YACT: 98 Ford Contour w/ 80k miles

[amdskip]

GF had her oil changed today and she was told her hub/wheel bearing was bad, just one side in the front. Quoted her $180 total to replace it, part is $50.

How do you know the bearing is going bad? I didn't notice any weird sounds the last time I drove the car and it drove fine. I think she's getting ripped off.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Get a second opinion.

ZV

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Get a second opinion.

ZV

Hey, you bought the Mustang. 😛

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: amdskip
GF had her oil changed today and she was told her hub/wheel bearing was bad, just one side in the front. Quoted her $180 total to replace it, part is $50.

How do you know the bearing is going bad? I didn't notice any weird sounds the last time I drove the car and it drove fine. I think she's getting ripped off.

The Contour is a Ford FWD car, do you honestly think the bearings aren't going to need replacement amdskip? 😕

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: amdskip
GF had her oil changed today and she was told her hub/wheel bearing was bad, just one side in the front. Quoted her $180 total to replace it, part is $50.

How do you know the bearing is going bad? I didn't notice any weird sounds the last time I drove the car and it drove fine. I think she's getting ripped off.

This sounds about the right time to replace them.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Originally posted by: amdskip
GF had her oil changed today and she was told her hub/wheel bearing was bad, just one side in the front. Quoted her $180 total to replace it, part is $50.

How do you know the bearing is going bad? I didn't notice any weird sounds the last time I drove the car and it drove fine. I think she's getting ripped off.

The Contour is a Ford FWD car, do you honestly think the bearings aren't going to need replacement amdskip? 😕

At 80,000 miles it's a little suspect. But that doesn't mean they are or aren't bad in and of itself.

Wheel bearings typically don't make huge amounts of noise when they start going bad, at least, they didn't on my decidedly low-tech 914 which was much more of a "woooo" sound that only happened when turning at speed.

He could check himself by jacking up the car with the transmission in neutral and spinning the wheel to see if it hung-up anywhere, but that's not easy to do since he'll need both front wheels in the air and also because he'll need a mechanic's feel to really tell if it's going or not.

Phoenix: Yes, in the end I just couldn't help myself. Once more I have pulled a Peter Egan.

ZV

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Originally posted by: amdskip
GF had her oil changed today and she was told her hub/wheel bearing was bad, just one side in the front. Quoted her $180 total to replace it, part is $50.

How do you know the bearing is going bad? I didn't notice any weird sounds the last time I drove the car and it drove fine. I think she's getting ripped off.

The Contour is a Ford FWD car, do you honestly think the bearings aren't going to need replacement amdskip? 😕

At 80,000 miles it's a little suspect. But that doesn't mean they are or aren't bad in and of itself.

Wheel bearings typically don't make huge amounts of noise when they start going bad, at least, they didn't on my decidedly low-tech 914 which was much more of a "woooo" sound that only happened when turning at speed.

He could check himself by jacking up the car with the transmission in neutral and spinning the wheel to see if it hung-up anywhere, but that's not easy to do since he'll need both front wheels in the air and also because he'll need a mechanic's feel to really tell if it's going or not.

Phoenix: Yes, in the end I just couldn't help myself. Once more I have pulled a Peter Egan.

ZV

Apples/oranges ZV! 😉

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein

Originally posted by: amdskip
GF had her oil changed today and she was told her hub/wheel bearing was bad, just one side in the front. Quoted her $180 total to replace it, part is $50.

How do you know the bearing is going bad? I didn't notice any weird sounds the last time I drove the car and it drove fine. I think she's getting ripped off.

The Contour is a Ford FWD car, do you honestly think the bearings aren't going to need replacement amdskip? 😕

At 80,000 miles it's a little suspect. But that doesn't mean they are or aren't bad in and of itself.

Wheel bearings typically don't make huge amounts of noise when they start going bad, at least, they didn't on my decidedly low-tech 914 which was much more of a "woooo" sound that only happened when turning at speed.

He could check himself by jacking up the car with the transmission in neutral and spinning the wheel to see if it hung-up anywhere, but that's not easy to do since he'll need both front wheels in the air and also because he'll need a mechanic's feel to really tell if it's going or not.

Phoenix: Yes, in the end I just couldn't help myself. Once more I have pulled a Peter Egan.

ZV

Apples/oranges ZV! 😉

To be fair, I said when they start going bad. When they get to the point where the wheel is in danger of falling of they tend to make some pretty obvious noises. 😉

ZV

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Phoenix: Yes, in the end I just couldn't help myself. Once more I have pulled a Peter Egan.

ZV

:beer: Two Porsches and a Mustang... the ladies must be loving you. 🙂

Getting back to the thread: You could try going for a drive and coast along in neutral for a bit to see if you can hear anything odd. Second opinions don't hurt either.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Since they obviously had the car up on a lift, all they had to do was try to wiggle the wheel up and down...it shouldn't move. If it does, the bearing is bad.
Very common thing to check, and that doesn't sound like too bad a price, either.

If you want to double check it, jack that tire in the air and grab the top and bottom of it...and try to wiggle it. (pull out on the top, push in on the bottom and vice-versa). It shouldn't move.

 

[Toastedlightly]

hub replacement is easy (if the rotors and hub are seperate, even easier). I'd just buy the parts. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Depends if you the bearings are sealed or opened. If they are sealed you'll notice a growling type of sound at any speed although the sound will be more present at certain speeds. To determine if they're bad or not take the car out on a flat road with no cars around. Get going at around 40 or higher then drop the car in neutral and make sure the radio or air is off. Then quickly turn the car both directions. Turn left first and hold it there for a second then the opposite way. The sound will be more present when you turn. left is passenger side, right is drivers side during the turn.

As I said before..open road, no cars around. You don't want people to think you're drunk 🙂

 

[Wags1974]

A true technician will jack your vehicle up two ways to inspect it properly, once by the frame and once by the suspension. This takes a good rack, usually an alignment rack.

There are alot of different suspensions out, and each need a technician who knows them all to distribute weight on jacks appropiately to isolate components and find faults.

Anyhow If I find any play in the wheel bearings when I have the vehicle properly jacked up, I will prewarn a customer of a coming wheel bearing failure, sometimes there is no play and I hear it audibly in my six mike test drive audio system. Where I will velcro six different microphones on suspicious parts such as steering knuckle tie rods , trans, brake calipers etc..

Sometimes the sound can be picked up in hz frequency meters using sound are a good way of isolating a component.

If your technician doesnt use these methods im sorry, alot of fellow techs dont have 120k+ amassed in diagnostic tools.

A ford contour typically doesnt need bearings at that mileage if its highway mileage, small town mileage (alot of turns, accelerates bearing wear). I replaced both my bearings on my toyota at 100k which is unheard of, but I usually only do small town driving which doesnt exactly distribute the force of my constantly turning vehicle evenly.

Hope this helps.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: Wags1974
A true technician will jack your vehicle up two ways to inspect it properly, once by the frame and once by the suspension. This takes a good rack, usually an alignment rack.

There are alot of different suspensions out, and each need a technician who knows them all to distribute weight on jacks appropiately to isolate components and find faults.

Anyhow If I find any play in the wheel bearings when I have the vehicle properly jacked up, I will prewarn a customer of a coming wheel bearing failure, sometimes there is no play and I hear it audibly in my six mike test drive audio system. Where I will velcro six different microphones on suspicious parts such as steering knuckle tie rods , trans, brake calipers etc..

Sometimes the sound can be picked up in hz frequency meters using sound are a good way of isolating a component.

If your technician doesnt use these methods im sorry, alot of fellow techs dont have 120k+ amassed in diagnostic tools.

A ford contour typically doesnt need bearings at that mileage if its highway mileage, small town mileage (alot of turns, accelerates bearing wear). I replaced both my bearings on my toyota at 100k which is unheard of, but I usually only do small town driving which doesnt exactly distribute the force of my constantly turning vehicle evenly.

Hope this helps.

That all isn't necessarily true. Sometimes the sound can come from the half-shafts as well. Most of the time they can't determine it until they pop open the boots (inner and outer)

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Wags1974
A true technician will jack your vehicle up two ways to inspect it properly, once by the frame and once by the suspension. This takes a good rack, usually an alignment rack.

There are alot of different suspensions out, and each need a technician who knows them all to distribute weight on jacks appropiately to isolate components and find faults.

Anyhow If I find any play in the wheel bearings when I have the vehicle properly jacked up, I will prewarn a customer of a coming wheel bearing failure, sometimes there is no play and I hear it audibly in my six mike test drive audio system. Where I will velcro six different microphones on suspicious parts such as steering knuckle tie rods , trans, brake calipers etc..

Sometimes the sound can be picked up in hz frequency meters using sound are a good way of isolating a component.

If your technician doesnt use these methods im sorry, alot of fellow techs dont have 120k+ amassed in diagnostic tools.

A ford contour typically doesnt need bearings at that mileage if its highway mileage, small town mileage (alot of turns, accelerates bearing wear). I replaced both my bearings on my toyota at 100k which is unheard of, but I usually only do small town driving which doesnt exactly distribute the force of my constantly turning vehicle evenly.

Hope this helps.

How the hell does any competant mechanic need a bloody set of microphones to find an issue? Seriously, we don't have mechanics anymore, we have "technicians" who don't know anything more than how to read off of some computerized data screen. It's BS. What we need are more true mechanics who have the feel.

If some schmuck tried to bill me for a "six mike test drive" I'd be livid. It'd be a cold day in hell before I went to a shop like that again. That kind of crap is for people with more dollars than sense.

ZV

 

[RCN]

Originally posted by: Wags1974
A true technician will jack your vehicle up two ways to inspect it properly, once by the frame and once by the suspension. This takes a good rack, usually an alignment rack.

There are alot of different suspensions out, and each need a technician who knows them all to distribute weight on jacks appropiately to isolate components and find faults.

Anyhow If I find any play in the wheel bearings when I have the vehicle properly jacked up, I will prewarn a customer of a coming wheel bearing failure, sometimes there is no play and I hear it audibly in my six mike test drive audio system. Where I will velcro six different microphones on suspicious parts such as steering knuckle tie rods , trans, brake calipers etc..

Sometimes the sound can be picked up in hz frequency meters using sound are a good way of isolating a component.

If your technician doesnt use these methods im sorry, alot of fellow techs dont have 120k+ amassed in diagnostic tools.

A ford contour typically doesnt need bearings at that mileage if its highway mileage, small town mileage (alot of turns, accelerates bearing wear). I replaced both my bearings on my toyota at 100k which is unheard of, but I usually only do small town driving which doesnt exactly distribute the force of my constantly turning vehicle evenly.

Hope this helps.

Wow....how did we ever get along without such things? These aren't really diagnostic tools.....they are sales tools. Something to justify selling customers unneeded parts and maybe once in a great while actually diagnosing a real/ immediate problem...


OP jack the car up, grab the top and bottom of the wheel, and try to move it back and forth........

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Wheel bearings typically don't make huge amounts of noise when they start going bad, at least, they didn't on my decidedly low-tech 914 which was much more of a "woooo" sound that only happened when turning at speed.
ZV

An' only in da mornin', when people should be up cookin' breakfas' or somethin'.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: RCN

Originally posted by: Wags1974
A true technician will jack your vehicle up two ways to inspect it properly, once by the frame and once by the suspension. This takes a good rack, usually an alignment rack.

There are alot of different suspensions out, and each need a technician who knows them all to distribute weight on jacks appropiately to isolate components and find faults.

Anyhow If I find any play in the wheel bearings when I have the vehicle properly jacked up, I will prewarn a customer of a coming wheel bearing failure, sometimes there is no play and I hear it audibly in my six mike test drive audio system. Where I will velcro six different microphones on suspicious parts such as steering knuckle tie rods , trans, brake calipers etc..

Sometimes the sound can be picked up in hz frequency meters using sound are a good way of isolating a component.

If your technician doesnt use these methods im sorry, alot of fellow techs dont have 120k+ amassed in diagnostic tools.

A ford contour typically doesnt need bearings at that mileage if its highway mileage, small town mileage (alot of turns, accelerates bearing wear). I replaced both my bearings on my toyota at 100k which is unheard of, but I usually only do small town driving which doesnt exactly distribute the force of my constantly turning vehicle evenly.

Hope this helps.

Wow....how did we ever get along without such things? These aren't really diagnostic tools.....they are sales tools. Something to justify selling customers unneeded parts and maybe once in a great while actually diagnosing a real/ immediate problem...


OP jack the car up, grab the top and bottom of the wheel, and try to move it back and forth........

Not only that, but now that I think about it, his story of "A lot of turns accelerates bearing wear" fails the logic test. There's no provision for the wheel bearings to allow pivoting and you would need some pretty high-G cornering (i.e. high-speed) to produce any meaningful acceleration in wheel bearing wear. In-town driving means that the bearings are subjected to forces that are negligible at most. It's a low-RPM situation where the bearings won't get very hot and aren't stressed.

I think this guy works for the same shop that tried to convince me that brake calipers needed to be rebuilt or replaced every time the pads were changed.

ZV

 

[merlocka]

I've owned 2 ford contours, 96 SE and 98 SVT. Both needed at least one front bearing (amongst a ton of other stuff) at ~80k.

FWIW, the 96SE needed a complete suspension and new transmission at 115k. The SVT needed reworked transmission at 90k, then spun a bearing at 116k. Thus ended my interest in Fords.