Technical Fiat Panda - Front Wheel Bearing

[JAMLAX]

My main question is: How many thousand miles should I drive with a 'rumbling' wheel bearing?

I suspect the front offside needs replacing soon, judging by the pronounced noise - its especially noisy whenever (ever so slightly) I ease the steering towards the left. The main clue was when I eased off the throttle, reducing speed from 70 mph to 50 mph approaching a roundabout...very obvious noise! My brother mechanic had previously mentioned he suspected a wheel bearing might be on the way out.

Am I right in thinking a completely worn out wheel bearing can overheat to the point where the wheel hub shears and the wheel hub collapses?

 

[JAMLAX]

I just had a few photos on ebay to look at, but when the whole hub assembly (complete with casting) arrives on Tuesday I'll be able to assess how unshoogly - or otherwise, and how sweetly the flange spins - or not.

 

[koalar]

Sounds like you need to find a different mechanic

With a hydraulic press changing the bearing should be a 5 minute job

Video by autodocs

Can be done other ways

 

[JAMLAX]

Thanks Koalar - good to keep a well balanced view on this issue - and yes, I must admit I do have that very question at the back of my mind - I'll keep under review both my mechanic's abilities and equipment as well as the fact my 'project panda' is very ancient (21 years old) and a lot more corrosion than the average has confronted him...he, my long-standing mechanic has helped me at short notice in the past (and by and large has done solid repairs) ... however I'm not stupidly loyal to any tradesman and I'm fairly sure he, or any competent mechanic, could have made the extra effort to remove and replace the wheelbearing ... who knows, maybe he was too busy and passed my 'Panda wheelbearing task' to the apprentice!

 

[The Panda Nut]

Dismantling this sort of thing has become much easier since I bought my air hammer but invariably ends with the complete destruction of the old bearing, which is Ok because I'm replacing it anyway - sometimes I facilitate the removal by nicking the bearing race, especially if it's the inner race on a shaft, with my angle grinder to induce a stress point and then cracking it with a sharp hammer blow, removal is easy after that. I have an old and very substantial Churchill tool which I found on a stand at the, now long defunct, Portobello auto jumble. It's a bit like a massive heavy duty bearing press - I've no idea what it was originally intended for but works very well as a press for things like wheel bearings. I've seen lots of videos on ebay where people have stuck the bearing in the freezer over night to shrink it slightly and I've always meant to try this but, so far, have never had the time.

This reminds me I had a massive hub puller for our Skoda Estelle. One of the workshop chaps insisted on making it for me when I aid I needed to change a bearing in that. Trouble is the stud spacing was specific so not much use for anything wlse. I must see if I still have it. That car was actually quite well engineered. Old fashioned but solid and well thought out.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

This reminds me I had a massive hub puller for our Skoda Estelle. One of the workshop chaps insisted on making it for me when I aid I needed to change a bearing in that. Trouble is the stud spacing was specific so not much use for anything wlse. I must see if I still have it. That car was actually quite well engineered. Old fashioned but solid and well thought out.

I agree, about them being actually quite a good car. They were a popular choice among my students being as how they could be bought for next to nothing. One common theme was that they seemed to suffer from cooling system problems and when they overheated the head gasket would go - a bit like our Fire engines. I allowed at least two of them to bring them into the workshop and make a project of the repairs by writing it up as a report. They told me a big bag of sand in the luggage compartment improved the handling measurably!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I agree, about them being actually quite a good car. They were a popular choice among my students being as how they could be bought for next to nothing. One common theme was that they seemed to suffer from cooling system problems and when they overheated the head gasket would go - a bit like our Fire engines. I allowed at least two of them to bring them into the workshop and make a project of the repairs by writing it up as a report. They told me a big bag of sand in the luggage compartment improved the handling measurably!

All the front to back pipe work needed to be sound. We had a leak on the servo vacuum pipe. Being suction I bound it with tape and it worked fine thereafter. I still look back smiling. It was our second car and at £200 was a snip. It never let us down. I sold it because it needed a new battery which cost more than the car was worth.....