C5 X7 noise - is it a rear hub bearing? UPDATED with pics and outcome

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Citroën Tragic
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Old C5 is making a noise that I think may be a rear hub bearing. Deb mostly drives it and a couple of weeks ago she mentioned it and we went for a drive around town and I could hear it but not define where it may be.

Today I had need to go to Kiama and this entailed use of our local test track - Kiama bends. Both directions I could hear a noise from the rear of the car but only on the way home was I able to concentrate enough to determine when it changed.

It seems to be coming from the right rear, BUT, on the way home in a left hand bend at 80ish km/h where the right rear wheel was loaded up the sound went away. As I straightened the steering into the next straight the sound resumed. So it has me confused as my experience is that loading a worn bearing makes the noise worse.

Now, it is IS a rear hub bearing, has anyone else replaced one and what was the rough cost and how hard was the job?
 
jack the rear up one side at a time ,rotate the wheel listen for noises ,wobble wheel from side to side and up and down to look for play ,look between the ground and tyre while rotating the wheel to check de lamination in tyre ,ps i was convinced my sons car had a wheel bearing problem ,it turned out to be the tyres .pugs
 
jack the rear up one side at a time ,rotate the wheel listen for noises ,wobble wheel from side to side and up and down to look for play ,look between the ground and tyre while rotating the wheel to check de lamination in tyre ,ps i was convinced my sons car had a wheel bearing problem ,it turned out to be the tyres .pugs
Hi :)
Yes my thoughts too. I would jack up and look at the tire tread carefully as you spin it. Usually obvious if any problems. If not then check the bearing as above but sometimes not so easy with no load if the bearing just has a chip and is not actually failing.
The next check is to swap the wheel with a front one and "see"(hear) what that does to the noise.;)
jaahn
 
Hi Craig, unusual sounds can also be caused by tyre lamination faults. I've seen this years ago in a CX. Try swapping your front wheels to the rear and vice versa, and test again. If the noise comes from the front you'll know the rear bearings are ok and you might just need 2 new tyres. Worth a shot anyway.
 
Yep - had a 'bearing' noise in my 205 a few years back. Mechanic pulled out his stethoscope and put it to the bearing - wasn't the bearing. After rotating the tyres we found that the tyre had a very slight flat spot - not enough to make a 'slapping' noise as we drove, but it gave us a speed related noise like a bearing.

Are the rear bearings in the C5 similar to the 308 touring bearings ? ie : in one part with the rear disk ? A similar noise in the rear of the 308 was solved by replacing the brake disks.

Cheers

Justin
 
Rear hub of a C5 X7
hub.png
 
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Finally had a chance today to jack up the car and do some checking. Right rear - fine. Left rear it was easy to hear the rumble of a wearing bearing. It's not moving around on the hub when I apply sideways forces to it so it hasn't completely collapsed - thank goodness. Email has been sent to EAI for a parts quote. Should be a simple enough job.
 
You covered a lot in the rear disc replacement thread. This is the final step. Watch out for the ABS poles, no magnets. 25 m.daN on the nut.
 
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No problems. You might not expect Torx but it is otherwise no harder than anything else. Brakes are conventional German. UFO has already done most of the job with doing the discs.

WARNING: Disable the powered parking brake first!
 
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No problems. You might not expect Torx but it is otherwise no harder than anything else. Brakes are conventional German. UFO has already done most of the job with doing the discs.

WARNING: Disable the powered parking brake first!

Yep, always disable the auto park brake first. In fact I had to do that yesterday before lifting the car to roll the wheels to listen for bearing noise.
 
Last Saturday I took up XM Mechanic's (or is that Ex XM Mechanic) offer and attended "Caringbah Citroen Garage" raising the C5 on the hoist (probably mentioned elsewhere on AF) and the first task we undertook was the hub replacement. This hub has done 266,000km.

Photos and comments below, but I am seriously pleased I did not even attempt this on the driveway at home. It was quite different from doing the C4 rear disc with integrated hub bearings a few years ago. More complex tools and brute force was required. Read on>>

The auto park brake was disabled via steering hub menu (Comfort settings) prior to lifting. It was also checked by starting car and stopping to ensure it did not reactivate on engine off.

A quick tip - you don't need to use the spare wheel as a "lock the hub" solution to stop the hub turning while you're undoing the hub nut. The hub carrier shaft is captive and therefore doesn't rotate.

Disc and caliper in place prior. As you can see the hub nut (42mm) was peened over and the peening was straightened prior to this pic. Use of a large bar, mid length extension and a "sports bar" to increase turning force was required to loosen the hub nut.

c5 work day aug20pt2 1.jpg


Disc and caliper removed as one unit and lifted up and away and secured with wire. We removed the disc screws (two torx screws) and caliper bolts (2 torx bolts), slipped the park brake cable out and to the side and took the brake line rubber mounts out of their holders. The ABS sensor was also removed and tucked away.

c5 work day aug20pt2 3.jpg


We then removed the brake shield. Before anyone has a whine - yes the rear strut leaks and has done for ages. That's where the crud is from.

The large bearing puller (recently purchased to work on Garth's GS gearbox) came in handy - twice.

c5 work day aug20pt2 5.jpg


All was seemingly going well until this happened

1597743979141.jpeg


The inner face of the bearing stayed behind on the shaft. The bearings were visible and showed they were stuffed. No pics taken.

The big guns were then required to separate the remaining bearing housing - job 2 for the bearing puller/splitter.

c5 work day aug204.jpg


We were left with a shaft that was still in good condition. We then set about fitting the new hub with bearings in place. It was not a fun job and required some extended farnarkling, use of appropriate instructions to the hub to encourage it to fit itself.... and finally Garth went to a tool cabinet, brought back a mighty plasticky drift and a lump hammer and certainly encouraged that bearing home - well most of the way there.

After lunch it was time to torque the nut up to about 200nM (I think) then reassemble all the previously removed components.

Here's the hub before we broke for lunch.

c5 work day aug205.jpg


The drive home that evening was MUCH quieter than the drive up (100km from home) in the morning. As an added benefit the drone from the regular driver has also ceased for now.

I think that's about it, but I cannot end without thanking Garth and Jinny for their hospitality during the day and their combined technical expertise in getting this job completed.
 
I hope I didn't lead you to expect no puller. It is a hub bearing. I wouldn't mind having the beast in the second last photo. It makes mine look puny and anaemic.

I keep a length of old fashioned galv steel water pipe about 5 ft long to extend the socket arm for those persuasion jobs.

Well done.
 
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I hope I didn't lead you to expect no puller. It is a hub bearing. I wouldn't mind having the beast in the second last photo. It makes mine look puny and anaemic.

I keep a length of old fashioned galv steel water pipe about 5 ft long to extend the socket arm for those persuasion jobs.

Well done.

Thanks. Yep, my garage, whilst not even a blip compared to G&J's, has a couple of "gentle persuaders". They do come in handy.

Garth was quite pleased to play with his new toys on something other than a ^%$#@# GS gearbox.
 
I believe the rear bearing on most recent Cits comes off in the two stages that you found. We have to tackle one on Frogs BX 16V at some stage and I expect the procedure will be very similar. I will have to make sure we have the right diameter drift to belt the new bearing on the the shaft.

Cheers, Ken
 
As was done initially ~ The diagnostics of going through corners or on a deserted road then loading & unloading the wheel bearing is how we normally do such identifying.
This replacement is important & the inner bearing is what needs to be banged on. A suitable piece/length of squared off water pipe is perfect.
Do not bang on the hub or outer bearing unless you feel like replacing again in a short time. That procedure damages the bearing.
 
Believe it or not, some other makes of cars don't require the use of a puller..Undo the nut, slide the hub off, slide the new one on & re-tigten the nut..But wheres the fun inthat!

In my 40 years experience, it's "nearly" always the LHS.. More pot holes??? edges of the road breaking up???...One of the great mysteries of the world!
 
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The discs with the bearing in them (C4 etc) are a piece of cake. No fun at all.

The times I have replaced a drop link or strut rubbers and top bearings have been left side also.
 
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