Bought the Mercury Mountaineer in spring of 2011 with 111,000 miles. In April of 2012 a shop replaced the left rear wheel bearing (AWD, IRS), said the wheel was going to fall off. Now 10 months and about 12,000 miles later, I have the left rear tire repaired and the guy showed me the wheel is very loose, couple inches lateral play at the tread area, so back to shop, but this time my regular shop. The other shop is no longer on my list of good shops for other reasons (e.g., the flow master muffler fiasco in another thread about last October). Hopefully it was just a poor job by the other shop and not a design defect or some other bad part that will keep eating bearings.
Mountaineer eating wheel bearings?
- Thread starter TallPaul
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probably just a bad job(or part).. but im not terribly familiar with the IRS version.
in a totally unrelated story
2005 ranger (solid axle 8.8)
tire shop broke a bearing by pounding drum off with a BFH.
was obivious.. they didnt tell me.
fast forward to tire rotation... shop tries to sell me wheel bearing. I told them but its physically damaged and your guy beat on that drum for 5min with a sledgehammer 4 monthes ago..
They didnt want to make it right so I settled for paying part cost only and instead of recommending them I tell my story.. they lost about 10customers so far by my count.
oh and I lost my fresh fill of redline 75w90 they refilled with some autostore brand ... sigh my 30$ worth of redline.
in a totally unrelated story
2005 ranger (solid axle 8.8)
tire shop broke a bearing by pounding drum off with a BFH.
was obivious.. they didnt tell me.
fast forward to tire rotation... shop tries to sell me wheel bearing. I told them but its physically damaged and your guy beat on that drum for 5min with a sledgehammer 4 monthes ago..
They didnt want to make it right so I settled for paying part cost only and instead of recommending them I tell my story.. they lost about 10customers so far by my count.
oh and I lost my fresh fill of redline 75w90 they refilled with some autostore brand ... sigh my 30$ worth of redline.
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Over on the Explorer forums they talk about this, multiple bearing failures on the same wheel. But it seems it's usually because a cheap Chinese made aftermarket bearing was used instead of a more expensive Motorcraft / Timken bearing. I remember one guy saying he went through several Chinese bearings before realizing his mistake an has good luck with the Motorcraft.
Sounds like they threw on the $29.99 wheel bearing and didn't tighten it properly.
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$135 for the parts and $240 for the labor. I just gave my good shop a heads up to spare no expense on buying the best part they can get.
But I wonder does the wheel fly off on the highway or will it just start to lope and shimmy first. Hate to think the wheel could just pop off.
I guess this type bearing is probably common to the front end because it is AWD and to typical front drive cars too.
And to think, my solid axle vehicles would likely be out the door for $135 max on a rear wheel bearing. IRS is not worth it in my book. Already had a seal replaced where the IRS shaft exits the pumpkin on the Mountaineer and that was not cheap either. No wonder people lease these days, repairs are expensive on these modern, excessively complicated vehicles.
But I wonder does the wheel fly off on the highway or will it just start to lope and shimmy first. Hate to think the wheel could just pop off.
I guess this type bearing is probably common to the front end because it is AWD and to typical front drive cars too.
And to think, my solid axle vehicles would likely be out the door for $135 max on a rear wheel bearing. IRS is not worth it in my book. Already had a seal replaced where the IRS shaft exits the pumpkin on the Mountaineer and that was not cheap either. No wonder people lease these days, repairs are expensive on these modern, excessively complicated vehicles.
I would say a combination of a non factory bearing, and improper installation. Take a close look at the rear uprights, a lot of times we have to replace those if the bearing is bad for too long.
Best bet may be to trade it in to the dealer for some other used vehicle. If it had solid rear axle, manual transmission, and simple three-dial HVAC it would be worth keeping. The only good thing I can say about it is that it does perform quite well in snow--that is, if the rear wheel isn't falling off.
Also like to ditch the ruining boards (running boards that is) too. Not only do they look bad, but they are in the way of sliding under for an oil change.
The 4.0 V6 is way more powerful than my needs (I can't imaging having the V8 option) and results in poor mileage.
The tranny likes to go into limbo (neutral state) on hard kick down, so that if you don't play with the pedal it will ultimately slam shift when the valve finally moves in it's aluminum bore. The fix is a $3000 rebuild sleeving the valve bores with harder metal.
Also like to ditch the ruining boards (running boards that is) too. Not only do they look bad, but they are in the way of sliding under for an oil change.
The 4.0 V6 is way more powerful than my needs (I can't imaging having the V8 option) and results in poor mileage.
The tranny likes to go into limbo (neutral state) on hard kick down, so that if you don't play with the pedal it will ultimately slam shift when the valve finally moves in it's aluminum bore. The fix is a $3000 rebuild sleeving the valve bores with harder metal.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
$135 for the parts and $240 for the labor. I just gave my good shop a heads up to spare no expense on buying the best part they can get.
You're probably getting a cheap Chinese bearing for that price. The good bearings are more like $200 on eBay, and dealerships charge more like $300 I hear. I would go get a good $200 bearing yourself and take it to your shop for installation.
$135 for the parts and $240 for the labor. I just gave my good shop a heads up to spare no expense on buying the best part they can get.
You're probably getting a cheap Chinese bearing for that price. The good bearings are more like $200 on eBay, and dealerships charge more like $300 I hear. I would go get a good $200 bearing yourself and take it to your shop for installation.
Originally Posted By: kam327
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
$135 for the parts and $240 for the labor. I just gave my good shop a heads up to spare no expense on buying the best part they can get.
You're probably getting a cheap Chinese bearing for that price. The good bearings are more like $200 on eBay, and dealerships charge more like $300 I hear. I would go get a good $200 bearing yourself and take it to your shop for installation.
A BCA/National or Timken bearing for this application is right in the range of what the OP stated +/- $120-150. That $300 bearing would be only at the STEALERSHIP, for the same exact part.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
$135 for the parts and $240 for the labor. I just gave my good shop a heads up to spare no expense on buying the best part they can get.
You're probably getting a cheap Chinese bearing for that price. The good bearings are more like $200 on eBay, and dealerships charge more like $300 I hear. I would go get a good $200 bearing yourself and take it to your shop for installation.
A BCA/National or Timken bearing for this application is right in the range of what the OP stated +/- $120-150. That $300 bearing would be only at the STEALERSHIP, for the same exact part.
The bearing from ford, p/n 6L2Z-1215-A has an MSRP of $108.30. FWIW that is a cartridge bearing only, not a hub bearing.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Bought the Mercury Mountaineer in spring of 2011 with 111,000 miles. In April of 2012 a shop replaced the left rear wheel bearing (AWD, IRS), said the wheel was going to fall off. Now 10 months and about 12,000 miles later, I have the left rear tire repaired and the guy showed me the wheel is very loose, couple inches lateral play at the tread area, so back to shop, but this time my regular shop. The other shop is no longer on my list of good shops for other reasons (e.g., the flow master muffler fiasco in another thread about last October). Hopefully it was just a poor job by the other shop and not a design defect or some other bad part that will keep eating bearings.
If you consider that expensive check the price for the IRS pumpkin replacement. Even better for the rear timing chain replacement.
Bought the Mercury Mountaineer in spring of 2011 with 111,000 miles. In April of 2012 a shop replaced the left rear wheel bearing (AWD, IRS), said the wheel was going to fall off. Now 10 months and about 12,000 miles later, I have the left rear tire repaired and the guy showed me the wheel is very loose, couple inches lateral play at the tread area, so back to shop, but this time my regular shop. The other shop is no longer on my list of good shops for other reasons (e.g., the flow master muffler fiasco in another thread about last October). Hopefully it was just a poor job by the other shop and not a design defect or some other bad part that will keep eating bearings.
If you consider that expensive check the price for the IRS pumpkin replacement. Even better for the rear timing chain replacement.
Worse is to pull the camshaft that is driven by the rear timing chain as that requires pulling the engine.
If it is a very common issue, I wonder if it was ever a recall. Sounds like a poor design.
As for cost, the part was reported as
1 Left Rear Wheel Bearing Assy @ $135 parts.
Since that is the shops price to me with their markup, I figure thy must have paid about $90 for the parts.
As for cost, the part was reported as
1 Left Rear Wheel Bearing Assy @ $135 parts.
Since that is the shops price to me with their markup, I figure thy must have paid about $90 for the parts.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
If it is a very common issue, I wonder if it was ever a recall. Sounds like a poor design.
As for cost, the part was reported as
1 Left Rear Wheel Bearing Assy @ $135 parts.
Since that is the shops price to me with their markup, I figure thy must have paid about $90 for the parts.
No recall on the rear bearings. Also your shop charged you over MSRP if they used a Ford bearing.
If it is a very common issue, I wonder if it was ever a recall. Sounds like a poor design.
As for cost, the part was reported as
1 Left Rear Wheel Bearing Assy @ $135 parts.
Since that is the shops price to me with their markup, I figure thy must have paid about $90 for the parts.
No recall on the rear bearings. Also your shop charged you over MSRP if they used a Ford bearing.
The other shop was $135 for the parts and $240 for the labor.
Just picked it up. The bill was parts $200, pressing bearing assembly into hub $30, labor $160. The brand of the bearing is National.
Just picked it up. The bill was parts $200, pressing bearing assembly into hub $30, labor $160. The brand of the bearing is National.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
The brand of the bearing is National.
Not to scare you away from National, but here was my last experience with them.
About 5-6 years ago, my mom needed new front bearings on her '96 Taurus. I went to O'Reillys and told them what I needed and they put two of them on the counter in front of me. I took both of them out of the box and put them side-by-side. One was a US-made National bearing and it was beautifully machined and looked really nice. The other National bearing was made in Korea and the casting was really rough. The worst part of it though, was that it wasn't assembled correctly. I pointed it out to the counter man and he agreed with me and ordered another one. The next day I went to pick it up and it was also made in Korea and, compared to the one made in USA, again was poorly machined, although correctly assembled. I installed them both and the Korean one lasted about 6 months. I installed another one, a freebie, thanks to the warranty and my mom was again on her way. I don't know how well it held up because she sold the car a few months after that.
YMMV.
The brand of the bearing is National.
Not to scare you away from National, but here was my last experience with them.
About 5-6 years ago, my mom needed new front bearings on her '96 Taurus. I went to O'Reillys and told them what I needed and they put two of them on the counter in front of me. I took both of them out of the box and put them side-by-side. One was a US-made National bearing and it was beautifully machined and looked really nice. The other National bearing was made in Korea and the casting was really rough. The worst part of it though, was that it wasn't assembled correctly. I pointed it out to the counter man and he agreed with me and ordered another one. The next day I went to pick it up and it was also made in Korea and, compared to the one made in USA, again was poorly machined, although correctly assembled. I installed them both and the Korean one lasted about 6 months. I installed another one, a freebie, thanks to the warranty and my mom was again on her way. I don't know how well it held up because she sold the car a few months after that.
YMMV.
Hopefully my mechanic would see the difference and not buy the junk part. Only time will tell this time.
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