut (or whatever it's technically called' though this could have been from something prior to my owning the car (bought from Ford, damn them!) as it's hardly like the tyre could touch the strut.



I've taken the car out for a spin again and it feels fine, no pulling, no vibrations, just this tapping sound at low speed that goes as soon as you hit 15-20mph. Braking is also fine with no further lock ups (despite me pushing it). That noise must mean something though, the lock up happened for a reason, and the ABS light is still illuminated. Surely this can't be a coincidence that this happened immediately after having new tyres put on?

Has anyone come across anything like this before? At the moment I've just dumped the car on the drive - no way I'm putting my family in it until I know exactly what's going on. I'm wondering whether the sensor cable was knocked out of it's clip during the tyre change and has rubbed against the wheel and worn the sheath resulting in the ABS light kicking off. I'm not sure that the noise of that lead knocking against the wheel would cause the noise I'm hearing though.

I'd appreciate any advise. I definitely need to check the other suspension strut to see if it has the same markings as the drivers side - this car came HPI clear from Ford and was owned by them before I bought it.