Love_00_Max

Got the wheel bearings replaced today.

Timken (on the top it was NTK bearings made in Japan) bearings and the hubs were in good condition. Bearings costed me $70 and installation $80, the machine shop guy pulling out the bearings told me one was in the early stages of being shot and the other was OK. I went ahead and replaced them both anyway.

No more hum-hum sounds.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

I spoke too soon....
Got on the road yesterday for some normal driving....and all of a sudden my speedo starts acting-up, then my tach - and then my ABS light goes on!

I immediately called the mech who did the work, and said WTF?!
He gives me std. idiot replies, and says to bring it back in next week.

I made a SPECIAL POINT to tell them to check the ABS sensor while they had the hub off. Guy told me it looked fine, and put it back in.
NOW, it's going-off - and who knows WHAT's going-on.....I'm PISSSSSSSSEd!

Can anyone tell me what that thing looks like, and how they wear-out, so I know what to expect when he pulls it back out?!
Memory tells me, somebody else paid $150 to replace ONE. Ugh.

gr

Love_00_Max

The ABS sensor is connected to the knuckle and I sprayed PB Blaster and then used a screw driver to dislodge it and then pulled it out. It is a magnetic sensor working on resonance and it isn't something that will break if pulled. It is well built and the wiring is fully secured for accidental handling..

Now once it is out, I sprayed it with brake cleaner and then got the entire knuckle/hub off the vehicle and then took that to the machine shop for the bearing installation (the guy did both sides in 1 hr).

First disconnect the battery before handling any sensor, which is what I did.

Hope that helps..

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Good info - thanks.

See - what is starting to bother me, is that when I asked the mech about the ABS sensor, he said "it fell out" during disassembly.
He said it surprised him, as well.
This doesn't sound right, given what you just described. From reading other posts about the ABS sensor - typically, it doesn't just "fall-out" but rather is somewhat difficult to dislodge.....

I SPECIFICALLY asked him to make sure the ABS sensor was okay during disassembly -- and they assured me it was fine.
I'm now suspect of their practices.

I still don't have a diagram or picture of the sensor, but I'm starting to think 1) it was messed-up from the hub/bearing going bad or 2) the mech messed it up during disassembly.

Are sensors specific to EACH wheel?? --ergo: could I order one from DaveB to have on-hand for my mech to replace next week??

Thanks again.
gr

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

There is a single bolt that holds the ABS sensor in place. My guess is he didn't either tighten the bolt correctly or left it out altogether upon reinstallation.

The problem my car had was that the looseness of the bearing was enough to rub the ABS rotor teeth on the axle, requiring a new axle to get my ABS system working correctly again.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Is it possible that the sensor being LOSE in the assembly right now could cause further damage to it or the ABS rotor??? (assuming that's what it is)

I need to find a diagram of the assembly, so I can figure-out if I can get at it myself without disassembling the whole axle/cv assembly.

GAWDammit~! I should have just done this MYSELF!!!!!

WHy are mechanics so freakin' unreliable?!?!? I paid them good money to make sure this didn't happen, and I even ASKED THEM to be sure to check the ABS sensor
I'm tired of being totally disgusted with shoddy workmanship and paying thru the nose for it at auto repair shops!!!!
This shop is supposed to be one of the best in the area, who specialize in Jap. imports.
sorry for the rant....

gr

Love_00_Max

GR, I hear your pain. The ABS sensor is not cheap and it must be handled with care.

On hindsight you must be thinking if I had take the knuckle/hub assembly, all this confusion could have been avoided. There are many things in life we think back and could have done differently, this may not be your first or last -- that is the mystery of life.

Anyway, hopefully you get the problem resolved soon.

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Take off the wheel and look for the wire that leads to the ABS sensor. See where it goes into the back of the wheel area. There should be a 12mm bolt holding it in place. Remove bolt, clean off sensor, re-install and tighten the bolt.

P. Samson

The "air gap" between the wheel speed sensor business end and the teeth of the sensor ring is usually no more than about .040", so any issue with the wheel bearing stack (looseness for example) that causes the driveaxle not to rotate concentrically, can damage the wheel speed sensor and the sensor rotor teeth. AND.....rule # 1 is......whenever working with/around a driveaxle, steering knuckle etc.......remove the wheel speed sensor first. And again.......the axleshaft, bearing and hub being able to take all the loads (which can be considerable) and stay together is dependent on the locknut being torqued to the spec. of 188 - 245 ft/lbs. This does not seem to be understood by a lot of people.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Okay - so let me get this straight:

It IS entirely possible that the ABS sensor teeth/hub could have been damaged along with the bearing failure and hub damage.

It seems most likely to me, that the mech. didn't remove the sensor before disassembly of the hub and damaged it during the process, since he told me it (oops) just fell out when he took apart the hub. That was TOTALLY suspicious since most guys have a hard time dislodging it at all!
I SERIOUSLY doubt the 12mm retention bolt was missing before disassembly....again: it worked FINE when I brought it in to him.

Understanding that the axle nut needs to be torqued to King-kong specs to provide long-term reliability - I don't think that's an issue here.

I have to say, that since I was having NO ISSUES with the ABS before the hub/bearing replacement - I am favoring option b: the mechanic messed it up.

How will i be able to tell that the inner sensor ring teeth are still good?? Will the hub/bearing have to be completely uninstalled??
Is their a standard method of testing the (old) Sensor barring any obvious corroded or cut wire leads??
I actually went-ahead and ordered a new ABS sensor from Dave B today, since I was ordering some parts anyway....I figured it was prudent.

I just want to be sure that I don't have any pick-up sensor damage INSIDE the assembly.....ugh.

Thanks guys.
gr

P. Samson

Yes, as you stated, you didn't have any ABS issues before. The wheel speed sensor is not involved (other than it should be removed from the knuckle) in the actual wheel bearing replacement process. To look at the sensor business end you'll have to remove it from the knuckle. The business end is a round metal piece maybe 1/4" in dia., flush or just slightly proud of the plastic body of the sensor, and it's very magnetic. If the plastic body of the sensor is broken or cracked, then it's toast. The sensor rotor is a toothed ring pressed onto the outer CV joint on the driveaxle. You can't miss it. If the teeth look "mashed up" or gouged, then the teeth have contacted something.........but they normally should not contact anything. Compare it with the one on the opposite side. I checked the FSM, the front sensor gap can be/should be .011" - .037", so it wouldn't take much driveshaft/CV joint "wobble" for the rotor teeth to contact the sensor, as I stated above. If the rotor teeth are damaged, the ring can be replaced, but the driveaxle has to be removed obviously. The torque comment was a general comment, not specific to your issue.

nlmaxima

iTrader: (10)

You started by saying your speedo ant tach started acting up? What did they do? What ABS code do you have? The ABS sensor on an 02 is very easy to remove and I would guess that is what the mechanic is referring to and if you worked at it everyday you would understand.

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

First of all - huge thanks to all you guys for enduring my ranting on this issue, and the ABS sensor....

Second - after ALL my pissing and moaning - the mechanic didn't screw the 12mm bolt back in after reinstalling the ABS sensor!!
The sensor was slightly worn (normal for 60k miles), but I cleaned it up with some brake cleaner and toothbrush, and re-installed it.
All is well!!

I got a real good look at the teeth on the spindle, and everything looks fine - so, it was just an oversight by the mech - not a catastrophe.

LIve and learn.

Again - thanks for everyone's help and patience! This .org continues to be da shizzle!

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

--first the speedo jumped slightly, and then registered an incorrect reading while I was in motion....like 20 when I was clearly going over 40.

--then the tacho did the same jump, then settled at a higher engine speed than I was actually at....

Nothing dramatic. I went back to norm moments later, on both instruments, then the ABS light illuminated on the Dash.

gr

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Forgot to put the 12mm bolt back in, wow; find a new mechanic. Good mechanics double and triple check their work before the turn the car back over to the customer. My old Honda mechanic was the most **** guy I have ever seen about checking his work. Even after replacing an obviously blown radiator, he still double checked everything and even pressure tested the system again. Whenever his assistant would work on cars, he'd go over and check out the work to make sure it was done right as well. He has taken care of my cars since 1995 and I've never once had to bring it back because he forgot to do something, or left something off the car...and believe me, when I had my 626, he worked on my car a lot-even said if I ever sold it he'd have to get a part time job to make up for the lost income!

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

yeah - I have to say: of ALL the things I THOUGHT were the cause of the ABS failure.....leaving the bolt out was NOT one of them.

Oh - he's GONNA hear about it....trust me.

gr

pyroz

5 month bump but I am running into a similar problem. my passenger side front wheel makes a clanking sound when i'm making a right turn. can this be a bearing issue? it was low at first and would make it if i'm making a sharp turn, now any movement towards the right, i would hear it. it got progressively worst.

Edward Lee

iTrader: (3)

sounds like motor mounts

redhwk_01

OK... So I've had many of the same issues as others who've posted on this thread. I had the knocking/creaking/squeaking noises coming from the front passengers side of my Max about a year ago, and the problem was solved with a new wheel bearing, which was installed in Aug '07. (had just been replaced in June '07). Now, the same noises are back and they're coming from the same area on the car. However, the same shop that installed the bearing last August won't check it (nor will any other shop I've taken the car to) because these aren't typical symptoms of a bad wheel bearing. I agree that these symptoms aren't "typical" of a bad bearing, but this seems to be a issue specific to 5th Gen Maximas. Should I be looking to replace both the bearing and the hub? Any advice on what to do next?

boris

Before any costly repair try this: http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...t=#post6504371
(post #10). By doing this I've got rid of a very nasty noise w/out replacement of any fundamental stuff.

redhwk_01

Boris... I took my car in to my mechanic today and told him about the process you described in the post you referenced. The did it, along with greasing the bearing, hub, and every moving part, fitting and crevice on the front end of the car. They were able to do this by using a grease gun with a needle-like tip on the end. Noise is gone... but they can't really say which part of the suspension/steering was the culprit. They seem to think the noise will come back over time... What do you think?

boris

i didn't regrease any part other than the shaft/bearing connection. The noise didn't return yet (over a month). Let's see. Good luck to us...