Something to avoid when replacing rear wheel bearing
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#21
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Here's a GOTCHA to avoid when I replaced the rear wheel bearing on my 2007 GS350 AWD
When I re-assembled the right rear bearing assy, I couldn’t get the ABS sensor back in the hole even though I visually aligned the dust cover hole prior to tightening, but you basically have to have the dust cover fully seated for the holes to line up and once fully seated you can’t make minor adjustment. No matter what I did I couldn’t get the ABS sensor installed so I removed the axle nut to push the axle back in again so I could adjust the dust cover. This time while the dust cover was partially loose, I installed the ABS sensor into the hole in the dust cover before fully tightening (thought good idea but mistake 1). Remember this is a blind assembly so as I tightened the axle nut the thin sheet metal dust cover is supposed to self-align and fit between tapered surface of the rear bearing and the housing that supports the rear bearing (except if Murphy’s Law has a say). Putting the ABS sensor in first probably prevented it from self-centering and I somehow pinched the sheet metal and deformed it. I used an impact wrench to tighten the axle nut (mistake 2) and did the damage. If I had done this manually, I probably would have felt something wasn’t right while tightening and backed off.
Anyway I didn’t know I had done this and buttoned everything up and drove off but returned after only ½ mile. Immediately ABS sensor/check AWD idiot lights lit up. My first inclination was that the bearing I just installed wasn’t the right one for ABS. Spent about 3 days contacting the seller (through Amazon) and finally confirmed I had the right part (luckily I had another car to use while I waited so I didn’t do more damage). So I took the bearing out again (really fast this time) and saw what I had done. A few whacks with a hammer and rod straightened the dust cover good enough. And I was really careful putting it back in place but I still couldn’t get the ABS sensor back in so while the dust cover was installed I drilled out the dust cover hole slightly bigger and then it went in fine (should have done that in the first place!). In retrospect, the dust cover mis-alignment probably pushed the ABS sensor slightly off angle which is why the ABS sensor didn’t work. Unfortunately as I waited those 3 days, I bought a new ABS sensor (another $100) just in case I damaged it trying to shove it in.
Things are much quieter now and my rear wheel is not overheating anymore. BTW, I couldn’t tell which bearing was bad since I only heard the noise at 50mph and above and couldn’t use the trick of turning the wheel one way or the other to help identify the bad wheel but I did use an IR thermometer and took temps of each wheel. 3 of the 4 wheels read about 150F degrees at the base of the rotor and the right rear wheel was 450F degrees! So that was a dead giveaway.
At first I thought, it must be that right rear (common on these cars) brake caliper seized again, I had replaced this one about 20K miles ago so I thought no way, but you never know. After inspecting the caliper it still slid easily on the pin. So it must be bearing, right? But after reinstalling everything, I noticed the brake caliper piston was seized. So I replaced this fairly new caliper also. I’ll never know if an overheating bearing caused the brake piston to seize or vice versa.So I won’t disparage the after-market 2 year old caliper I bought since it might have seized due to an overheated rear bearing but I’ll never buy that brand again.
Other tips: the bolts that hold the rear bearing are 10mm Allen head bolts so you’ll need a 10mm hex with a socket extension and if you can get the type with a small neck ground about ¼” from the end that allows you to angle the Allen hex a bit, that would help immensely (mind did not).And get a slide hammer ($75-$100 variety with adapter for 4 or 5 bolt lug pattern). This will save you an hour of frustration as I had a $30 variety and it wouldn’t budge the bearing. With that, if you’ve replaced brakes, you can do this job.
When I re-assembled the right rear bearing assy, I couldn’t get the ABS sensor back in the hole even though I visually aligned the dust cover hole prior to tightening, but you basically have to have the dust cover fully seated for the holes to line up and once fully seated you can’t make minor adjustment. No matter what I did I couldn’t get the ABS sensor installed so I removed the axle nut to push the axle back in again so I could adjust the dust cover. This time while the dust cover was partially loose, I installed the ABS sensor into the hole in the dust cover before fully tightening (thought good idea but mistake 1). Remember this is a blind assembly so as I tightened the axle nut the thin sheet metal dust cover is supposed to self-align and fit between tapered surface of the rear bearing and the housing that supports the rear bearing (except if Murphy’s Law has a say). Putting the ABS sensor in first probably prevented it from self-centering and I somehow pinched the sheet metal and deformed it. I used an impact wrench to tighten the axle nut (mistake 2) and did the damage. If I had done this manually, I probably would have felt something wasn’t right while tightening and backed off.
Anyway I didn’t know I had done this and buttoned everything up and drove off but returned after only ½ mile. Immediately ABS sensor/check AWD idiot lights lit up. My first inclination was that the bearing I just installed wasn’t the right one for ABS. Spent about 3 days contacting the seller (through Amazon) and finally confirmed I had the right part (luckily I had another car to use while I waited so I didn’t do more damage). So I took the bearing out again (really fast this time) and saw what I had done. A few whacks with a hammer and rod straightened the dust cover good enough. And I was really careful putting it back in place but I still couldn’t get the ABS sensor back in so while the dust cover was installed I drilled out the dust cover hole slightly bigger and then it went in fine (should have done that in the first place!). In retrospect, the dust cover mis-alignment probably pushed the ABS sensor slightly off angle which is why the ABS sensor didn’t work. Unfortunately as I waited those 3 days, I bought a new ABS sensor (another $100) just in case I damaged it trying to shove it in.
Things are much quieter now and my rear wheel is not overheating anymore. BTW, I couldn’t tell which bearing was bad since I only heard the noise at 50mph and above and couldn’t use the trick of turning the wheel one way or the other to help identify the bad wheel but I did use an IR thermometer and took temps of each wheel. 3 of the 4 wheels read about 150F degrees at the base of the rotor and the right rear wheel was 450F degrees! So that was a dead giveaway.
At first I thought, it must be that right rear (common on these cars) brake caliper seized again, I had replaced this one about 20K miles ago so I thought no way, but you never know. After inspecting the caliper it still slid easily on the pin. So it must be bearing, right? But after reinstalling everything, I noticed the brake caliper piston was seized. So I replaced this fairly new caliper also. I’ll never know if an overheating bearing caused the brake piston to seize or vice versa.So I won’t disparage the after-market 2 year old caliper I bought since it might have seized due to an overheated rear bearing but I’ll never buy that brand again.
Other tips: the bolts that hold the rear bearing are 10mm Allen head bolts so you’ll need a 10mm hex with a socket extension and if you can get the type with a small neck ground about ¼” from the end that allows you to angle the Allen hex a bit, that would help immensely (mind did not).And get a slide hammer ($75-$100 variety with adapter for 4 or 5 bolt lug pattern). This will save you an hour of frustration as I had a $30 variety and it wouldn’t budge the bearing. With that, if you’ve replaced brakes, you can do this job.
thank you!
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Part Number: 4245130020
Supersession(s): 42451-30020
rear wheel bearing dust, no. 2 left; rear wheel bearing dust, no. 2 right
#23
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I have done the same thing, because I am having the same problem with the ABS sensor not going into the hole after replacing the rear wheel bearing on my 2006 GS300. To correct this, it sounds like I will need to remove the wheel bearing, refit the dust cover properly to the bearing and reinstall, is that correct? Or do I just need to remove the axle shaft and seat the dust cover on the shaft? Should I just get another dust cover, expecting the old one to be trashed?
Thanks for any ideas.
Thanks for any ideas.
#24
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Also, when looking up the part number for the deflector, it says
Part Number: 4245130020
Supersession(s): 42451-30020REAR WHEEL BEARING DUST, NO. 2 LEFT; REAR WHEEL BEARING DUST, NO. 2 RIGHT
Which means this same part number is for either the left or the right wheel bearing, is this correct? Some listings describe it as only being for the left side.
Thanks again.
Part Number: 4245130020
Supersession(s): 42451-30020REAR WHEEL BEARING DUST, NO. 2 LEFT; REAR WHEEL BEARING DUST, NO. 2 RIGHT
Which means this same part number is for either the left or the right wheel bearing, is this correct? Some listings describe it as only being for the left side.
Thanks again.
#25
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I had to break off both rear sensors, they were siezed in the holes. You can get cheap ones on RockAuto for $15 CDN each https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ed+sensor,1912
I used a screwdriver to line up the holes before fully tightening the axle nut, it took a bit of finesse, but it's not too difficult. This is definitely a good gotcha heads up.
I used a screwdriver to line up the holes before fully tightening the axle nut, it took a bit of finesse, but it's not too difficult. This is definitely a good gotcha heads up.
Last edited by dgmorr; 04-26-22 at 05:34 AM.
#26
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Tips from this board and my experience:
The ABS sensor does need to be removed, first step
The parking brake shoes do not need to be removed
The dust shield will likely shift when the axle nut is removed and the axle spline pushed back
Unless you have a long 10mm allen socket, consider removing the dust shield altogether with the axle for access to the bearing bolts
The bearing will require some force to remove, a dead-blow hammer hitting outer flange finally broke mine loose
As said above, reassembly requires carefully repositioning the dust shield, assure the ABS hole is aligned
All of this learned by doing everything wrong the first time!
The ABS sensor does need to be removed, first step
The parking brake shoes do not need to be removed
The dust shield will likely shift when the axle nut is removed and the axle spline pushed back
Unless you have a long 10mm allen socket, consider removing the dust shield altogether with the axle for access to the bearing bolts
The bearing will require some force to remove, a dead-blow hammer hitting outer flange finally broke mine loose
As said above, reassembly requires carefully repositioning the dust shield, assure the ABS hole is aligned
All of this learned by doing everything wrong the first time!
#27
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When doing the RH rear bearing of my 2005 GS300 RWD I had the same issue as dgmorr, ABS sensor seized in the hole and had to drill it out. As I already did some taps on the wheel bearing, I expected the sensor was broken already. Afterall I might have taken the chance to keep it in. But I didn't expect the thing to be fully rotten in the alu-oxide, same as the bearing. Tomorrow my Toyota dealer will have the ABS-sensor in store so I can pick it up. I will definetly try to keep the dustcover in place so I don't have to remove the bearing again when it's not alligned properly.
#28
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After installing my RH wheel bearing and finding the dust shield misaligned, I was able to realign it without removing the bearing. Using a combination of prying it through the ABS sensor hole and tapping it in place from the backside, it went into position and the ABS sensor went into position and worked flawlessly. For more serious misalignment, the axle nut could be removed and the axle pushed back a couple of inches, giving access to the dust shield from the backside of the axle carrier, so you could pry it out and reposition.
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ThinlaneT (05-24-22)
#29
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After installing my RH wheel bearing and finding the dust shield misaligned, I was able to realign it without removing the bearing. Using a combination of prying it through the ABS sensor hole and tapping it in place from the backside, it went into position and the ABS sensor went into position and worked flawlessly. For more serious misalignment, the axle nut could be removed and the axle pushed back a couple of inches, giving access to the dust shield from the backside of the axle carrier, so you could pry it out and reposition.