Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Synchros shot? Weird noises while shifting? Not sure what needs to be replaced?
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Canuck
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Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by Canuck »

Hi guys, I posted awhile ago regarding a noise from the front end of my Mazda 3.

Turns out it was the wheel bearing. I've asked around for prices; Mazda wants $550 to do the job (nuts), a trusted mechanic wants $415 to do the job (Better at least), but I was searching various sites and found

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2004/m ... embly.html

For $94 I thought I should just do it myself ( I think can do it, I just need a torque wrench).

For my questions though:

-Are those prices alright? For the record its Canadian pricing.
-Is this website trusted? It seems legit. Any other site you guys would recommend?
-How hard is it to swap a bearing out? I've never done one before, but I torn so many cars apart in High school, I know what I'm doing.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help!

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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by comingbackdown »

Canuck wrote: -How hard is it to swap a bearing out? I've never done one before, but I torn so many cars apart in High school, I know what I'm doing.
With a vehicle that new, you're probably talking replacing the whole hub.
Been there, done that. It's not necessarily an easy job, but it's doable.

I'm not familiar with Mazda vehicles, but here's your basic list on anything I've done. (If it's the entire hub, this is pretty much it.)

You have to remove the axle nut, caliper, rotor, and the bolts holding the hub in place.

Once it's off the ground, the axle nut is first. Some people recommend breaking it loose with the tire touching the ground, or using a spare (wtf?) I've always wound up putting a screwdriver or something into the vanes on the rotor to keep it in place. You may have to buy or rent a socket for the axle nut. They're usually rather large. Most of them, I don't have a socket to fit them.

Break the nut loose with a breaker bar, remove it. Then you remove the caliper and secure it out of the way (not totally remove. You don't want to disconnect it from the brake line. Thusly, secure it up out of the way.) pull the rotor. Usually there will be bolts on the back side holding the hub in place. Pull those, install the new hub assembly and reverse the procedure.

Usually you'll find torque specs for something like an axle nut, and maybe even the bolts holding the hub in place. If you intend to abide by these (not a bad idea. Alternative is torque the living piss out of it.) you'll need a torque wrench.

That's not a complete list of tools, but that's the basic procedure, and I haven't run into a vehicle yet where I didn't wind up replacing the hub assembly.

This is not as easy as the directions make it sound, and once again, I'm no Mazda expert...

About axle nuts: Once again, no Mazda experience here. However, they're usually in the 32-36mm range from my experience.

NOTE: ABS sensor may be on the hub. All you have to do for that is unplug it.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by Canuck »

Good stuff man thanks for the reply!

I think I could do it.. If its anything like this.

I'm just worried I'll run into something unexpected.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by theholycow »

That's a repair I'd definitely attempt for that price. From what I've heard, replacing an entire hub+bearing unit is easier than replacing a bearing that's not integrated with the hub.

rockauto.com is often proposed as a good place to buy parts. I've often used their catalog and resources but never actually bought from them.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by fa22raptorf22 »

We just did a wheel bearing in a vehicle last weekend.

Depending on the car, it may be an easy job.
You don't really need a torque wrench, but i would have an impact, wrenches, sockets, and hammers at your disposal for this one.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by comingbackdown »

fa22raptorf22 wrote:We just did a wheel bearing in a vehicle last weekend.

Depending on the car, it may be an easy job.
You don't really need a torque wrench, but if any of the fasteners let go and you die, you'll wish you had
Fixed.
fa22raptorf22 wrote:but i would have an impact, wrenches, sockets, and hammers at your disposal for this one.
Impact? Not necessarily. I do not advocate using an impact unless you have one with a very detailed torque adjustment, and even then they can jump before they hit the required torque. Always hit 'em twice.

Plus, I don't have an impact and I've done much worse things than a hub replacement. Gotten along without one just fine. I can think of a couple jobs where it would've been peachy to have one, but other than one of them I have no major gripes.
People piss me off with impact wrenches anyway... "Lug nuts? TORQUE 'EM!" "Oil drain bolt? TORQUE IT!" "Bolt of any kind, TORQUE IT DO- oh shit, I broke it..."

Now, on the rest of those tools, yes. Full set of sockets, combo wrenches, etc. No doubt in my mind everything on it is metric, so if that's all you have you should be fine.

Be careful breaking the axle nut loose! You'll need a breaker bar if you don't have an impact, and you don't want to slam the bar into the paint! Ideally, the breaker bar should be exactly parallel to the ground.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by Canuck »

Ugh.. well as much as I wanted to do this myself and save some money.. I no longer have access to a press, and since the wheel can wobble a good 3/8 inch either way, I'm just going to go to the mechanic tomorrow :/.

Thanks guys for you input! I appreciate it!

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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by theholycow »

Bummer about not DIY.

Impact wrench would probably be for removing big rusty nuts, not for putting stuff back together.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by LHOswald »

when i was helping my buddy take apart his b18 there was no impact wrench that was going to help us. even cranked to 200 psi the thing didn't budge. a long socket wrench with a 2.5 foot breaker bar with one guy holding the block and the other cranking the wrench eventually did it though...and that was just for the head bolts...
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by fa22raptorf22 »

Well yeah, for those who are not big advocates of impact guns...

You are right to be reserved about them, but in the proper hands they are very useful.

And yeah breaker bars are very handy to get all that leverage in there where you need it.
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by mrdrewsky »

It's not exactly an easy job on a mazda 3(at least on my 2005 it wasn't).I mean it's not exactly hard,
just not as easy as most cars. You have to have a press or access to one.
I'm sure since it's been a few months since this was posted you've already figured that out.
I just thought i'd put the info out there. It involves removing the entire steering knuckle and
pressing the bearing hub out and pressing the new one in. Also, i'd suggest getting both sides done at the same time.
You will need to rent or buy a bearing press tool(not too expensive and you can usually return them for a
full refund of rental price).
Harbor freight sells presses for around 100-200 us dollars. They aren't professional quality but they get
the job done.(not a commercial, just trying to save you trouble of hunting them down).
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Re: Mazda 3 wheel bearing!

Post by Rope-Pusher »

I did an '08 Focus wheel bearing a few months ago - I took the whole steering knuckle off and to a nearby auto shop - they pressed the hub out of the knuckle, pressed in a new bearing and pressed the hub back into the knuckle. I'm thinking Focus may be similar to Mazda 3, since they share the same milkman.

Ford fitted the axle stub splines real tight-like to the hub - needed a puller to press the shaft out. Don't beat it with a hammer, not even with the nut still on the end of the shaft, like I did. I ended up getting new nut prevailing torque nut and still having to cut off 1/8" or 1/4" from the end of the axle to get to some undeformed threads.


Autozone repair info list all the special tools needed

Wheel speed sensor, if equipped
Hub retainer nut. Mark the nut.
Brake caliper and rotor
Outer tie rod end
Lower ball joint

Separate the wheel hub from the halfshaft using a suitable puller.

Remove the steering knuckle pinch bolt

Release the knuckle using a suitable lever and remove from the vehicle.

Remove the wheel hub and outer bearing race using Special Tool 205-D064

Remove the bearing inner ring using Special Tools 204-180 and 205-D064

Remove the snap ring from the knuckle.

Reassemble the bearing cage to the bearing inner and install to the wheel knuckle.

Using Special Tools 205-153, 204-023 and 206-054, remove the bearing outer ring from the wheel knuckle
Press the bearing into the hub using Special Tools 205-153 and 205-140.



Fig. Installing the bearing into the hub with installer 205-140


Install the snap ring.

Press the hub into the wheel bearing using Special Tools 205-153, 204-023 and 206-054.

Draw the stub shaft into the wheel hub with Halfshaft installer 205-379.

Install or connect the following:
'08 Jeep Liberty 6-Speed MT - "Last of the Mohicans"
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