Hey guys, I've only owned my 02 T/A for about 2 weeks now but I have been hearing a rubbing noise from the rear end ever since I bought it. I checked out the brakes and they were good, so i thought it might be a wheel bearing. I brought it a Goodwrench shop and they said the bearing in the rear differential was going, and eventually would break. They quoted me $1400 for labor and parts. I said no to that for the time being, but I just wanted to ask you guys, is that a job you could do by yourself, replacing the bearings? I haven't even put 100 miles on the car since I bought it, what could cause the differential bearings to go?

 

It sounds to me like they are doing more than just that. When I did my tranny I figured it was a good time to replace the u joints. Then since I had the driveshaft off, I also did all the rear seals and bearings. Basically I figured, heck, since I was that far into it, why not pull the axle and rebuild the rear at the same time.

if you have never done any of that before, or don't have friends/relatives who have, then I suggest that you shop around for more quotes. It's not that it's brain surgery it's just do you have the space, the tools and the ability. Since you are going in, then nip all other potential problems and go for all the seals and bearings at once as well as u joints. Based upon the price you stated, i'd say that is what they are doing but you need to verify. There's also a nice dinner at Ruth's Chris for their entire shop within that price you quoted.

 

How many miles on the car? The bearing normally fail because of how the car is used. It is possible there was a defective bearing or incorrect assembly. Did they pull the rear cover or just go by noise? Do you have any history on the car? You could have another problem that caused the bearing to go bad. If a wheel bearing failed before and they did not clean out the rear real good that could cause it also.

As a general rule, I would not suggest a a first timer pulling a differential without someone there who know what he is doing. The installation process is very unforgiving.

 

41,000 miles on it. I asked the guy what could cause this, and he said if the car was driven real hard, accelerated hard all the time and things like that. I believe they did pull the cover (better have after I had to pay $120 for them to diagnose it). All I have for history is a Carfax report, which looks pretty clean to me. You guys think $1400 is a bit high? I guess I'll bring it to other shops this weekend and see what they think. Could a lack of lubrication cause this too? When I had the brakes checked, the guy said there was a slight leak in the rear end seal. he added about a pint of fluid he said. I haven't noticed any leaks on my garage floor, and it has been sitting in there for about a week now.

 

A pint would not be a problem. Did he mention replacing the gears? If you chipped a tooth on the gear and some metal got into the bearing and caused the failure I could see the price being close to that. He would have to replace the ring and pinion and disassemble the diff. If he was buying GM parts I could see $1400 but even then that would be the high side.

 

He didn't say anything about the gears, just that a bearing was going and would eventually break. He said the car could still be driven, but the noise would get louder and louder until the bearing finally broke; so I assume the gears are all ok.

 

try and remember exactly what Mr brakes said to you. When you had the brakes checked, they had the tires off and were looking at the wheel seal. If he saw seepage there, then you are looking at replacing both rear wheel seals.

Was that the only issue you have or is that in addition to what you already wrote?

As for cause, yes, as pre-load diminishes, and torque is applied to the rear end through accellration then yes, you could be looking at a failure like you now see.

IMHO, the quote you received is high as is $120 to diagnose because basically, they had to do a differential fluid change to inspect so you should have been charged just for that. Even if you add in limited slip additive $120 is still a wee bit high.

The car is 8 years old and already has these issues? Seriously, shop around the job for 2 more quotes. And, since the drive shaft will be removed, replace the u joints as well.


And, since it's up on the lift, inspect the tranny mount. If it's an automatic, change the tranny fluid and filter at the same time. Give the rear main seal a looksee as well since it's there.

That is just me but if you have a bad bearing, and a leaky seal, you may as well do it all since the axles are coming out.

And like Gorn said, if you have never done this before, as I also stated, don't attempt it unless you have a seasoned vet and the correct tools with you. Taking it apart is easy................

 

hmm, not sure where he saw the leak in the rear end, I'll see if it says on the work order. The leak was noticed before I had known the differential bearings were going. My father knows a guy who builds rear ends as a business, he says he can do it for $300 labor + parts.

 

If the guy is willing to take your car, rebuild the rear including all the seals and bearings, is capable of getting everything pre-loaded and torqued correctly, and will do it for $300 labor without any markup for parts, then jump all over that. Then, toss him an extra $50 cash when you pay him and say thanks.

Heck, I would have paid someone $300 in labor to not do it myself if i did not have to pay for marked up parts.

 

if its the axle bearing and seal i dont see that as a big job. u take the axle out, run it to a machine shop and have them change the bearing. pick up a new seal and put it in, not to hard with the axle and stuff outa the way. 300 bucks to do it all is a good deal if the guy know what hes doin. if its just for the axle bearing and seal i think u could do it for 100. now if the bearing has begin to go to pieces thats a completly different story. then its like gorn says u will need to clean, inspect and replace any damaged parts and that will mean a complete teardown. then 300 bucks is a really really good deal.