Ford Puma / Fiesta - New Rear Wheel Bearing Failed twice in 1 week!

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Tue 29 Nov 2011 23:43
Ford Puma / Fiesta - New Rear Wheel Bearing Failed twice in 1 week! - Skelterz

Any suggestions gratefully received ... I don't know what to do now! (In "Subject" I wrote Puma/Fiesta because Pumas use Fiesta parts). Bought car 3 months ago so I don't know its history although it did pass all the online checks including accidents. But 1 rear wheel bearing was whirring when I bought it, although not too bad. Just got it replaced last week,, (watched him do it), and when I drove it home from the mechanic, the whirring noise was still there! Got worse over the week so took it back today and they confirmed this new bearing had failed ... there were little bits of metal that had sheared off around it. They replaced it with a new one, and again, when driving it home, whirring noise was still there, so my wheel bearing problem is still not fixed! Could there be another problem with the car that is making the wheel bearings fail? Please help! Anyone heard of this problem before?

Edited by Skelterz on 29/11/2011 at 23:49

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Wed 30 Nov 2011 09:02
Ford Puma / Fiesta - New Rear Wheel Bearing Failed twice in 1 week! - bathtub tom

It's not uncommon for a bearing to seize and the inner ends up turning on the stub axle. This damages the stub axle and no new bearing will ever be a tight fit.

It need dismantling again and a close inspection.

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Thu 1 Dec 2011 13:37
Ford Puma / Fiesta - New Rear Wheel Bearing Failed twice in 1 week! - BenG

If the root cause of the first bearing failure was not diagnosed then repeat failures are likely. Bearings can also be damaged by contamination by dirt, impact damage if incorrectly fitted, poor alignment during fitting.

There are plenty of other potential causes such as poor lubrication, corrosion, incorrect interference fit, etc. but these should not be an issue if the correct bearing has been fitted.

As the previous poster says, if the mounting surfaces are damaged then the bearing may not seat properly or may be loose and free to move around. Removing the bearing and checking the stub axle and outer housing for damage would rule out the latter issue. Any corrosion or mechanical damage should be removed before fitting the bearing and fitting should be done by pressing the interference-fitting race into place using a press and appropriate drift to ensure the fitting load is not transmitted via the roling elements in the bearing.

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Thu 1 Dec 2011 15:02
Ford Puma / Fiesta - New Rear Wheel Bearing Failed twice in 1 week! - madf

Pumas/Fiestas suffered from water ingress into the wheel bearings and a modified part with seal was made. If the stub axle is chewed up, the seal will fail.. and let in water..

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