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Rear Hub Bearing Replacement - How to?

46K views 29 replies 17 participants last post by  crypticlineage  
#1 ·
I brought my car to the dealership to get it looked at due to a noise coming from the rear wheel. After examining the car, they told me it was the rear hub bearing that needed to be replaced. I am now aware of the recall associated with this, but they are refusing to cover it under the recall. They want to charge me $150 for the rear hub bearing assembly, and $150 for the labor.

Not to drag this out any further, can someone give me a simple DIY for replacing the rear hub bearing assembly (driver side). I am fairly mechanically inclined and have done all previous work on my car myself so far. I just want to get an idea as to whether I can tackle this myself and avoid the $150 labor fee. I don't need super detailed instructions or pictures, a quick narrative of how it would be done is great, just to get an idea of what this job entails.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
I called the corporate office about it and put in a complaint, they said I should hear back from a case manager in 1-2 days. I am more concerned that after all is said and done they won't do it for free and I will be stuck with the bill. I'd rather just go ahead and do it myself, save the hassle and save $150 in labor.

At the dealership they told me that there was nothing wrong with the ABS O-ring and since this was not defective it was not covered under the recall and that it was just a worn out hub bearing. I don't know what caused it, but 68,000 miles is not very far on a hub bearing if you ask me. Something's not right.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, mine falls within the VIN for the recall. What they are arguing is that they inspected the ABS sensor in 2007 and noted that it was properly installed and had no problems. Now they are saying that the ABS sensor is not what caused the problem, so it is just normal wear and tear. Did your dealer note that there was damage to the ABS sensor O-ring that you can remember? I wish I could bring it to another dealer, but I really think the rim/tire will fall off if I drive the car any more, it is that bad.

I wish I had the guts to just drive it til I got into a wreck because of it and sue honda, but I don't have the nerve to do it. I think right now I am just going to wait for corporate honda's response on the matter and tell the dealer to hold off on replacing the part til I hear back. If corporate honda tells me no on the recall covering it, then I will just do it myself.
 
#15 ·
^ Exactly (couldn't remember the TSB #)

So someone show me a TSB or recall for the HUB ITSELF, because I'm 99% certain there isn't one.
 
#14 ·
I was not aware of a recall on the rear HUB, however, I AM aware of one for the rear speed sensor(s) (one per side).

honestly, its too easy to replace the hub:

- remove wheel
- remove caliper & rotor
- remove 4 bolts (12mm? i think) on hub
- reverse for installation

A new hub should cost ~$100
 
#19 ·
You are correct in saying the recall is on the rear speed sensors, what I am arguing to Honda is that 68000 miles is not enough for a hub bearing. The recall on the speed sensor O-ring states if the ring is damaged to replace both the ring and the bearing, I am trying to tell them that there must have been something wrong with the O-ring for the hub bearing to fail prematurely.

I am going to be doing this repair myself today, the only thing that is bad about it is that they are charging me $150 for the part and I'm sure when I go to pick up my car, they will be charging another $75 or so for a "diagnostic fee," putting me in the ballpark of $225 with me doing the work myself. As far as the diagnostic goes, I pretty much brought it to them telling them it was the rear hub bearing and I was hoping it would be covered under the recall. I guess I will just have to learn from this one $75 mistake.
 
#22 ·
Yeah, so I went to the dealer and picked up my car and the part and did the install myself. I still have a complaint in with Honda Corp. and I don't know where that will go. The install went smooth, took me about 45 mins total. They ended up charging me $139.29 for the part which I feel like is a rip-off, but I needed it done today. The good news is that they did not try to charge me for any sort of diagnostic fee or anything of the sort.

On another note, the car is so much quieter now with the new bearing. I must have been having problems with it for longer than I thought and just thought it was road noise from cheaper tires. The car just feels so smooth and quiet now, I love it.
 
#26 ·
At about 90k my pass.rear has shown wear, so its my turn to change out my hub assemblies. Found a great deal on a pair of rear hub assemblies (left and right). Anyone have any opinions that would make me reconsider purchasing these for $99 and free shipping. It looks like all I would need to get is a new O-ring for each assembly.

2 Rear 06-08 Honda Civic Wheel Hub Bearing ABS PAIR

Are there any other special tools that I need to rent from the auto store to perform the work. I have a basic set of tools at home.
 
#27 ·
Dealerships suck!! I thought tires because they told me tires for years, now I'm over 100k and they aren't going to do anything I'm sure, but I took the car there at 42000 miles complaining about loud noises, and they talked me into buying tires! which didn't help much if at all. I know I'm peeing into fire going back Monday, after riding over 100k miles, but I am bringing the bulletin there, and let them feel the annoying customer for at least 15 minutes, and then contacting Honda Corporate.
 
#28 ·
Hey OP,

When you removed the bearing, was it rusted?

The recall was issued because Honda could not guarantee the ABS sensor o-ring was seated properly, if it was rolled or pinched, it would allow water to enter the knuckle and get to the hub bearing. The bearing would corrode and eventually fail (there were a hand full of wheel separations).

Reason I ask... well, actually two reasons:
1. If the original bearing was rusted, you still have a leaking O-Ring... and its just going to happen again.
2. If the original bearing was rusted, the failure IS COVERED by the recall, and you should take the original part back to the dealer and get your money back. The dealer may have inspected the sensor O-Ring back in 2007, but THEY likely f'd it up reinstalling, causing a leak when there wasn't one to start with.

Honda had a lot of collateral warranty from that recall campaign. Dealers would check the o-ring, see its OK, then damage it when they re-install it. That O-Ring was a crap design, Honda changed it around 2008, and made the supplier install the sensor with an alignment jig. Basically, if you don't insert the ABS sensor COMPLETELY STRAIGHT into the hole in the knuckle, AND adequately lube the sensor... it pinches and rolls, then leaks. Depending on how much water your car sees, it can cause bearing noise to start occurring as soon as 5k...

-SWRT
 
#29 ·
Confused

I just received a replacement hub bearing from Amazon and about to do the work this evening. However, I have some questions.

1. Is there an ABS sensor on the rear wheel and what needs to be done about it?

2. Does the rear wheel have a central hub nut as I have seen in many many youtube videos? Or is this central nut only on the wheels with disc brakes?

3. What is the rear hub held in place with? Is it 5 bolts or 4? I take it that these bolts are in addition to the tire holding bolts. What size are the bolts holding the hub in place?

Thanks.
 
#30 ·
So I finally got to replacing the bearing today. I had to open both wheels as I could not tell if any of the bearing was bad. No play, no noise when rotating. Still I went ahead and replaced the passenger rear hub.

Unfortunately the sound is still there. The tires look practically new. I couldnt tell if insides of the tores were worn mire than outsides.

So what could explain the noise now?


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