P2 front wheel bearing Timken, SKF or FAG ? 31329980

[scot850]

Yup, as abscate says, carrier bearing.

Neil.

[erikv11]

On Monday the shop looked at it. Same guy still running it, which is great. The only info I gave him was "noise with rotation" and he came back with "you've got a bad RF wheel bearing, no charge for diagnosis but cost for us to do it is just under $600."

So Monday night and Tuesday night I did the bearing job (FAG). Once the old one was removed it was more obviously bad - felt dry and a little rough when turning by hand. I spent at least an hour cleaning corrosion from the hub interior, that was not pleasant.

By comparison to before, the car rolls whisper quiet now 0-45 mph. Highway testing to come but I'm calling this one fixed.

I'll have to follow up on the tick in the carrier bearing. I was unable to alter that sound by oiling the bearing.

[erikv11]

My observation is the right side (passenger) bearings fail first, followed by the driver side somewhat shortly.

Volvo horns!

I may do the drivers side soon, preventively, partly just get it done before another season/year/etc. of corrosion to the hub. We drive this XC70 the most among the fleet.

[vtl]

I may do the drivers side soon, preventively, partly just get it done before another season/year/etc. of corrosion to the hub. We drive this XC70 the most among the fleet.

My front hubs both failed at ~150k miles, passenger side just a tad earlier. Later they were transplanted to a donor body. The donor had the rear hub failed at 245k miles. I thought it was the old dirty one and replaced it, just to find out I replaced a good, solid factory installed wheel hub that still was snug and quiet. The real problem was a new shiny Optima wheel hub on the other side, installed by a P.O. only ~30k miles ago and already falling apart.

[erikv11]

Oops I'm saying hub where I mean "steering knuckle." The knuckle surface had a lot of scale/corrosion buildup where the hub bearing mounts.

Car sits at 185k, may be time ...

[abscate]

Awarded for the careful, correct diagnosis and repair of a Volvo with verve and élan.


It pays not to russet those jobs…

[abscate]

I noticed you swapped sides from the initial diagnosis. Doing the wrong side would suck potatoes and eggs. Any insight other than running it up in the air?

[famfeld]

FAG worked well for me 25k miles ago. Don't forget the inner dust protector as mentioned above (not sure if they are really important, but I always put them back or replace if they are damaged). FCP euro, for the most part doesn't sell poor quality parts, also lifetime warranty so as long as the labor 8s not too involved its low risk. This job is not that bad imo.

[famfeld]

FAG for me going strong 25k miles later. Not a hard job if you've done an axle before you can handle it.

[erikv11]

I noticed you swapped sides from the initial diagnosis. Doing the wrong side would suck potatoes and eggs. Any insight other than running it up in the air?

Yeah, I became uncertain on which side and that led me to put it in the air, for the most part. Then even after running it up the air and deciding on the right side, I couldn't confirm that from inside the car, running straight or by swerve test. Really wanted the noise to change with load/unload but it wasn't happening. So for this one yes, the critical test was getting the wheels up and getting outside the car. I checked all four.

The original dust protector fell to pieces when I popped the axle out of the hub during the job. I agree, always have a new one on hand if the axle is leaving the hub.