Finally Joining the Club:::Oh Yeah (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ewrk1989
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- Thread starter
- #42
Alright then, she's all done. I worked about 12 hours Saturday and 8 Sunday. Definitely a lot of labor, but it was the first time after all. I think previously my most advanced repair was a driver side exhaust manifold on a 92 Mercury Sable. That was in high school with two helpers no less.
I replaced the CV axles, wheel bearings, rotors, and brakes. I got to a final, very nice symmetric 12 lb breakout preload on both sides. The technique there was to make sure the claw washer, adjusting nut, and outer bearing face were free of grease. It did take 46 ft-lb of torque on the adjusting nut to achieve this. That made the breakout 10 lb before torquing the lock nut to the appropriate 47 ft-lb.
I will post my complete directions here in the coming days as I have time to edit them. Hopefully they will be helpful to someone doing it for the first time. I tried to take photos, but you know how it goes. I like to focus and get things done, no time to tarry.
The front end is delightful, extremely smooth. I did a bedding-in procedure for the brakes, and isolated the rest of the braking pulsation to the rear brakes. As I had thought, there were a combination of things going on. I think that after I flush the AHC fluid and replace the rear brakes/rotors, it will be that much better. Even for now, the improvement is great.
Fun fact--during removal, I found the passenger side lock nut was about 5 ft-lb more than hand tight. Sheesh!
I replaced the CV axles, wheel bearings, rotors, and brakes. I got to a final, very nice symmetric 12 lb breakout preload on both sides. The technique there was to make sure the claw washer, adjusting nut, and outer bearing face were free of grease. It did take 46 ft-lb of torque on the adjusting nut to achieve this. That made the breakout 10 lb before torquing the lock nut to the appropriate 47 ft-lb.
I will post my complete directions here in the coming days as I have time to edit them. Hopefully they will be helpful to someone doing it for the first time. I tried to take photos, but you know how it goes. I like to focus and get things done, no time to tarry.
The front end is delightful, extremely smooth. I did a bedding-in procedure for the brakes, and isolated the rest of the braking pulsation to the rear brakes. As I had thought, there were a combination of things going on. I think that after I flush the AHC fluid and replace the rear brakes/rotors, it will be that much better. Even for now, the improvement is great.
Fun fact--during removal, I found the passenger side lock nut was about 5 ft-lb more than hand tight. Sheesh!
- Thread starter
- #43
Photos:
First photo: driver side differential seal area. Paper towel stuffed in while I cleaned the interior of the seal interface. 15 years and the oil seal had certainly left some gunk behind.
Second photo: Spindle condition looking ok. This is right after taking off the hub Much cleaning was done after this photo.
Third: Jack stands are helpful for supporting the spindle
Fourth: Driver side differential. Clean the oil seal mating surface with something gentle like a Scotch Brite pad. In my case, plastic/rubber reside was left behind after so many years.
Fifth: My hub flanges were pretty good. A few of the grooves had the characteristic stair-step notching, but by and large they were in very good shape. I will use them for a while to come.
I think you call it the "hub dust seal". On mine, those needed replacement. Some corrosion had made it's way inward, so I cleaned it up as best as possible and slathered with grease. I didn't have the part on hand, so it'll have to wait until the next bearing repack.
First photo: driver side differential seal area. Paper towel stuffed in while I cleaned the interior of the seal interface. 15 years and the oil seal had certainly left some gunk behind.
Second photo: Spindle condition looking ok. This is right after taking off the hub Much cleaning was done after this photo.
Third: Jack stands are helpful for supporting the spindle
Fourth: Driver side differential. Clean the oil seal mating surface with something gentle like a Scotch Brite pad. In my case, plastic/rubber reside was left behind after so many years.
Fifth: My hub flanges were pretty good. A few of the grooves had the characteristic stair-step notching, but by and large they were in very good shape. I will use them for a while to come.
I think you call it the "hub dust seal". On mine, those needed replacement. Some corrosion had made it's way inward, so I cleaned it up as best as possible and slathered with grease. I didn't have the part on hand, so it'll have to wait until the next bearing repack.
Last edited:
Congrats!!! Also a noob here. Excited to join the owner club in the next few months.
- Thread starter
- #46
I had a question for anyone looking--possibly @2001LC . In the above photos showing the spindle, I cleaned out the old grease and noticed some encroaching corrosion/rust at the interface between the dust cover and the actual steering knuckle. I did my best to clean it up with a Scotch Brite pad and slathered it with grease. But, this was without removing the dust cover/gasket/oil seal. I didn't have any replacements for those at the time.
So my question would be, if I just pull the hub, can I take off the dust cover/gasket/oil seal but leave the ABS sensor intact? My goal at that point would be to get a wide flat file to remove any corrosion on that face of the knuckle. Then replace with a new gasket/seal, and put the hub back on.
But if there's no seal between the knuckle and dust cover, doesn't that just mean water/dust can get in pretty easily, and contaminate my bearings? I feel like that's what is happening now and what caused the corrosion. Perhaps I could clean the knuckle and put some RTV on the area where the dust cover mates?
So my question would be, if I just pull the hub, can I take off the dust cover/gasket/oil seal but leave the ABS sensor intact? My goal at that point would be to get a wide flat file to remove any corrosion on that face of the knuckle. Then replace with a new gasket/seal, and put the hub back on.
But if there's no seal between the knuckle and dust cover, doesn't that just mean water/dust can get in pretty easily, and contaminate my bearings? I feel like that's what is happening now and what caused the corrosion. Perhaps I could clean the knuckle and put some RTV on the area where the dust cover mates?
- Thread starter
- #47
Alright, here are the directions I wrote for myself and followed. There are certainly a few more things you could do, like if you were interested in replacing the ball joints/control arms/dust cover gasket/etc, but this is a pretty step-by-step procedure. Hope it helps someone.
- Thread starter
- #48
Did a power steering flush yesterday. I removed the reservoir and cleaned it out with a combination of Purple Power and brake cleaner. I was a little concerned that I didn't have a brush to clean the screen. But it worked out really well to spray a good amount of cleaner inside, put on the cap, plug the inlets with my fingers, and shake shake shake shake shake. After a lot of shaking, pretty much everything inside broke loose. Then rinse thoroughly with water and dry the inside with a hairdryer.
The fluid that came out wasn't too bad, but definitely dirty. Steering feels lighter now!
Process:
Raise vehicle
Jack stands
Pop hood and put bundle of paper towels under reservoir to catch excess
Remove the 2 hoses
Remove the reservoir
Clean per above
Replace reservoir and reconnect suction (?) line. This is the larger one.
Connect return line to some 5/8 clear vinyl tubing and wind that down through the wheel well into a catch basin
Turn key to ACC
Turn wheel lock-to-lock 3 times
Pour in some more fluid
Repeat until what's coming out the clear tubing is clean
Reconnect return line
Fill reservoir to between min/max on COLD
Turn on vehicle and turn wheel lock-to-lock many times, keeping an eye on the fluid level and refilling as necessary if air is pushed out of the lines
There is a section on bleeding the system in the steering portion of the FSM--good info to look at
Button everything up and drive around to check performance
Monitor fluid level and top off if necessary
Optional step: Get under vehicle to check your new CV axles and see that the DS inboard boot is slinging grease
The fluid that came out wasn't too bad, but definitely dirty. Steering feels lighter now!
Process:
Raise vehicle
Jack stands
Pop hood and put bundle of paper towels under reservoir to catch excess
Remove the 2 hoses
Remove the reservoir
Clean per above
Replace reservoir and reconnect suction (?) line. This is the larger one.
Connect return line to some 5/8 clear vinyl tubing and wind that down through the wheel well into a catch basin
Turn key to ACC
Turn wheel lock-to-lock 3 times
Pour in some more fluid
Repeat until what's coming out the clear tubing is clean
Reconnect return line
Fill reservoir to between min/max on COLD
Turn on vehicle and turn wheel lock-to-lock many times, keeping an eye on the fluid level and refilling as necessary if air is pushed out of the lines
There is a section on bleeding the system in the steering portion of the FSM--good info to look at
Button everything up and drive around to check performance
Monitor fluid level and top off if necessary
Optional step: Get under vehicle to check your new CV axles and see that the DS inboard boot is slinging grease
- Thread starter
- #49
1) Clean reservoir
2) Lowe's was kind enough to only sell pre-kinked tubing--the only difficult part of this job was keeping the fluid flowing!
3) Just enough space to sneakily keep an eye on the reservoir while turning the wheel
2) Lowe's was kind enough to only sell pre-kinked tubing--the only difficult part of this job was keeping the fluid flowing!
3) Just enough space to sneakily keep an eye on the reservoir while turning the wheel
