Hello,

My wheel bearing is thinking about failing and I've had a go at changing it myself but have been beaten so far by the grease cap that coverd the hub bolt.

The manual CD simply says "remove the grease cap" but I've prised, hammered, twisted, gripped and sworn at it and it just won't move.

Has anyone else ever removed a rear wheel bearing and could offer some advice.

Thanks
Ian.

PS Does anyone know why Mazda decided it would be a good ides to integrate the wheel bearing and hub. Cheapest replacement I can get is about £80.

cant help you there mate, but out of interest how did you know it was on its way out ? was it making funny noises ?

Basically yes, when I whizz round a round-about there is a brrrrrrr noise from it. When I jack the wheel up, take the wheel off and turn the hub with my hand I can feel a slightly rough part. The books all tell you to look for sideways play in the bearing, which I've done but it seems solid enough, it may not be worn, it may be contamination of some kind but I'd like to get it sorted out before it lets me down.

I've also got a strange rattle from underneath the car when I drive slowly over rough roads and am wondering if that is related.

I've been quoted £148 for the garage to fix it, so I'll maybe just let them at it. My old Astra was much easier, I could do that myself for £15.

interesting ....

My car failed MOT a few weeks back on a front ball joint - it was moving side to side and is fixed now .. but in the last few days I have been hearing a funny noise coming from the front end, mainly a certain speeds and going round corners... think I will have to take a look and see what the prob is at the weekend. The MOT place never said anything tho, so seems a bit strange to me.

May have been the track end that had gone, Mine went too a while back and it made a clunking noise when going slowly. Hopefully your other one has gone as front wheel bearing are not cheap to get fixed.

Is it a repeating click when you are turning, if so might be the CV joint has had it which is still not cheap to fix.

Another thing to check is that tyre wear is even on the front tyres, just in case they havn't aligned the wheels correctly, although thats a bit of a long shot.

Johnli, you should be able to get the hub cap off with a hammer and chisel. Work round it a bit at a time

Roadster,

Thanks I'll sharpen a chisel up and give it a go.

Ian.

on my old fiesta you had to take the cap off the change the discs at the front, after musch bashing and swearing i managed to get it off but it wasnt the same shape it had been an hour ago so i simply re shaped it using a ball hammer end gripped in a vice and tapped away at it until it was roughly the wright shape again, then stuck it back on with a mallet!!

John Li - how did you get on with it ? got to do mine this week sometime

Gogobroom,

I've not done it yet, Christmas and work keeps getting in the way.

I put it in for its service/MOT last week and they said they couldn't see any play in it and I should wait and see if it gets worse.

I would be very interested on how you get on with yours though.

Where did you get your bearing? cheapest I could find was from http://www.nipponautomotive.co.uk and it was £79.95 plus £6.50 delivery.

How many miles are on your car?, am suspicious that mine has only done 63,000 miles, my Astra went 90,000 before it failed.

Thanks
Ian.

I got it from Basingstoke Motor Factors Ltd -
Tel:- 01256 843377

its a NIPPARTS Number J4703012 - Its £73.49 + VAT but they will give ya some good discount, mine worked out at about £50 - only thing is they dont deliver.. If you get stuck give me a shout and you can send me money for it plus postage & I will get ya one and post it to you.

Will let you know how I get on with mine sometime this week or weekend .

Gogobroom,

Thanks for the offer but your other post about a manual has put me off the idea, the local garage said they would supply/fit for £150 if it got worse.

Thanks again
Ian.