Rezman

So I'm about 200 miles out from my transmission replacement (02 RX300 FWD) and have been getting progressively louder noise from front passenger side wheel, much louder than could be attributed to my worn out tires (which are being replaced this weekend.) I'm thinking it's the wheel bearings. It sounds almost like going over a rumble strip and gets louder at speed.

Is it possible/likely that the bearing was damaged during the transmission replacement? Do they take off that axle during the replacement and could it have been damaged then?

salimshah

Can happen, but most likely there can be a problem with reassembly of the shafts.

Who ever separated the x-mission from the wheels, should have marked the position of shafts at each coupling and reassembled them matching the marks.

I would ask them to have a look and even check the bearings. Only then put the new tires and my vote would be to get your vehicle re-aligned.

Salim

Rezman

Thanks Salim.
I jacked up the right front today and spun the wheel. I could feel a good bit of resistance a hear a kind of tick tick tick when I turned it.

And I will definitely get it realigned after new tires and whatever the problem is gets corrected.

salimshah

Dumb question on part, but was the trans in 'N' with chocked wheels on ground?

Salim

Rezman

Tx was in neutral, engine off, just front right jacked up and tire off the ground.

code58

Try jacking the front up from the center so that both wheels are off the ground. You shouldn't get very much resistance from rotating the wheel. If one wheel is still on the ground it will increase the resistance because of how the transaxle works. Try turning both wheels (one at a time) when the front end is jacked up. It IS possible for them to have made a mistake when inserting the axle in the transaxle. I have seen it a number of times and the end result is usually need of a rebuilt axle assembly and on more than one occasion much more damage than that, depending on make of vehicle. I would definitely take it back immediately and get them to check it out. Unless they are an extremely honest shop I wouldn't count on them owning up to their mistake because they know it's easy to convince an unknowledgeable car owner that it is simply coincidence, when they know better. Happened to a friend of mine on a Chrysler (front wheel drive) that clearly didn't have the problem before they worked on it. When he took it back they checked it out and said it wasn't their fault when it clearly was. (that is a mechanics assessment (me) who was familiar with the car)

defo

iTrader: (6)

I had this same wheel bearing go out on me. Unbeknown to me, one of the upper control arm bolt was loose (not loose to the touch, but not tight when you put a socket on it) and over time it allowed the wheel bearing to wear unevenly, and gradually became louder and louder (the sound was more obvious while making swapping turns, like on the freeway).

Anyway, wheel bearings are pretty cheap, but you need to take the the front hub assembly off (from memory, just remove the steering tie rod, brake caliper and rotor, remove the main axle nut...you need a large socket, like 27mm, and un-bolt the control arms.....then the hub assembly will slide out and off the axle.....removing the steering rod was the hard part, you need to remove the castle nut, put it back on up-side-down, thread it down until the rod is just below the nut, far enough to have the most thread contact but fully cover and protect the end of threads, then literally hammer the tie rod nut until it pops free from the arm), and bring it to a shop and have the old axle sleeve pressed-off the bearing, then press out the bearing from the hub, and the new bearing pressed-together.

That is from memory from about 2 years ago, so I may have missed a step, also if the bearing has been wobbling for some time, you may have warped the bearing shaft (this is what happened to me, so I replaced the wheel bearing only to have the new one start doing the same thing), from what I was told, the bore shaft for the bearing had worn to a slight oval (so slight you could not see it) which allowed the new bearing to move up and down inside the bore.
So, I bought a used hub assembly from ebay, and swapped it out....everything has been perfect since......also note, the FWD and AWD have slightly different size front axle splines (larger on FWD than AWD), so if you get a used assembly make sure it is from the same set-up you have.

Rezman

Thanks defo and code 58.
Unfortunately my two most advanced tools are a household ratchet set and a compound miter saw, so I won't be taking the hub apart myself.
I also haven't found a shop anywhere near here that will let you bring your own parts and just do the work.

Rezman

It was only a bad bearing, nothing else. Now that's fixed, and the ride on my new Bridgestone H/L Dueler 422 Ecopias is awesome. Almost as smooth as a brand new RX, and quieter.

defo

iTrader: (6)

I bet it's unbelievably quieter....I think as a bearing gradually goes bad, the noise gets louder slowly and you don't notice the incremental noise increase.

When I replaced mine, I could not believe how quiet it was, and smooth.

salimshah

yeah but, OPs problem with the bearing manifested after transmission work.

May be it was bad to begin with.

Salim

Rezman

Between my tires being down to the wear bars and the whining worn out transmission, it's entirely conceivable that I didn't notice gradual increasing noise/vibration from the right front. I'm sure removing the axle during the transmission replacement probably aggravated the condition and hastened its demise, but I don't think they "damaged" it per se.