I am new here and I need to ask somebody who might have had this prob. I have a 1997 Mer Mountaineer 5.0 AWD.. The passenger side has a grinding/growling/squelch.. I know a lil about cars... I wanna say its the hub bearing... my buddy thinks its the axle... grease burnt up and is sticking to the boot no more lube... and it does kind of have a a thump sound... Now the center hub nut was warm when I drove it home... not hot but def. warm... My buddy is a mechanic for mercedes and he said that the axle could transfer the heat to the end of the axle well I had no hub cap on the end and I live in wisconsin and its snowing right now and last night when I got it home... so between all of that it was still warm which makes me want to say its the hub bearing... the hub bearing is seal correct? this is where I get lost... thinking that if its a sealed bearing the grease would not be able to all leak out... SEALED! but knowing sealed is meaning its all pressed together on 1 big A** part... 165 bucks at that... So any idea is Greatly greatly appreciated... this vehicle is for my pregnant fiance and I just want her safe in a bigger vehicle then her Kia or with my son and the new one on the way... Thanks for any help.

 

the hub bearing is sealed at the back by a seal and the outer part by the locknut and washer. they should be checked eventually to make sure they haven''t worn out. I think your buddy is right though. if it was the hub, it would be hot as hell if you drive more than a mile or 3. your wheel bearings may just need to have the grease topped off. now I''m thinking of a rolling wheel hub, not a drive wheel hub. since you have the AWD, this may not apply to your vehicle. it may be more like front wheel drive vehicles I''ve driven over the years. in which case, the thump sound is probably the cv knuckle bearings popping in their grooves. I''d say the CV joint or whatever type of axle articulation joints are on your mountaineer are in need of service. that or the front gearbox. or both.

 

Impossible to say without looking at it, but axle/hub bearing sounds like the most common issue, as this part is receiving the most wear.


A complete assembly (incl. ABS sensors) costs $89.99, I buy mine from www.autopartsdirect2your.com.


That includes lifetime warranty! Stay away from the cheap ones i. e. on eBay. They are only $20 less, but do not have the backup as this one. It is made by a company located in Chicago, IL.


Last one I ordered on a Monday, received it Wednesday same week.


Greetings!

 

Yeah it was the hub bearing... completely shot to hell... no grease and wiggled before even taking off the center hub nut... I am hoping it wasn''t a mixture of both cv joint and hub bearing but I got it for 134 and its a timken with a 2 year warranty and 60 day no questions asked return policy... so we will find out Friday when it gets here... thanx for the help though.

 

I''m glad I was wrong. that''s much cheaper to fix and Timken makes good stuff. If you lube it all up real good, you shouldn''t have any trouble with it for a long time.

 

well that is the next question is I thought its a sealed bearing so it would be packed correct... Or am I gonna have to pack it myself... No clue but if someone can let me know that would be great.

 

from the picture on autozone, it looks to be sealed. personally I would grease the spindle at least unless the instructions say not to for the ABS stuff. I know nothing about ABS because I''ve never worked on a vehicle with it.

 

Yeah There is absolutely nowhere that i can put any type of grease... So I have yet to find anybody that was any help on the internet... except here some said yes some said no... I am lost as hell.. ughhh... I almost don''t want to use it because its so shiny and new.

 

Heh... oooo shiny!
use it, fix the problem. have a nice day [img]smileys/smiley17.gif[/img]