HELMUT RONER

Hi, guys & gals. I'm trying to help an old friend out with her car. She told me about a bad noise coming from the left front wheel. I test drove her 2002 PT Cruiser a couple of nights ago and WOW it's bad. The noise is more of a groan. It's rythmic as the car is in motion. It becomes audible around 20MPH and is bad at 40/45MPH. The steering wheel has no shake or shimy so I eliminated the idea of a bad tire. The car stays straight as an arrow when I let go of the wheel at above mentioned speeds. You know the sound of a flat-spotted tire when it goes *wop wop wop wop* at speed? Well, it makes this sound, but it is more muffled since the noise can be heard through the floorboard. I can only guesstimate at this point that it might be the CV axle. The axle is not popping and making any snapping noises like the typical CV joint failures. I'm not a front wheel drive person and most of my mechanical knowledge is on Foxbody Mustangs. My friend doesn't have any other means of getting around if this car all of a sudden breaks on her. It's a nice car, too, and I'd like to help her keep it that way. She has had it since new. The shafts have never been replaced. Now that I think about it, the sound is identical to a failing front wheel bearing. I'd not familiar with front drive setups, if they have wheel bearings that need replacing or if it's a hub assembly.


I removed the wheel from the car. It has brand new front rotors and pads. I inspected both boots of the CV axle shaft. They are clean and no tears or leaks. I keep in mind the possibility of internal wear where in some cases the boots remain undamaged. One thing that worries me is that I can wiggle the front rotor a great deal with a little bit of force with my hand. I've never seen a front brake rotor wiggle so much whether it be FWD or RWD. Aren't they supposed to be tight with absolutely no play? Ideas and suggestions appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Mars_302

pretty sure its just a whole hub assembly on the pt cruisers. When you say wiggle. are you grabbing the the wheel when its still attached and it wiggles a lot? if so, then yea its the bears are shot. Even by the how it sounds, its your front wheel bearings.

oh just checked online looks like its its a pressed in bearing.

ExPlOReR_oN_DuBs16

Im sure as hell not going to read that whole thing, But i will cast my vote on a wheel bearing.
EDIT: yep its a wheel bearing.

HELMUT RONER

Thanks, Mars. Yea, I dug into this some more after posting. The bearing is pressed in. It can be replaced, but unless you have a bearing splitter and a press the hub assembly is non-serviceable. When I mentioned wiggle I was refering to when I actually grabbed the brake rotor and the thing moves. To me that does not seem normal, but I'm no front wheel drive tech. So, now I'm more sold on the bad bearing than the possibility of a bad CV axle. Also, learned this morning that the transmission was rebuilt in January of 2008 and is leaking small amounts of fluid now. I'm hoping that this problem hasn't fed back so much vibration through the drivetrain to cause the transmission to want to start acting up now.

ExPlOReR_oN_DuBs16

Yeah, I know a place called coughman tire on lithia and lumsden in brandon, That can do it. they have the tools to do it, they did it to one of my neons because they are press in on them too.

fuelie327

get a used one from gagels for 60 bux and be done with it, all the ones I have done , the center part of the hub,the male part is wore out.A new bearing doesnt come with that anyway

senor honda

What did you do that solved the problem?-Bob

HELMUT RONER

Up to this point nothing has been done, yet, but replacing the hub assembly with a junkyard one is a no-go here (by choice). Apparently, Chrysler, as always, can't get their s**t straight and had a part number change for the 2002 model year. They utilized two different size bearings in these cars for this year. 33mm ( Part number 4668442-AA ) & 39mm (Part number 5272448-AA ). Running the VIN at the dealership does not reveal which of the two sizes is being used in the car. The bearing needs to be pressed out and measured. The stealership pricing on their wheel bearings is mind boggling. 33mm is $128.50 and the 39mm is $98.90.


Features & Benefits
Double Row Ball, Open, Angular Contact For Even Load Distribution, Ground Surfaces For Longer Life
Attributes
Wheel Bearing I.D. : 1.6535"
Wheel Bearing O.D. : 2.9921"
Wheel Bearing Width : 1.2992"
Wheel Bearing Type : Double Row Ball

39mm bearing crossreference
5272448-AA
BRG FW129 (NAPA)
510058 (NATIONAL BEARING; ADVANCE AUTO PARTS & AUTOZONE)



Features & Benefits
Tapered Cup & Cone Set, Ground To Match For Better Performance & Longer Life
Attributes
Wheel Bearing I.D. : 1.6535"
Wheel Bearing O.D. : 2.992"
Wheel Bearing Width : 1.5354"
Wheel Bearing Type : Double Row Taper

33mm bearing crossreference
BRG FW115 (NAPA)
SET49 (TIMKEN; AUTOZONE)

Mars_302

you should just able to pop the grease seal off the back of hub and be able to measure it easily for the size. shouldnt be that hard to measure it without having to take it all apart. just have to pull the spindle off at least.

HELMUT RONER

Due to time constraints we are just going to buy one of each bearing and just return the one that didn't get used.