Am I missing something? I've been reading whel bearing posts for the past 90 minutes, and see nothing to indicate that i have a bearing problem. no whining noise when i drive the car. i took the car in to a MB deler to replace the battery, and got a free "safety inspection", where they found $1200 worth of repairs. Could they diagnose a wheel bering without removing the wheels or driving the car?

From what i've read on this forum, surely a repack just means cleaning off the old grease and putting new grease in the thing, right? How could that cost $330???!!!!

Even if I needed NEW bearings--a bearing kit is $46 on Fastlane/allparts. is that all I need? How complicated is this? Or should I just ignore the recommendation--I don't want my wheels to fall off, but I could use that money elsewhere. Please advise.

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84 300D anthracite grey, tan interior "Lola"

Diesel smells like farvegnugen!

Actually a wheel bearing can be going bad without making noises.
If the wheel bearing has some play beyond spec or doesnt spin smoothly then its most likely going. Also the wheel bearing seals may have been shot or the whoever did the wheel bearings on you car tighthen them too tightly and wore out your bearings prematurely. When your wheels starting making noise then its usually too late.

You payed dealership prices for those parts not online prices and payed for labor prices.

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

For the moment assume they are expensive rather than unskilled at that dealership. You can inspect and repack your front bearings yourself for possibly just the cost of replacement grease. Use threads in the archives for the proper method.

The mercedes front wheel bearings do not seem to require repacking as often as older american rear drive cars did. This does not mean they are maintenance free for their expected life. Anytime you buy an old car just assume they have not been done for far too long and do them. Really a minor job. After the first time it is like falling off a log.

Sounds to me like the dealer was trying to "pack" more than your wheel bearings. Hope he was planning on lube for that too...

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1983 300D-Turbo - Deep Blue w Palomino MB Tex (total loss in fire 1/5/09 RIP)
1995 E320 W124 Polar White/Grey Mushroom MB Tex
2005 F150 Supercrew - Arizona Beige - Lear topper
1985 Piaggio Vespa T5 - Black and Chrome

www.cphilip.com

if you're going to pull the bearings out why not replace them since they are probably the originals.

seals are less than $10/pair, even at napa. tub of grease= $5-$10.

so then you can go out for a nice dinner because you saved $310.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

Servicing wheel bearings is a routine, preventive thing. Do you need to tear an engine apart to "diagnose" the need for an oil change?

A bad wheel bearing can certainly be diagnosed without removing a wheel or driving the car.

I thought that name looked familiar. Hows the car treating ya?

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

tangofox007wrote:
A bad wheel bearing can certainly be diagnosed without removing a wheel or driving the car.

niki asks: How?


Johnhef wrote:
I thought that name looked familiar. Hows the car treating ya?

niki says: the AC never worked (i think the PO fibbed about that), but otherwise she ran perfectly until last month. the heat is off, which i'm hoping is due to the alternator/voltage regulator problem. and of course--this supposed wheel bearing issue.

i'm trying to figure out: do this NOW, or wait for nice weather. how do i know if it's urgent?

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84 300D anthracite grey, tan interior "Lola"

Diesel smells like farvegnugen!

A bad bearing can be felt and heard when the hub or wheel is turned by hand. Loose/worn bearings can also be detected "by hand." The condition of the grease can be observed by removing the grease cap only.

Also if you press against the top of the tire with your shoe and feel too much inward movement with a clunk, that means they are shot. It's true if you start to hear noises from them it's too late.

I had a wheel fall off at 75mph back in the day and my bearings were squeaking but I didn't know what it was (lol my how I have learned much)

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I am not a post whore, I am a car enthusiast.
86 190D 420k and counting

Its got my spare AC compressor on it, so I know it at least worked after I put that on there.

Putting your hand on the spring while spinning the wheel and feeling for vibrations and comparing it to the other side is also another way to diagnose a bad bearing.

As for the heat, what do you mean by off? blower motor inop or just blows cold? if it blows cold, did you check the monovalve yet?

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

I just took our 300E in for a free inspection recently and they found a "bunch of stuff", mostly minor though. Not $1200 worth...thats for sure.

They found "excess play in front bearings" I checked the tolerance and sure enough they were loose by quite a bit, about half a turn of the main locking nut on the spindle! After I got that all adjusted the vibration when braking at higher speed is completely gone. They also said the boots on the left tie rod and center link are broken....so I'll probably have the steering stuff replaced in the spring by them, but thats all.

They even found my license plate lamps not working (its not the bulbs...) and that the washer nozzles aren't spraying correctly. LOL. It was pretty thorough. I was amazed.

Nice thing is that its free, and then I took it home and fixed some of the stuff myself.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

The dealer wants to make more money than a simple battery replacement.
If your hearing is normal and you hear nothing as you drive your wheel bearings are fine. Wheel bearings are not a regular maintenance item. And there is no reason to think the dealer will charge Fastlane prices for parts.

According to Yahoo, "Frugal is the new sexy":

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/132943

I say, DIY.

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86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm