Thread: Front wheel hub

Had a bit too much play in the drivers side wheel bearing on my 97 300TDi auto so decided to tweak it up. Pulled the rubber cap off and it was full of fine powdery rust, removed the drive flange and it was full of what looked like fine shiney metal flakes. But they were not magnetic and when squashed between my fingers appeared to dissolve into the grease, also it did not feel like metal . Seeing all of this I decided to pull the outer bearing out and it was fine. I did not want to pull the caliper off to check the rest of the hub as whatever it was had to travel through or come from the outer bearing. Very odd, could this have been the grease doing funny stuff as it appeared to be drying out.

The passenger side bearing while needing a mild tweak had none of the stuff the other side had.

The spanner needed to adjust the large hub nuts is also used by electricians/plumbers to remove hot water tank elements here in NZ. I am a sparky and had one lying around



Adrian

If the RH bearing ahad play and the outsid eone was OK, the odds are the inside one is stuffed.
Remember the inside one is the nearest to water entry.
Regard sPhilip A