2002 Pontiac Sunfire metal on metal grinding

CHRIO99

MEMBER
2002 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
175,000 MILES

I went to a mechanic about some grumbling was told my front drivers side wheel bearing needed to be replaced, ($200 canadian)have yet to do this, the noise is very loud and just today I noticed a grinding with the front drivers side wheel when applying brakes, this then worsened so that even when driving slowly, with no brake pressure applied I still hear the grinding. Though it is noticebly less noisy, the noise is much worse when braking and follows the speed of the car. Could it be the wheel bearing making the grinding noise or is this a problem with the brakes, I dont have much money and would prefer to fix what I can my self, or fix what little I can at a shop for now, any advice?

1 Reply

AIRSOFTSOLDRECN9

MEMBER
348 POSTS

This is actually fairly simple. The wheel hub assembly must be changed. You will need to jack up the car like as if you were changing the tire. Remove the lug nuts and tire. You will need to remove the rotor, calipers (don't disconnect the brake lines just suspend it out of the way) and the brake shield. This is the wheel hub. The middle bolt links the inside of the hub to the axle shaft. Measure the bolt with a tape measure so you can get the right sized socket. You might need a breaker bar to do this since it will be around 140 ft. Lbs or greater (make sure you remove the king pin if there is one). There may be another set of bots that holds the assembly to the steering knuckle so remove those and the assembly should come free. Installation is reverse of removal (you need to get that bolt to the correct torque otherwise you risk destroying the axle). I am not sure what the cost of a new assembly is but you will probably only save yourself $50-$75.