When the Omega went through the MOT last July, it had an advisory for front wheel bearings play on both sides. Tony (STS Watford) checked and confirmed it, but said it was very small play and nothing to worry about for now.
Recently, the car developed a vibration when braking from around 70mph to 50mph. The vibration could be felt through the steering wheel and was quite strong.
I wasn’t sure if the vibration problem was related to the bearing play, or perhaps it was a result of some problem with the brakes e.g. warped disks. However, I decided to renew the front wheel bearings, as well as the brake discs and pads, in one go.
The front wheel bearing is integral with the hub, so the entire unit needs changing, at a cost of around £70 per side. The discs and pads set cost the same again. All were original Vx parts bought on TC.
Having replaced the bearing, discs and pads, I test drove the car today and the problem seem to have disappeared, so hopefully this has cured it.
I was initially concerned about releasing the wheel nut which suppose to be very tight, but with the appropriate tool (1m long breaker bar) it came off easily and without a fuss. In fact, the whole operation involves undoing just one dust cap and one 32mm nut over a standard brake disc change.
A few notes I made along the way:
1. Haynes says that both the 18mm hub carrier bolts and the 13mm calliper bolts need to be replaced with new ones. I did buy new bolts, because they were only a couple of Pounds. I doubt however that everyone does this, definitely I have never been billed by Vx for bolts and I am certain that if they did use new bolts when changing the discs then they would show on the bill… but I still recommend that new bolts are used if available.
2. I read in several places that it is advised to open the calliper bleed nipple when pushing back the calliper to accommodate for the new pads, to avoid air bubbles being trapped in the ABS or the master cylinder seals being reversed. I did this on one side (using Draper’s one-man bleed kit), and as you can expect it was somewhat fiddly and messy. I then read the official Vx pad change procedure on TIS and they do not mention the need to open the bleed nipple – they simply say open brake fluid reservoir in engine bay and push calliper back. On the other side, I did just that and pushed the calliper back (using a Draper’s tool which makes it easier and safer) without opening the bleed nipple, and it seems to have worked OK. So on balance I don’t think it is really necessary to open the bleed nipple when changing pads…
3. The discs and pad were replaced by Vx 30,000 miles ago. Having inspected the old discs and pads, they seem fine… the discs’ surfaces are nice and flat and hardly grooved, with a lip of less than 1mm. The pads were quite chunky – probably around 2/3 of the thickness of the new pads. So if the vibration problem was due to the brakes, you definitely could not tell from looking at the components that there was anything wrong with them.
4. I find the whole issue with the front bearings quite puzzling. This is not a common fault, as can be seen from the fact it rarely comes up on the forum. And the Vx dealer did not have them in stock, which also says something. The car has only covered around 50,000 miles from new, and while a premature demise of a bearing is always a possibility, having both sides go at the same time is odd… just a thought.
And last, a special thank you to TheBoy whose excellent Front Discs Change maintenance guide I used when carrying-out this job.
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Topic: Front wheel bearings change - full report... (Read 1486 times)