31AUG/01SEP09 - Kelowna, BC

31AUG we departed Penticton and made it to Sicamous, BC, when the ABS light came on. Although an ABS alarm usually means you can continue to drive with just your “old fashioned” braking system, we decided to head back 80 miles to Kelowna to the nearest Freightliner service facility. They determined that the ABS sensor on the left front wheel was loose & pounded it in, and the light went out. Since we had wasted the day driving 160 miles going nowhere, we decided to spend the night in Kelowna.

Next day we got 30 minutes down the road & the ABS light comes back on!?! We were tempted to drive on and ignore the warning light; but since we were going to spend the next two days in the Canadian Rockies, we eventually headed back to Freightliner in Kelowna. Once again the sensor was loose, so they jacked-up the left front tire and discovered the wheel was obviously loose. And then we discovered that the inside of both front wheels were coated in bearing oil, a strong indicator that both front wheel seals were shot. In addition, we also discovered the right front brakes were oil saturated and could no longer be used. We won’t bother you with the technical details but it turns out the mechanics in Mount Vernon, Washington, USA, had installed the wrong seals on the front axles; along with not properly tightening the left front wheel which caused the ABS sensor to move and set off the warning light. Needless to say we did not pay for the repair. We only wonder what would have happened if the ABS warning light had not come on - who knows?