Bearing Replacement With Video

[pcb]

I made a short video showing the sound my car was making. After doing the steering test, I was 95% sure that it was my bearing that was bad. (note the speedometer is in km/hr)

Just click on the picture below.




I read about bearing replacement on these two threads:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...tege-Front-Wheel-Bearing-Service-LOTS-OF-PICS
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123746487-How-To-Wheel-Bearing-Replacement

I decided to go ahead and try to do the job myself. I didn't know which bearing was bad so I lifted up the front end of my car to spin the wheels and hubs and check for wobble and grind but I couldn't detect any. I decided to start the car with the wheels in the air, put it in 5th and let it idle. It was then very apparent that the noise was coming from the drivers side.

I fully expected a nightmare of a job so I only ordered one new bearing (free shipping anyway). I ordered it off E-Bay on Tues. and got it on Fri.

I figured I was going to have to take the knuckle to a machine shop to have the bearings pressed (after seeing all the problems in the how-to's) but thought I'd give it a try anyway. (I don't have a press)

My first problem was rounding off the 14mm nut on the ball joint bolt but managed to hammer on a 13mm and get it removed but after that everything went extremely smooth. I removed the nut on the tie rod end and reversed it so I could more safely pound on it and the tie rod popped right off.

My axle nut came off with my 3/4" drive ratchet with a 6 foot bar on it but I didn't need to jump on it like other guys in the how-to's. My axle came out of the hub with just a few hits from the sledge hammer. I found the sledge hammer worked better with it's extra weight,.. you don't have to wind up as much as with a regular hammer and it didn't seem to damage things as much.

Then there was the ball joint stud but a chisel hammered in the crack opened it up enough to get it off.

There was also the issue with the wheel speed sensor,... it has a bolt and a plastic alignment pin and the pin was rusted in pretty good. I removed the bolt and wobbled the sensor back and forth to loosen it without breaking the tab.

So my knuckle was off and I managed to support it on three cinder blocks and a brick (I deleted the dust shield because it was rusted and hanging by a thread so that wasn't in the way) and with my 3/4 socket set, I fit a socket to the inner hub and pounded it off with little effort (no heat or lubricant). Then I removed the big c-clip and with a bigger socket, pounded off the outer bearing race. Piece of cake.

I then had my hub to deal with and decided to go with the grinder instead of the rotary tool. I slipped off the race a couple of times and nicked the hub but didn't do too much damage.

Then I got to the knuckle and noticed there was a ring of rust around the bottom and that the drain notch didn't completely drain the knuckle so I decided to enhance the notch with a file after cleaning the rust out of the notch. (I missed a little with that too)

I then cleaned the knuckle, bearing and hub with acetone, put the knuckle in the oven on broil (over 500*) and the bearing and hub in the freezer for half an hour or so. (I knew it was ready when the smoke alarm went off)

I then put on my oven mit and pulled the oven rack forward then quickly got the bearing out of the freezer (before the 1/4 inch of frost had time to build up on it),... lined it up with the hot knuckle and it fell right in and hit bottom with that solid sound of steel on steel. AWESOME !! I then put the whole thing in the sink and sprayed a bit of water on it because I didn't want to cook my new bearing. (there's grease, two plastic bearing cages and seals inside).

Then I let the bearing warm up but realized I cooled things off too much so I put the knuckle back in the oven at 225* for about 20 minutes till the inner race was just about too hot to touch. (I figured that wasn't too hot for the new bearing).

I then pulled the hub out of the freezer and tried to slide it right in but didn't have as much luck. It only went in about half an inch, so I took it back to the cinder blocks before everything reached the same temperature and managed to easily hammer (lightly) the hub into the bearing and I was good to go.

(note my enhanced drain notch):

Being as everything went so smoothly I decided to get fussy and popped the boots off the ball joint and tie rod and removed the old grease, kinda wash them out a few times with oil then wiped it dry and repacked the boots with new grease. I wire wheeled everything then I caked anti-seize on every nut, bolt and mating surface before I put it all back together.

The tie rod end had a bit of thread damage from my pounding so the ball was just spinning when I turned the nut. My big crescent wrench was enough to stop the spinning.

I managed to do this without using a press, torch, air tools or penetrating oil on a 2002 P5 (built Sept. 2001) that's covered in rust and lives in the Northeast salt belt ??? I don't get it.
I have been taking my car to Krown rust control every year since I've had it (4 years now) and maybe that has a lot to do with it. I also agree with the guy in the thread who suggested that the longer you wait after hearing the tell tale sounds, the harder it is to remove. I got to mine within a week of the noise.

I did find the 3/4" socket set invaluable both as a ratchet and as a "die press" assortment. It was only $79 on sale at Princess Auto. (I've had it for years and got the SAE version for a different car.)
I'm sure there's similar prices in the US.

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/3-4-In-Socket-Sets/20-pc-3-4-in-dr-SAE-Socket-Set/2917110.p


By the time I got everything back together, I was too drunk to test drive it and back and forth in the driveway wasn't gonna cut it, so I had to wait till morning.
I woke up at 6am and took it for a multi-speed test drive and everything is rumble free.

I'm gonna order another bearing now for the other side for good measure,... Let's see if it goes as smoothly.

My only safety related issues were when I got the wire wheel caught in my t-shirt and made a dozen wraps before it stalled out on my stomach,... Then I did the same thing with my boot laces. (the beer may have been a contributing factor in that)


One thing I forgot to mention (and to do myself) is mark the position of the tie rod and ball joint studs so you can get them back in the same position if they spin. That should help with maintaining alignment and wear on the balls and cups. (the ball joint stud had a rust mark where the pinch bolt was so I could line that one back up.)

 

[brandini]

Heating your knuckle up to that temp quite possibly weakened it.

 

[pcb]

Well I guess that's possible but i've heard of dragging rotors getting red hot and the knuckle must have gotten really hot as well. I didn't think I was putting it past what a knuckle might deal with.

So what should I look out for now ?? Is that only an issue in an accident ??

I remember heating up parts on other cars till they were red hot to get them apart,... ball joint I believe,... I think it's common practice.
Maybe I'll turn it down a notch for the other side just to be on the safer side.

 

[Installshield 2]

Heating your knuckle up to that temp quite possibly weakened it.

unlikely...the temp range itself isn't all that critical, its the 'cycling'...that knuckle holds the entire brake system...which will easily reach 3X that heat in a matter of seconds...an even and slow increase to 500+ degrees on iron/steel is relatively gentle in comparison...however, on the other end...I can't say hitting it with water is ideal...but again, its not like that stuff doesn't get splashed with water while driving...when the brakes could be much hotter...

while its true that the brake rotors and calipers won't send all that heat to the hubs, plenty of it still gets soaked through...which is one major reason the knuckles are roughly the same material as the rotors themselves...When i put on my coil overs last fall, i got to work after a drive home from work on a fairly hot day...and the upper knuckles where the strut bolts are were easily hissing when sprayed with a little water...just from that searing hot rotor being that close...

so i'm not saying its perfectly fine, i'm just fairly confident what he did is acceptable for a part with pretty decent mass..just 5 minutes at nearly any repair shop and you'll see much more delicate parts getting hit point blank with a torch to loosen up...and still being reused...for a daily driver, its normal...for a race car...i'd avoid it...

 

[pcb]

OK,... Broil it is,... I don't race.

In fact I don't think my car has ever been as hot as Installshield 2 is talking about. I drive like a 90 year old (although I stay in my lane) and the original owner was a woman. I've never hit the brakes hard and only lock them up in snow or ice to make sure the ABS is working and to help keep the system functional.

My guess is,.. if you drive like Mario Andretti (or Danica Patrick) then buy yourself a 20 ton press and a 30 lb sledge hammer. (and a steering knuckle, LCA, CV shaft and tie rod end,.. and of course the bearing.)

 

[pcb]

So Installshield 2,...

What kind of temperature do you think I could go to when I put the knuckle back in the oven with the new bearing installed ???

I'm hoping to just slide the hub in as easy as the bearing went into the knuckle.

 

[brandini]

With a cold bearing you could probably get away with 200 degrees and a tiny bit of persuasion.

 

[pcb]

So I figured out why my bearing failed (I finally took it apart to look at it).

The seal failed letting in water and rusted out the one side.

I'm going to try and see if I can get a view of the seal on the passenger side before I pull everything apart to replace it.
If it's not looking rusty, I may just wait for the tell-tale signs of a bad bearing before replacing it.

The spindle that I cut the race from looked like it had a couple of scores on it so I guess this was a bearing that had already been replaced.

I'm assuming that better quality bearings have a better seal design and it can make a big difference in bearing life. (the new bearing has a 3 year warranty compared to 90 days for others, but it is kind of a no name brand,.... CSK ???).

 

[brandini]

SKF makes great bearings.... the two I have for the front of my 3 came in perfect.

Timken bearings are having some troubles, gm just dumped them as a supplier and of 2 rear hub assemblies, 1 came in 'lumpy' when turned. Got a replacement, and it has a detent in the rotation. I'm starting to think they're crap. But RockAuto customer service is great.

 

[pcb]

I just checked my box and it is CBK (not CSK).

One thing I noticed with the new bearing was that the outer race was kinda rounded at one end. I didn't want to wait for an e-mail response from the seller so I just assumed it was the side that feeds into the knuckle. I figured the tapered end would help it feed in better ??? That is also the end that butts up against my enhanced drain notch so water should drain out fully now.

 

[pcb]

So,... I just checked into it and CBK is the name of the online auto parts supplier. I can't find the manufacturer of the actual bearing,... the box just says "Premium Part" and "Made in China".

 

[brandini]

I believe you're correct, but I don't have a Protege FSM on my computer. On the 3 there's a black ring magnet on the bearing for the speed sensor trigger wheel that has to face to the inside of the car- makes it super simple to see which way it goes.

 

[pcb]

The old bearing's outer race that came out was "tapered" on both sides.

 

[brandini]

Found this:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...tege-Front-Wheel-Bearing-Service-LOTS-OF-PICS

But no mention of inner vs outer. SO if you don't have an ABS ring, it seems the taper to drain would make the most sense.

 

[pcb]

That's the thread I read through to learn how to do my bearings.

There is some interesting debate on that thread about the wheel seal. I think it makes better sense to leave the seal off,... I even enhanced my "drain hole".

Here's a cut/paste from the thread:

"There is no outer wheel seal. I find it interesting that the OP filled in the drain hole and installed a wheel seal, though. There is a TSB floating around for 2001 Proteges and earlier, which all had the wheel seals and the steering knuckle with no drain hole. Basically, the TSB said that this wheel seal was actually causing premature bearing failure, because it trapped water and road gunk inside the knuckle. 2002 Proteges and P5s were "fixed" by eliminating the wheel seal and installing an updated steering knuckle with a "drain" hole."

"the seal trapped water in there which caused wheel bearing corrosion and axles seizing into the hubs... mazda deleted the seal, and integrated the seal INTO the bearing itself (which WORKS) and notched a hole for water to drain
this is why ONLY OEM wheel bearings be installed on 02.5 thru 03s... aftermarket bearings DO NOT have this unique design and will FAIL... aftermarket bearings are bidirectional and do not have such a water seal on one side.... OEM bearings are unidirectional and do have the water seal"

"If this is the case, why does the TSB not cite a new bearing p/n or make mention of this new seal integrated into the bearing? Also, when i did my bearings last December I ordered the OEM bearing and there was no indication that one side was different from the other. I need the supporting documentation for this claim..."

 

[brandini]

All replacement bearings should be sealed, generally the mfr will brag about it so it should be easy to find out. I think the tapered side to allow for draining logic makes sense. Worst case is what?

 

[pcb]

Update :

I went for my first real test drive today and everything seemed fine (even my "fan switch bypass" mod) then after half an hour or so I remembered to do the "coast to a stop" test to see how it felt,... and it didn't feel good,... it felt "notchy" (like a bicycle wheel with it's axle bearings too tight) and the car would roll to a stop with some sort of resistance.

Then I noticed some sort of rattle on the passenger side that I could only hear with the window down and I had a curb beside me. I didn't touch the passenger side, I changed the drivers side bearing.

So when I got home I felt the rotors and the drivers side was a bit more than warm but the passenger side was hot,... not hot enough to give off that burning brake smell but too hot to touch.

I'm thinking I screwed up my alignment with the bearing change and my tires are scrubbing sideways and maybe twisting the passenger side till the brakes drag. (if the bearing is worn with a bit of wobble in it)

Either way I've got some work to do and my new bearing should be in my mailbox on Monday or Tuesday so I'll just go ahead and install it then get my alignment set.

 

[pcb]

So the brake was dragging more than I thought,... I could barely turn the wheel by hand. I opened up the caliper to find this:

So I went ahead and ordered two new (remanufactured) front brake calipers from RockAuto $173.74 all in, shipped to Canada.

 

[brandini]

Well there's your problem...

 

[pcb]

I got my new calipers on today, so now I'm waiting on my lower control arms to arrive.

When I went to install my knuckle, the tie rod end had it's threads buggered up because of the pounding I did to release it from the knuckle during removal.
So I did this. The bad threads are ground off and I squared it off so I could grip it.