Wheel Bearing Issues

[SpectralSamurai]

I need to replace mine. I have everything off and out...except the wheel bearings. The ____ing things just will not move. At all. Broke the slide hammer I got to pull them (cheap, not surprising), wound up yanking all the individual bearings out of it, then came the metal piece that holds them in place, but the outer metal piece simply will not move. Tried to tap it a bit to break it loose with a hammer and a jack extender (large and round) only broke more bearings loose, tried a hammer and chisel, tried an air chisel. Nothing works. I did however manage to break a piece of the edge off the shell of the bearing, other than that, nothing. Die grinder ran the tank dry before I could grind through it, and there are obvious issues with that approach anyway (like screwing things up). So what am I supposed to do to get these blasted things out? Did I miss something in the repair manual translation?

 

[Red_LX]

So what you're saying is that the bearing is siezed on the spindle? If so, well...that's not good. I can't honestly say I would know what to do there. Is there any sign of bluing of the metal?

 

[techdbw]

I have used this method in similar situations.
If the bearing race is stuck to the spindle, you can try cutting the race with a die grinder and cutoff wheel. Be careful you don't go to far or you could grind into the spindle. Now put on your safety glasses and face shield and hit the race at the groove you just cut using the ball end of a ballpeen hammer, you have to be careful not to hit the spindle. The race is very hard and should crack all the way through at the groove. The race should then slide right off.

Hope this helps.

 

[SpectralSamurai]

Thanks for the help guys. I wound up using a modified method of die grinding. Instead of a cutoff wheel, I ground a groove into the metal until just before it went completly through. A pair of safety goggles, hammer, and rock chisel later and the bearing is cut in half. From there it was easily removed with the pry end of the hammer. Nicks from prior attempts at removal were sanded out, cleaned, and prepped for the new wheel bearings/seals.

The differential itself looked fine. No evidence of extreme strain, no broken gear teeth, etc. The axle splines looked ok, about average wear for having either 105 or 205k miles. The fill cap on the housing was rusted solid, had to use an impact wrench and about 5 minutes of playing to break it loose. Cleaned out the old oil, tested the assembly, put the cover back on and filled the housing.

Took it for a test drive and the results are in!









No, it isn't fixed.
The transmission is even worse than before, and my engine has developed a nasty valve tick. The thing doesn't even want to stay running in gear unless I'm keeping it at like 3k (stammering and missing a cylinder consistently), and have to put it in neutral and keep revving it to prevent stalling. All tested on my street, so nothing major.

So pretty much now I've gotta get the transmission done and finish my engine. I'll worry about making it look nice later.

Anyone got a T5 for sale?