Wheel bearing woes

[jmattley]

Hi all,

 

I'm pretty sure I have a noisy wheel bearing. I've checked the rear tyres which look fine, no saw toothing etc. 

 

So, I bought a front and rear bearing and spare stretch bolts so I can try both sides. Tried the front right, no joy. Sadly the old bearing came out in 2 pieces as I had to remove it with a lump hammer, it was so incredibly siezed in the hole. There goes my idea of swapping the new one around till it works!

 

Might as well try the rears now. Hopefully i have more joy. 

 

I'd say removing that siezed bearing was the worst job I've had to do on a car, it took 2 hours and I had to saw one of the bearing housing retaining bolts off too!

 

Just realised this is more of a rant than a question!

Edited 8 July, 2018 by jmattley
Crap grammar

[jmattley]

I also called a couple of specialist garages about bearings, both told me it's hard to pinpoint which corner it is. 

[seriesdriver]

did  you use the vw puller tool ?

[jmattley]

Unfortunately not! I didn't realise I needed one to be honest. I actually thought it had simply seized into the housing with corrosion. I cleaned up the housing with a quick sand and the new one fitted nicely you see with no force. If I end up doing the other front I'll use the right puller.

 

The other annoying thing was that the head of the final of the 4 retaining bolts actually rounded off when it was about 4mm out, meaning I had to hacksaw through it between the bearing flange and the hub, leaving a VERY tight and seized stud in the bearing.

 

Fun times! It's all a learning experience though, so I guess I've taken something away from it right???

[jmattley]

Do you need one of these for the rear?

[seriesdriver]

I think you need the correct tool to take out the bearing but also to correctly reinsert the new one but I am not an expert  I would assume you would need one for the rear as well I am sure someone who knows for certain will confirm or correct.

 

Edited 8 July, 2018 by seriesdriver

[jmattley]

Thanks @seriesdriver. 

 

I found that for reinserting, I simply cleaned up the inner diameter of the housing and placed the bearing in by hand with no effort. Easy!

[jmattley]

Consulted the Haynes, it seems I also need a "suitable puller" for the rear. Might check with my local garage tomorrow if I can borrow one. The owner is a WV group fan who doesn't mind lending tools!

[mrgf]

I remember an old Vauxhall once that needed a front wheel bering... They were the simple set - ups, not like VW branded ones but as you said, pinponting was strange. It sounded like one side but when the guy who did it drive the car and examined things, he said it was the other side! I let him carry on, half thinking if he fixed the "Wrong" one, thats his hard luck as I would only pay him for the one side that needed changing, after he then red-facedly swapped the other side. He was bang on!

[Cryonut]

Pullers are not needed for octavia wheel bearings as the bearings come mounted in the hub, they just bolt on as stated by jmattley, much easier than it was on the Mk4 platform. 

[jmattley]

46 minutes ago, Cryonut said:

Pullers are not needed for octavia wheel bearings as the bearings come mounted in the hub, they just bolt on as stated by jmattley, much easier than it was on the Mk4 platform. 

The puller is just for removing the flanged bearing housing from the hub. They rust and sieze in to the bore on the hub. Nightmare! 

 

But yes, they the bearing housings are the races and should never open. Unless you need to hammer it off...

[labman1001]

I'd to get my NSF front hub bearing replaced on my car a few weeks ago, just shortly, after having the CV joint replaced... What had started as one of those feelings there was a noise as it was nothing you could actually really here but, sensed something was adrift, developed into a defenite drone quite quickly.... 

 

My local garage examined both sides and couldn't see or hear anything turning them by hand and a road test had Andy convinced both where going so it was booked in for a replacement ... Turned out the OSF was fine but the NSF was in a hell of a state ... Cost £110 supplied and fitted but the cars back to being as quite as the proverbial church mouse again.

[AVHreplica]

Yes as labman1001 refers, if you Jack up the car and turn wheels by hand there will be heard an "uncommon" noise due to worn bearing.

In my older cars this way they were fixed when this part was examined and needed replacement.

[jmattley]

Just to update anyone who's interested, I sort my bearing last week. It was the rear right. 3rd one I did! The inside of the bearing was devoid of grease, so the seal must have failed. Felt like it was running on gravel. Couldn't really tell till the brake disc was off to be honest. Not an easy thing to diagnose!