wheel bearings

Hi--I'm a new member and I need some assistance, please. I have a 92 with 206 miles (and still running strong, for the most part).

Turns out, ONCE AGAIN, I need wheel bearings. the rear, right, has been replaced FIVE times since 1999 (the shop purged maintenance records prior to 1999), and the rear, left has been changed twice. At least three times I was not charged because it was within the one year warranty period for the parts. The last time it was over by 2 months and Subaru took care of half of it. The last time the rear bearing was replaced was May 03, and here I am beyond the warranty period again, and now they tell me I need BOTH rear bearings, to the tune of $520. I'm selling the car (or trying to), and I know I should replace these bearings and hopefully will get some help from Subaru Corporate. Before I begin negotiating with them, I want to know if anyone knows of any factual information anywhere that discusses this bearing problem. I figure if I can point out that THEY know it's been a problem all along, they may be more willing to make it right!

Any suggestions? And, just out of curiosity--has anyone tied or surpassed my record of 206,000 miles (with original trans--I've never had a problem with that). Thanks in advance.

When the bearing are replaced they need to be cleaned of the grease that comes with them and have a high temperature wheel bearing grease packed into them. This would help quite a bit and is probably why your keep going out.

[dcarrb]

Originally posted by suemclsvx
And, just out of curiosity--has anyone tied or surpassed my record of 206,000 miles (with original trans--I've never had a problem with that).

Someone here -- the name eludes me -- has racked-up better than 275,000 miles; most of that on transmission number two, as I recall.


dcb

[Chiketkd]

Welcome to the site!

To answer your last question, Sleepem has a '92 with original trans and engine that's at ~299,600 miles. He'll hopefully go over 300K later this year, as the car isn't being driven as much as it used to...

-Chike

P.S. One good site to list your wheel bearing complaint and possibly get ammunition when dealing with Subaru of America is: Consumer Affairs

Originally posted by suemclsvx
And, just out of curiosity--has anyone tied or surpassed my record of 206,000 miles (with original trans--I've never had a problem with that). Thanks in advance.

I was told by the shop that the grease they used to pack them in was no longer used--they corrected that problem 4 years ago (I think). Have you heard this?

I'm looking for any info that discusses that this is an ongoing problem. Any suggestions.

Thanks Beldin

Originally posted by suemclsvx
I was told by the shop that the grease they used to pack them in was no longer used--they corrected that problem 4 years ago (I think). Have you heard this?

I'm looking for any info that discusses that this is an ongoing problem. Any suggestions.

Thanks Beldin

I just hope that they are actually packing them. When I did the bearings on my friends SVX they came with some clear colored grease that seemed very cheap. And if people are geting those bearings with that grease installed it is no wonder they are failing. What I did was cleaned all of the grease out of them I coukld and then bought a very nice High Temp wheel bearing grease. It wasn't that expensive. Then repacked the bearing with that. Now this wasn't too long ago so maybe I have no idea what I am talking about but I'll bet what we did with those bearing will work very well and they will last quite a while.

[mbtoloczko]

For perspective, the 2004 WRX STi uses the same rear wheel bearings that are used in the SVX, so either Subaru is really dumb, or the bearings are fundamentally sound. Assuming the latter, then a recurring wheel bearing failure indicates some problem either with installation or with something on your car.

Some possibilities include:

1) Not using good grease.

2) Bad seals. Have the seals been replaced each time?

3) Damaged hub. The hub can become slightly warped by overtightening the bolt that holds the lateral links to the hub.

4) Overtightening the axle nut.

My car had bad rear wheel bearings when I bought it. I did the wheel bearing job myself. Just as with Beldin, the bearings came packed in some clearish/greenish grease. I thoroughly removed all the grease, and used a high temperature, long wearing grease. Going on almost two years, and no problems (fingers crossed). With that said, I've heard that the bearings now come packed in a suitable grease.

[b3lha]

Wasn't there a TSB recently which described a new procedure for changing wheel bearings? Apparently the old procedure could sometimes result in damage to the housing which would lead to repeat failures. I can't find it at the moment, but I'm sure somebody posted it here.

Your car has had many more wheel bearings than is normal for an SVX. Something must be causing them to fail.

If you get it changed by a good independant mechanic then they may be able to inspect the old one and offer an opinion on what caused the failure.

Phil.

thanks for that info on possible causes. Of course I don't think anyone will admit to any fault at this point. On the first few occasions, the Subaru dealership said they were getting faulty parts, and Subaru corporate said the technicians didn't know what they were doing!

I'd just like to get it resolved so I can sell the car. As bad as I'd like to keep it (and try to get past that 299,000 mark), the knees can no longer hold up to getting in and out of such a low car.

[svxpert]

<<and Subaru corporate said the technicians didn't know what they were doing!>>

Amen! I/we can relate to that. Its hard finding a good mechanic that knows his way around a Subaru.

[thumper_svx]

I know it's been said... but the packing grease is pretty cheesy and should probably be flushed.

Note that yes, the grease they're packed in did change after 2001, but I personally like to know what's on my bearings. I recently replaced one of my front bearings and am planning to replace the rears in a couple of weeks (money ya know) and I'm packing them in Mobil 1 grease because I'm paranoid like that. I'll report back <grin>

Oh, and if you have the tools, you CAN do it yourself. Less than $100 in parts an a Saturday afternoon ought to do it... even if you need a machine shop you can remove the housing from the car and get them to press the bearing in for you.

Food for thought.

[svx_commuter]

I would like to know if they have been using a press to assemble the bearing. I think this over compresses the bearing and leads to an early failure.

[blue thunder]

changing the hub or housing when replacing the bearings definitely extends the life of the bearings assuming the right packing grease is applied. the first two sets didn't last more than 10,000 miles. the current set with the new housings are over 17,000 miles with no failure. Subaru determined this was the problem so any Subaru mechanic should be aware of this. but i would check with them so they don't screw it up.



Mike