Xsara bearing replacement

ebod · Post by **ebod** » 04 May 2006, 23:07

Hi all,
I left this forum last year as my Synergie ownership ended in favour of a Sedona. But recently my other car got shunted so I replaced it with a Xsara 52 plate HDI-110.
So far so good, but a few minor gremlins are creeping out of the woodwork as it approaches 100k miles

I'm getting wheel bearing growl in the morning when veering left but it disppears as may journey progresses.

I just wanted to know has anybody tackled replacing the front bearings on a Xsara, EG any posts with pics. Are the bearings a nightmare to extract or can they be thumped out with a hammer & drift on the driveway ? I'm about to put some new disks & pads on so I want to replace the bearings at the same time.

Thx

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 04 May 2006, 23:38

I've recently done a front wheel bearing on a Xantia, its the same wheel bearing that the Xsara uses but obviously the rest of the car is different

I didn't remove the hub carrier from the car and get the bearings pressed out, I was expecting that to be the most difficult part of the job but as it turned out getting the circlip out proved more difficult because it was rusted in place.

I used a slide hammer to get the hub out of the bearing then hammered the old bearing out using a "suitable drift" (large Whitworth socket). Part of the bearing inner will stick to the hub but welding something to it that can be hit with a hammer gets it off pretty easilly. The new bearing was simply pulled into place by using a piece of screwed rod and heavy washers, if you lube everything up it makes it pretty easy. The screwed rod was used again to pull the hub into the bearing.

All in all its not a bad job, but I suppose that depends on how rusted things are.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 04 May 2006, 23:45

Try do it squarely using a "suitable drift". An air driven chisel is a perfect tool for this job. The outer bearing race slowly rattles out the hub - especially if you hold a counter weight against the air chisel.

Post by **RichardW** » 05 May 2006, 07:45

Whilst changing the clutch in my mates 306 HDi we got the wheel bearings changed too. We took the hub carriers off and took them to a garage to get them to change the bearings - it took them well over 2 hours to get both bearings out and the new ones in. Glad we didn't tackle it without a press! If the car has ABS, do not try and get the sensor out of the hub carrier, unplug it and pull the wire out.

ebod · Post by **ebod** » 17 May 2006, 19:04

RichardW wrote: If the car has ABS, do not try and get the sensor out of the hub carrier, unplug it and pull the wire out.

Hi Richard , can you please elaborate on this. My Xsara does have ABS and today I took it into my mechanic bloke to do the job. He ended up having to put it all back together and temporarily give it back to me because he said he tried everything and could get the sensors out without resorting to smashing them up.

He checked with the local Citroen garage and was told they were ~£60+vat each...but since they would have to order them he couldn't afford to have my car in bits blocking his pit.

1. Is there a sensible way to do the job without costing £150 on sensors?
2. Are there alternative cheap sources for new sensers?

help pls as my car is stuck on the drive and I need it for work..

Post by **RichardW** » 18 May 2006, 07:53

We just traced the wire back and unplugged it, then removed the hub complete with the wire. The N/S is not too bad, just behind the chassis leg once you get the wing liner out. The O/S is a bit more awkward, as the plug is quite high up on the inner wing, I think I had to lever it off the wing first before I could unplug it. Once you've got the hub(s) off the car you just need to be a bit more careful not to damage the sensor as the bearing is pulled out, but it's obviously possible since the ABS still works on my mate's car

simonelsey · Post by **simonelsey** » 18 May 2006, 09:41

ebod wrote:Hi all,
I left this forum last year as my Synergie ownership ended in favour of a Sedona. But recently my other car got shunted so I replaced it with a Xsara 52 plate HDI-110.
So far so good, but a few minor gremlins are creeping out of the woodwork as it approaches 100k miles

I'm getting wheel bearing growl in the morning when veering left but it disppears as may journey progresses.

I just wanted to know has anybody tackled replacing the front bearings on a Xsara, EG any posts with pics. Are the bearings a nightmare to extract or can they be thumped out with a hammer & drift on the driveway ? I'm about to put some new disks & pads on so I want to replace the bearings at the same time.

Thx

Didnt think the wheel bearings went on the xsara . Ive read these are life of vechicle and its easier to repalce whole hub assembly with bearing fitted.
You sure it is the bearing and not say a pad sticking . Just a thoaght .My xsara is a mark 1 and getting 100,000 and bearing have no wear in them at all .

Post by **RichardW** » 18 May 2006, 10:40

Almost all wheelbearings these days are 'sealed for life' - but that doesn't stop them getting noisy. The seal after all is only good for the life of the bearing, what ever that might be! I had one go on a Xantia at < 80k miles. My mate's 306 has done 140k - the driver's side was completely shot (went round in steps!), and the passenger side wasn't far behind.

ebod · Post by **ebod** » 18 May 2006, 13:36

My 52 plate Xsara has 'just' done 110K miles. It was alarming how quick it went. My original post stemmed from a 10 second groan noise one morning a few weeks ago ( from the car of course !!! ).

There was no warning other than that ..then it went into complete callapse.

Previously on other cars I've driven for weeks/months on whiney wheel bearings before tending to it.

My plan of action is going to be 1. strip the hubs off the car on the driveway 2. take the hubs to a bloke on my firms shop floor and get them pressed out and bearings replaced.

Post by **RichardW** » 18 May 2006, 14:31

One other tip: If you've not had the ball joint out on a Xsara before, it can be frustrating! You remove the bolt, lever the arm down, it goes easily for about 1/4" then jams solid, apparently never to move out again. The trick is to push the hub inwards (pretty hard!) as you lever out, this stops the pin hanging up on the slot as it comes out, and it slides out no bother (don't push too hard though or it hangs up on the other side - if you watch as the pin starts to move, you can see how much you need to push).

ebod · Post by **ebod** » 18 May 2006, 19:39

Made a start stripping the hubs off tonight but this rain keeps stopping play

I've got one hub nearly off but I'm stuck with one of those pain in the bum trackrod ends that has broke free and the nut is just spinning with the bolt. I've got about 5mm of thread I can grip but nothing narrow enough to get in and grip it with ....aarrrggh!!!! why can't they put a little hex head capscrew profile in so I can hold with and allen key

Dave Burns · Post by **Dave Burns** » 18 May 2006, 20:11

Force the tapers back together with a lever while you remove the nut, if the joint comes out downwards force the taper back in with a jack, but gently.

If you didn't clean the exposed threads of rust and lube them, they will be that much more awkward to get off.

Dave

ebod · Post by **ebod** » 18 May 2006, 21:46

I literally held up an old bench vice up to the bolat joint and clamped it together.

Anyhow, I've manged to get both hubs off and carefully fed the ABS cables through the inner wings, so tomorrow its phase II of the plan, i.e. get someone to press out the knackered bearings and put the new ones in.
Then I'll reassemble over the weekend...in between the rain showers!!

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