Front Wheel Bearing

[Xsarahdi]

How long should a front wheel bearing last?

Our Xsara has started to make a strange noise in the past month.

It appears to be coming from nearside front.
It is not engine speed related and it still makes the noise out of gear.
It is more prominent on a right hand bend but is still noticeable on straight especially decellerating (probably due to less engine noise).

At first it sounded like a aircraft overhead (but soon realised there wasn't ) and sounds like a continuous droneing noise.

Thought it might be the left wheel bearing but have jacked it up and rocket it up from top to bottom and left and right but there is no play. Can wheel bearings dry so they make a noise without play?

The car is a 2003 Xsara HDi 110 and has only done 48,000 miles so could it be a wheel bearing? Our ZX has never had a noisy bearing and has done twice the mileage.

Thanks

[gorfy]

hi i got same prob with c5 done 29000 miles 7 year old ! er wen i depress the brake ped it goes , am going to dealers today for a moan and a right slanging match il let you know what happens , does yours go when brake pedal is pressed ? cheers willl.

[Nutcase]

Sounds very like mine, I also wasn't certain of the cause but most other likely causes ruled out. There was no play detectable when trying to rock the wheel withe the front jacked up, but in the end I replaced the wheel bearing on the side I thought it was coming from and the noise stopped. When I looked at the old bearing races there were visible, but very slight marks at short intervals around the circumference of the races.

Mine had done a few miles at that stage (about 130k). Sadly the other one sounds as if its starting to go the same way.

Good luck with yours.
Greg

[Xsarahdi]

Thanks for your replies.

Sounds very like mine, I also wasn't certain of the cause but most other likely causes ruled out. There was no play detectable when trying to rock the wheel withe the front jacked up, but in the end I replaced the wheel bearing on the side I thought it was coming from and the noise stopped. When I looked at the old bearing races there were visible, but very slight marks at short intervals around the circumference of the races.

Mine had done a few miles at that stage (about 130k). Sadly the other one sounds as if its starting to go the same way.

Good luck with yours.
Greg

How hard was it to do yourself? Did the hub come off easily?

hi i got same prob with c5 done 29000 miles 7 year old ! er wen i depress the brake ped it goes , am going to dealers today for a moan and a right slanging match il let you know what happens , does yours go when brake pedal is pressed ? cheers willl.

Good luck at the dealers! I'm not sure whether the noise goes away when braking.

[gorfy]

lol i think i bought my car off rogue dealers !!!
sat went back to where i bought the car .................
but before i went i just checkd the wheel nuts and yes they where loose ! so wasnt the bearing (check yours )
got to dealers asked a grunt to check the nuts ect found spacers on rears ??????????? common fault this is he said its called oxidation ???????????????? no its called rrust !!!!!!! anyways reported to them the whine from a pump when revved the lack of take up on accelration and other things like you said it was fully serviced when i picked it up##'#'#'#''#' why DOES THE BLOODY OIL LOOK LIKE ITS YEARS OLD F***WIT
As you can gather i lost it crap garage say no more
oh and the courtesy car ? ..........................
a bmw with 1000000 on the clock and a oil warning light that flickers nd stays on thanks for such caring people my holidays have been f*** up
love my car
please tell me is owning a citroen this troublesome if so they can stick it
where the sun dont shine

[myglaren]

please tell me is owning a citroen this troublesome if so they can stick it

There are always problems with cars no matter what marque you choose. Citroens have problems but they are no worse than any others.

The main problem is that Citroen engineering can be different to the approach that most manufacturers take and the hydraulics are generally a mystery to those who won't make the effort to understand, therefore Citroens get sidelined as being difficult, awkward and expensive to maintain and repair.

All nonsense of course as shown by the amount of enthusiastic Citroen owners on this forum alone.

In your case the problems are not of Citroen's making but of owners who have neglected the basic care and maintenance that any car needs and of ignorant and unprofessional 'dealers'.

[Nutcase]

How hard was it to do yourself? Did the hub come off easily?

Getting the hub off wasn't too bad (although easier having done it a few times now!). You'll need to work out a way of spreading the collar that the strut bottom is clamped in so that you can ease it out (after removing the pinch bolt) - lots of release agent (plusgas or similar) around the top of the collar, assorted chunky screwdrivers/prybars and bouncing on the hub did it for me, although I think there is an angled tool for the job which would make it easier.

I got stuck trying to remove the bearing races from the hub, and in the end took it to a local engineering shop who removed the old and pressed in the new bearing - charged about 45 quid mind , wish I'd asked for a price first as I would have gone elsewhere! If (when..) I do the other side I'm going to try the trick suggested by one of the other forum members of running a ring of weld around the inside of the outer bearing race - apparently when it cools it shrinks the race just enough to allow mere mortals to remove it without resort to a press!

Good luck with your own job
Greg

[CitroJim]

I'm going to try the trick suggested by one of the other forum members of running a ring of weld around the inside of the outer bearing race - apparently when it cools it shrinks the race just enough to allow mere mortals to remove it without resort to a press!

That'll work Greg but the problem is that you've still got to press the new bearings in and in my experience that can take a ton or so of pressure. Considerably less than the 8 tons or so to press them out but still considerable and damage can still be caused by installing them without a press.

Some say a big vice can be used but I've never gone there. Hammering them in, despite what others may say, horrifies me.

One thing you can do is to put the new bearings and the hub (the rotating bit) in the freezer overnight to shrink them and put the hub carrier somehere warm (airing cupboard?) overnight so it expands slightly. This'll make installation somewhat easier.

I'm staggered that a mob anywhere can justify £45 for pressing bearings Greg. Normally if you take bare hubs in they do it for a lot less.

Anyone near me can always avail themselves of my press and it'll only cost you a packet of choccy bikkies

[Nutcase]

That's useful Jim. I do have a big old vice which I think would do the job, and some sockets big enough to bear on the outer race without sticking in the hub carrier. Hammers and bearings not a good idea as you say!

Regards
Greg

[citronut]

mind you dont allow the inner most inner race to be pushed out of its seal/seat whilst you are installing the drive flandge into the outter inner race,

i usualy use a length of threaded bar with a nut at each end and very thick washers, and one of the old inner race's against the inner most inner race and the rod all the way through the drive flandge and new bearing, this winds the drive fladge in nicely,

and simmilar to pull the bearing into the hub carrier,

as Jim says never hammer them back in,

regards malcolm

[Kowalski]

mind you dont allow the inner most inner race to be pushed out of its seal/seat whilst you are installing the drive flandge into the outter inner race,

i usualy use a length of threaded bar with a nut at each end and very thick washers, and one of the old inner race's against the inner most inner race and the rod all the way through the drive flandge and new bearing, this winds the drive fladge in nicely,

and simmilar to pull the bearing into the hub carrier,

as Jim says never hammer them back in,

regards malcolm

I've use exactly the same set up. One tip is to use some 1/2" / 3/4" sockets as spacers to keep everything, aligned, centered and square. I also use the old bearing races, I've got access to a lathe so I can shave a few thou' off the outside so they aren't a press fit anymore and can't get stuck.