have a droning noise coming from the back of car. it is loudest between 40-50 mph and speeds up with the acceleration of car.
can it be anything apart from rear wheel bearings?
to replace, is it just a case of removing wheel, removing 4 bolts from backing plate, replacing bearing?
any advice would be appreciated.
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Someone will be along shortly to tell you exactly how the job should be done (if they haven't already by the time I've finished writing this!) - however,
Foci DO have a reputation for worn bearings - and when an old friend rode in the back of ours, he swore that we had a bearing on its way out. This particular friend is a restorer of old cars and is a pretty good judge of all things mechanical. But, when we took the car in for service, we were told that there was no problem with the bearing - they had done a thorough check (they are a reliable garage). The noise was probably a manifestation of tyre/road noise that was new to my friend's ears - Foci are also known for being particularly noisy.
So - AFAIK, bearings on a Focus can be a bit tricky - so don't attempt the job unless you are sure that bearings are the source of the problem - and, if you go to a garage, make sure it's a reputable one - otherwise they may replace them needlessly!
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thanks for the reply waino. the noise is getting unbearable and am pretty sure that it is not tyre/road noise.
if it is not tyre/road noise is there anything else it can be apart from bearings?
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Jack up the wheels and spin them see if there noisey? also check for play.
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hello bigtee. can't feel any play. both rear wheels appear noisy when spinning, the offside slightly noisier.
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get your cash out and fit those bearings..
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new bearings it is then. just have to decide whether to buy complete or just bearings. thanks for the replies
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Get a Haynes, or similar. IIRC these should be dismantled via the backplate (don't ask)!
I did remove a Focus rear drum, without any apparent problems, to extract half a 'shakeproof' washer that set up a an awful sound when braking in reverse. It had just been serviced by a main dealer.
I think these bearings are a pain to extract. Gone are the days of drifting them out at home. You may have to take the assembly to get the old bearing pressed out, and the new inserted.
Edited by bathtub tom on 13/07/2008 at 20:23
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If you've got rear drums, then removing the drum/hub and stub axle in one go by undoing the 4 rear bolts as you described is a great way of working on the brakes without disturbing the bearings.
However - if you need to change the bearing, then you'll need to remove the hub-nut and the hub-nut is done up to 235Nm so you're going to need the stub axle on the car to undo it !
I've done both of mine within the past 12 months - once I undid the hubnut, I was able to remove my drums easily. Removing the bearing from the drum was impossible though. I eventually got a friendly local garage to press the old bearing out and a new one in for free the first time and £10 the second time.
My tip is if you use a generic bearing like I did (mine were Unipart) then make sure you re-use your Ford hub-nut or buy a new Ford hubnut if you think it's likely to have been on and off a few times, as they should only be reused 4 or 4 times max I think. I did this the first time with no problems. The second time I used the Unipart hubnut that came in the pack and the corners started rounding off at the very high torques required to tighten it back up - not good !
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