S series front wheel bearings

Discussion in 'Saturn S-series' started by private, Mar 17, 2005.

  1. private

    private Guest

    My wife has just emailed me about a noisy wheel bearing.

    She reported whirring noise she described as persistent, related to
    acceleration, deceleration, but not when idling. I assume she means the
    noise continues at steady highway speed.but quiet when not in motion. I
    have taught her to listen to her car so I am sure the noise has only been
    audible for < 100 miles. She took it to a GM dealer, mechanic road tested
    and diagnosed bad wheel bearing.

    My questions for the group.

    How long will it take for the whirring wheel bearing to become complete
    failure in highway use?

    Has anyone seen a Saturn S series wheel bearing turn in the hub or on the
    spindle? which I think would likely damage the hub or spindle? How bad
    (noisy) can they get before they damage other components? She needs to
    drive 100 miles to get home and I really want to avoid a field repair if
    possible. I would tell her to drive slowly and the car will be light and
    unloaded.

    The manual recomends a special tool for bearing r&r but it looks like it
    could be done with a press and the usual collection of press and puller
    tools. I do have a welder if I need to do some custom tool making or
    modification. Comments from anyone who has done this repair?

    Happy trails
     
    private, Mar 17, 2005
    #1
  2. private

    oligoguy Guest

    I can't comment about a Saturn, but I can say that on my previous car I
    drove with a bad wheel bearing for at least a couple thousand miles. It
    was annoying as hell, but nothing bad happened before I finally fixed the
    problem.

    For what that's worth...
     
    oligoguy, Mar 18, 2005
    #2
  3. private

    private Guest

    This post to update previous request for experience re bad wheel bearing.

    Once my wife got the car (96 SW1) home (no problems), I jacked up both
    front wheels and was able to easily hear the side that had the problem. I
    do not think much of the garage mechanics diagnosis skills that he did not
    do this first. (or ever). I removed the brake caliper to isolate the noise.
    With the wheel on, but the brake caliper and pads removed, the rough rolling
    sound was quite clear but I still thought the sound may be coming from the
    CV joints or transmission.

    I drained the (5sp manual) trans fluid to have a look at it and to run a
    magnet into the trans and through the fluid. I was unable to get a slim
    magnet into the trans case as the drain takes a sharp corner just inside but
    I was able to check the fluid in the pan before I poured it back into the
    tranny.

    I picked up a new bearing and then removed the steering knuckle and hub from
    the car. The bearing did not feel that bad but did sound a little dry.
    Haynes gives up at this point and says go to a pro with a press and special
    tooling. Chilton gives 7 pictures of some tooling and pressing but could be
    clearer as to how the assembly is disassembled. The hub must be removed by
    pressing outward first, I used a socket to press on the hub inside the
    bearing inner bore. The outer-inner race remains attached to the hub, I
    removed it by heating it quickly with an oxy-acetylene torch which expanded
    it enough that it almost fell off the hub and required only a couple of taps
    to remove.

    The bearing retaining ring is then removed and the bearing outer race
    pressed out towards the inside. There is really nothing to press against to
    remove the outer race so I removed the inner-inner race by driving it out
    towards the inside. I then ran a bead with my electric welder around the
    inside of the outer race and allowed it to cool and shrink. After it was
    cool I tapped it out with a small punch and hammer, take care not to ding up
    the bearing bore in the knuckle, this is a good job for a brass punch.

    After cleaning every thing up and removing all rust from the bore I gave the
    knuckle a careful visual inspection. The new bearing has a very thin outer
    race and the bearing must be pressed below the surface of the knuckle. I
    think the bearing would almost certainly be damaged by pressing on the inner
    race so I went to a local machine shop and had them fab me a bearing driver
    best described as a 1" thick washer with a 2.650 outside dia and with a 3/4"
    hole. The center hole is optional but I always put them in any press
    adapter to allow the use of a center bolt to use it as a puller tool as well
    as a press tool. The adapter washer cost me $20 but I got the friend
    discount and it could easily have been more. The adapter was just a little
    smaller than the bearing bore.

    I lightly oiled the bore and heated the knuckle slightly to expand the bore.
    I pressed the bearing into the bore with a 20 ton press. The bearing did
    not go in smoothly but in a series of small jumps as I continued to pump the
    press slowly. I am sure these jumps would have damaged the bearing if I had
    been pressing only on the inner race. Once the bearing was bottomed out in
    the bore I installed the retainer ring in the bore.

    I pressed the hub into the bearing using a socket to apply pressure only to
    the inner bearing race. The bearing turned freely during and after the
    pressing operation.

    The hub and knuckle was reinstalled. It was immediately obvious that the
    bad sounds had gone and the axle turned easily and quietly with the trans in
    neutral.

    This is not rocket science but I believe that the bearing driver plate is
    absolutely essential and that shrinking the old outer race with a weld bead
    is the only easy way to remove it. I do have a bearing splitter that
    probably could have removed the inner race from the hub but with great
    difficulty as there is not much of a lip under the race, removal using an
    oxy-acet torch is easy. I would have cut the race off if necessary but it
    only required expansion with heat. Do not overheat or cut into the hub.

    The job took most of the day and required a little running around but the
    garage quote was for $340. and I bet they did not have the correct tooling
    and would have just pressed on the inner race which could cause a failure
    soon after any (usually 20 minutes or 20 feet) warranty expired (payment
    cashed).

    This repair requires experience and tools most backyarders do not have, but
    now that I have done it once and have the custom tooling it would be much
    easier the second time. My first rule of mechanics is that no part you have
    a spare for ever breaks, and you never need to do any job you have the
    correct tools for, so if experience is any guide I will never have to do
    this job again. That alone is worth the $20 price of the tool and $58 price
    of a spare bearing (I think I can get a better bearing price in the city, it
    is brg # SKF-311315-BD (A07) SKF box/stock # FW168)

    I hope nobody needs this information and as always YMMV.
     
    private, Apr 3, 2005
    #3
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