Grinding or Rumbling noise after replacinf wheel bearing - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

vickpick · 03-03-2011, 09:35 PM

I got my wheel bearing replaced by a local mechanic two days ago. Passenger side of a 1997 Camry LE.

Now when you put the car in drive, there is a loud rumbling or grinding noise from the bearing and the car won't move. The noise in not there in P,R,N.

What could this be? A wheel bearing job not well done? Any ideas as to what might be wrong?

Thanks for inputs in advance!!

Toy_Dreamer · 03-03-2011, 10:00 PM

Did you drive the car home from the shop?

vickpick · 03-03-2011, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toy_Dreamer

Did you drive the car home from the shop?

yes, I've been driving it for two days.

The noise is very loud and the car does not move when the noise is there.

71Corolla · 03-03-2011, 10:15 PM

Does the car move at all? Just guessing, but maybe he removed the axle(s) for some reason, and did not put them in properly. So now the spline is not properly engaged and making a racket (If true this may do significant damage so don't put the car in gear until you find out what's wrong).

vickpick · 03-03-2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

Does the car move at all? Just guessing, but maybe he removed the axle(s) for some reason, and did not put them in properly. So now the spline is not properly engaged and making a racket (If true this may do significant damage so don't put the car in gear until you find out what's wrong).

car runs fine in reverse. Also, if you change from park to drive and let it roll and low speed, it will go for a minute. Once it starts making the noise, I can change gears again and then let it roll again. (that's how I got home tonight

) Also, it won't move at all when the car is making that noise.

***fenixus*** · 03-03-2011, 11:15 PM

did the shop give you warranty for parts and labor? call them up, let them know. let a pro look at it. issue might be unrelated though.

vickpick · 03-04-2011, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenixus

did the shop give you warranty for parts and labor? call them up, let them know. let a pro look at it. issue might be unrelated though.

I called the guy and he told me to tow the car to his shop.

Do you guys think it might be that the notches on the axle are bad, because it grips sometimes and not the other times?

Plus the differential power uses that side because there is less resistance and not the other side.

***fenixus*** · 03-04-2011, 09:53 AM

It could be that shop accidentally pulled the drive axle too far out from differential when replacing the wheel bearing and hub and they installed everything tightening the axle barely catching differential.

grinding is not good. things in differential or the axle itself might be damaged (broken splines). let them re-check it and show you how it looks like after disassemble, if it's the same side the wheel bearing was replaced then it's their fault.

71Corolla · 03-04-2011, 10:40 AM

I would hesitate to take it back to the same shop. It sounds like they screwed it up the first time, so if you take it back to them, they might claim whatever is wrong is unrelated to their repairs. If possible, have another shop diagnose the problem, or even better have someone knowledgeable come over and take a look at the car. Will this place back up their work?

Best of luck either way.

ghettosled · 03-04-2011, 11:07 AM

i agree with what fenixus said. which bearing was replaced? im assuming the front but was curious to see what side? the passenger side there is a tulip joint that could have separated. but my money is on they didnt align the splines on the axle through the bearing correctly or mis-torqued the axle nut and its now loose.

on a side note, i dont believe axle nuts can be reused. a new one should have been used.

vickpick · 03-04-2011, 11:36 PM

a new axle nut was used..

Turns out that the hub was too big for the axle - it wasn't a perfect fit. I guess you should rely on eBay seller to send you the proper parts.

Of course the mechanic should've told me before installing it! Because of him, I lost the money of that bearing and since a car can't be used w/o a bearing I had to pay $85 to o'reilly's for just a bearing. (reused the old hub) Now, at low speed there is slight noise which I'm guessing would go away after a while. Obviously, I'm never going to the mechanic again. I was going to get lower control arm bushings, struts and ball joints replaced with him, but I guess I can't use him for important jobs.

Thank you guys for the replies. Appreciate it!

***fenixus*** · 03-05-2011, 08:52 AM

wow ... do you know what hub brand and part number was used? it's scary ... what kind of aftermarket part he used so it was loose on the axle splines?

***BMR*** · 03-05-2011, 02:17 PM

This is exactly why I like to fix vehicles myself if at all possible. Makes me wonder, if they were so incompetent they didn't notice the axle spline didn't fit properly into the hub, would they know the proper way to press in the new bearing?... not to apply the press-fit forces in a way that damaged the new bearing??? That might be the noise you're hearing; the sound of the rolling elements hitting the brinnelled spots in the races. You can read about this here. I hope it's something else.

vickpick · 03-05-2011, 06:42 PM

National Bearings part # 518508

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FRONT...Q5fAccessories

don't buy it guyz, unless you can use the old hub. Guy sent me the wrong hub.

***fenixus*** · 03-05-2011, 06:47 PM

you've got to be ... that's what I've got in both front wheels now

though bought locally by local shop who was changing bearings for me... it came up that my original hubs were too much worn for re-using ... I just hope my National hubs are all right ... they are made by same corporation as Fel-Pro, Moog and so on ...

be right back with part number of mine, I have a picture.

EDIT:
mine are 518509 (National), from local store though, cost me a bomb - $95 each and I probably paid for extra bearings too that mechanics took (I gave them my new OEM bearings).