I have not done this but from what I know you do not need a puller unless the axle is stuck inside the hub assembly. You do have to pull the hub and the bearing together. There are four bolts that hold the hub in place. These bolts are accessed from behind the rock plate. If you can access them without the axle being in the way, then just remove them and the hub should come right out. Just make sure you have disconnected and removed the wheel sensor. If the bolts are not accessible, then you will have to remove the axle from the steering knuckle which will require you to either get the ball joint off or remove the two bolts that hold the knuckle to the strut so that the assembly could be moved.

 

Hi Matt

I just replaced both front wheel hubs on my 03 AWD yesterday. I live in a climate with harsh winters, and corrosion IS an issue.

ignore the nonsense in the manual about removing the steering knuckle, not necessary.

you have to remove the ABS wheel speed sensor, as it sticks down into a notch in the wheel hub, and the wheel hub won't come off with the sensor still in place. In my case, the 10 mm headed single bolt was rusted in place, which heat and penetrating oil thankfully solved, but teach sensor was absolutely frozen in place in its hole on each front wheel assembly. I couldn't get them out, until I resigned myself to drilling each out, and the buggers are expensive. Really stupid design. I then overdrilled the sensor hole, and will pack the new ones back in place with liberal antiseize compound.

There is nothing holding the wheel hub assembly in once you remove the 4 bolts, and the axle nut. Rather, all that is holding the hub assembly in is corrosion. I tried a 3 pound, then 5 pound, slide hammer, trying to shock the hub assembly loose. Then I tried putting one of the 4 bolts loosely back in and wacking on it from behind with a punch and a hammer. Sucker didn't move. I finally resorted to a 3 pound hand sledge, turned the wheel as far to one side as possible and went at the edge of the hub from the inside of the wheel well front side, ignoring the damage I was doing to the front tabs of the sheet metal rock guard. The harder you hit the darn thing, with as much weight as possible, the easier the process will be for you. The hub only has to move outwards maybe less than a half inch to come free. The hub is not going to be re-used, bash the sucker as hard as you can.

you could also go the extra step of removing the entire steering knuckle, would give you better working access to the back of the hub I suppose, but not necessary.

I have been getting all my parts from http://www.worldpartsexpress.com World Parts Express, the Online Superstore for All Factory Auto Parts and Accessoriesgenuine OEM NIssan parts, come in the Nissan packaging, for lkes than a third of the price of my local western Canadian dealer even after Canadian to US dollar conversion and shipping and duty, I have been really pleased.

I REALLY wasn't happy about having to buy a pair of brand new ABS/wheel speed sesnors just to change out the front hubs/wheel bearings. There is a post on this forum somewhere of a fellow who cut out an open notch in the back of the hub to be able to leave the ABS sensors in place when the hub is changed, I think you would have to pull the steering knuckle off the car to get access to do that modification....

on my car, everything in the front end went at once at just less than 100,000 miles. I replaced both lower control arms( bushings and ball joint were toast), tie rod ends, wheel bearings/hubs (front left was crap, but replaced both sides), and I have new KYB struts on order as the struts/strut top mount/strut boots are all crap as well. Parts cost over the Internet including the KYB strust on order have been a third or less of dealer cost, and I have done all the labour myself, so my total parts cost will be only slightly less than $1,000 approximately by the time I am done, for what I was quoted $2,750 from the dealer parts (control arms/tie rod ends/wheel hubs/front struts/ABS sensors)plus roughly a further $1,000 labour, plus tax and shop supplies, would have been close to $4,000 for a vehicle that isn't worth more than $10,000 max at this point.

I bought my 03 new, and will drive it tiill it dies beyond economic repair, but this latest go round of maintenance has been an eye opener, Truly stupid design of the front suspension and front drive from a cost efficient maintenance perspective, I doubt I will buy another Murano as a result, too frigging expensive/time consuming to repair, and at less than 100,000 miles, ridiculous from my perspective compared to the other vehicles in my household.

Paul

 

Hi Matt

I bought my 03 new, and will drive it tiill it dies beyond economic repair, but this latest go round of maintenance has been an eye opener, Truly stupid design of the front suspension and front drive from a cost efficient maintenance perspective, I doubt I will buy another Murano as a result, too frigging expensive/time consuming to repair, and at less than 100,000 miles, ridiculous from my perspective compared to the other vehicles in my household.

Paul

While having the front passenger side bearing replaced and during the process the tech broke the ABS sensor. The wife drove off and reported bad brake noises. Had to go back the next day to find they broke the sensor. Anyway, the shop paid for a new sensor but the job plus alignment was expensive. I never did a job like that and would have been intimidated.

Bob1

 

I am post in fairly late and I am sure you have figured it out by now.

Be very careful with the abs sensor. After removing the screw, I coated it with WD40, let is soak and tried to bring it up more. I repeated this over and over until it finally came out.

After that I hit it with electronics cleaner to get it in good shape. I also cleaned out the hole it went into too. Maybe make it easier next time, if there is a next time.

No need to remove the bolt at the bottom pinching the ball joint in place. Also do not take any of the strut bolts off at the very top.

Remove the 4 bolts using the knuckle and remove the ABS sensor from the hub.

The hub just sits in a circle.Its not beating the thing outwards as much as it is beating it up and down or side to side trying to break the rust seal that formed. When dealing with the hub, I hit the side of the place where it bolts down forcing it to spin in a circle and break the rust seal.

After this, getting it to come out was fairly simple. Of course I did it all with a standard claw hammer instead of a 4 lb hammer. It took some time but I got it done.

Pressure + Time for the win

 

If you are having problems taking out the 10mm bolt for the sensor, don't panic yet.
If you have tried EVERYTHING to get the sensor out and all has failed there is one more trick.
You can beat the hub out on the opposite side of the sensor. This will make the hub come out sideways. Once you get it out as much as you can it WILL clear the sensor and you can pull the hub out without damaging the sensor.
The new hub has clearance for the sensor and will go right in.

 

I just changed out one of my wheel bearings yesterday. Turns out they both need to be replaced but changing one already made a HUGE difference. Here is what I learned. 1st off it DOES resolve the issue of your tires sounding like off road tires... a very noticeable hum when you drive that does not really change when you turn right, left, or varying surfaces.

I ran into the same issue with the pulley as HatMan. When trying to push in the center, it just kept moving back. The issue is that the center you are trying to push against is on an elbow. So it’s like pushing against your fist with your arm bent. Your elbow will continue to bend. The FIX so you CAN use a Pulley is to get the hub assembly parallel to the rest of the armature, in my case I used a jack. Then i was able push against the center. Worked like a champ. The second bearing will go much quicker after figuring that out. Hope this helps.

 

Front left hub

Do u need a large socket to get the not off or can u use a channel lock. If so, do u recall the nut size.

 

I wanna say it was 32mm or 36mm. I would NOT use a channel lock. When you put evyerthing back together you want to torque everything to the correct specs, which you cannot do with the locks. If you have an autozone around you can rent everything you need. They have you buy it and then you just return it for a full refund without hassle. This way they are not liable. When I did mine I just rented both of the sockets since I wasnt sure which I would need, along with a breaker bar and a puller. If you don ot have one rent the torque rench as well.

 

Sounds good. Thank's for the help.

 

Didn't want to start a new thread which would basically be the same question.

I need to replace one, possibly both front wheel bearing and hub assemblies. If anyone has taken it to the dealership, how much did it cost?

I found the part online for ~$109, but I don't have all the tools so I'll need to buy a few of my own. This is the correct part?
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Timken-HA590046-Axle-Bearing-Assembly/dp/B000IYEMBQ/ref=au_pf_ss_1?ie=UTF8&Model=Murano|892&n=15684181&s=automotive&Make=Nissan|67&Year=2004|2004&carId=002[/ame]

Secondly, if I did this myself, can anyone give me a list of tools I'll need? I have a basic mechanics set, but it looks like I'll have to buy/rent a 36mm socket. Any other special tools besides a regular mechanics set?

 

It coated me 680 dollars to replace both front hub assemblies

It's a common repair in the truck

Change the rotors at the same time if you have the dreaded shimmy Boise

Gl

 

Thanks, sounds like I'll still be saving money even if I have to buy tools.

 

This may sound like a stupid question, but is the hub issue only related to 2WD MOs?

 

...is the hub issue only related to 2WD MOs?

Don't think so. 2WD and AWD hubs are the same and AWD MO is 2WD almost all the time except when slippery. So both types should wear out the same way.

 

Got quoted from a few different places. It seems to range from $350-400/bearing replacement (including labor, excluding tax). I live in NJ. I want to take care of this issue ASAP, but I want to do a one thing first:
*make sure I can remove all the necessary parts first--there's no point in buying the part, and realizing I can't remove a bolt bc it's rusted...

I am worried that I will run into an issue of not being able to figure out how something comes out like others have posted or somehow ruining the ABS sensor (since they're so expensive).

 

I JUST came here to post about my experience in replacing the hub/bearing assembly. It took me only 2 hours in my driveway with a minimal amount of tools. FYI I have an 04 with 55k miles but I live in a relatively dry area so there wasn't too much corrosion.

First off I ordered the part from AutoPartsWarehouse. I actually ordered a generic hub/bearing that cost only $99! Unfortunately it looks like it's no longer on the site, so the closest is the Timken brand one that's received plenty of good reviews. Came in about a week and it's was ready to be put on the car (ie already lubed up).

I'll do my own step by step that will hopefully help you out.

1. Go to auto store and buy/rent the following (you might have some of this stuff, but I needed them):
a. 32mm axle nut socket (I tried to rent but they were all out so I bought it for ~$15)
b. Replacement cotter pins (I didn't know what size so I just bought a pack that had assorted sizes ~$5)
c. CRC/Freeze out or any sort of rust/corrosion loosener. There is a whole shelf of them, I chose the cheapest. ~$4

2. Other tools you will need: A mechanics set with all of your socket sizes. The sensor is a 10mm, the brake calipers are 17mm I believe, and the 4 bolts for the bearing are something else smaller than the 17mm. Make sure you have some long bolts and an extender. You'll also need some sort of hammer, I used 2lb rubber mallet/hammer type thing, as well as a regular metal claw hammer.

3. Loosen up lug nuts, jack up car, and remove wheel. Once complete, I sprayed all visible bolts with that penetrating liquid. I waited just a couple minutes, sprayed a bit more, the went on to the following step. (2 bolts brake caliper, 4 bolts hub assembly, 1 bolt wheel sensor, and the axle nut)

4. Take the two bolts off from behind and remove the brake caliper from the rotor. I used a small bucket and sat the caliper on top of that. You don't want to let it dangle as it won't reach the ground. Push it as far as you can to the inside of the car to give you room.

5. At this point, nothing is actually holding the brake rotor on the wheel hub assembly. Some light pounding with my rubber hammer got it loose and I slid it right off.

6. Remove cotter pin with a pair of pliers.

7. Remove axle nut. It's nice to have a breaker bar on top of your ratchet to give you more leverage.

8. Remove the ABS wheel sensor from the back of the hub. If you look behind, you'll see the small wire and the 10mm nut. Luckily mine slid right out after removing the bolt. Hopefully you don't run into the corrosion issues like others.

9. Remove the 4 bolts holding the assembly in place. Even with the long extension sockets, I had to turn the wheels left and right to be able to access the top nuts because teh CV boots get in the way. No biggie though.

10. At this point there is nothing hold the assembly in place. You do have to pull it out towards you though as it's teeth are still locked into the axle. It took me about 25 minutes to finally get it out. The techniques I used were banging it from all sides with the rubber hammer. The one that worked the best is hitting it from behind on the right side (passenger side) or left side (driver side). Whatever side is closer to the front of the car because the dust shield on that side isn't in the way and there seems to be more room to swing a hammer. You do bang up the dust shield a bit but don't worry about it. Eventually you'll see it start to separate from the dust shield and just keep pounding away. Like someone else said, you won't be reusing the hub so just go for broke. I hit it so hard one of the lug bolts actually came out. SEriously, I can't stress enough, just keep pounding it, you're breaking all the corrosion and dirt away. I doubt you'll be able to break anything, except the dust shield maybe. You can also try pounding in sideways in a circle, it won't actually spin though because the car is in park, but it should loosen it up that way as well.

11. Once it's out, just slide the new part right back in it's place, line up the holes and put everything back in the order you took it out. Don't forget to put the brake rotor back on I almost forgot. I didn't bother using a torque wrench and everything seems to be fine.

The minute I started driving it was SOOOOOO much more quiet. I'd been driving for about 2 months with that horrible vibration from the front and it's soo smooth now. My car feels brand new. I saved over $200 doing it myself and I highly recommend everyone do it. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

I have been noticing a wobble in the front. Not all the time like a unbalanced tire. Only on occasion. Could that be an indicator for a bad hub bearing(s)? I know I have to replace the lower ball joints. I am wondering if I should do the hubs at the same time, since I will have most of the suspension apart anyway - plus I have 108K miles.

 

That's what I have now, the wobble. The wobble could be related to something else in the front end... The sound is really the loudest thing in the world right now. I have 130k... I'm fearful I'll have to replace everything under there soon...

 

Occasional wobble is more than likely due to a bad ball joint.

 

Awesome write up, thanks! How many miles do you have on your MO? I have 130k, I'm really worried about that sensor. I'm thinking about trying to remove the wheel & brake assembly to see if I can get the sensor off before ordering the part...

 

I edited my post to add that information. It's an '04 with 55k miles, not nearly as bad as you. If you can jack up your car high enough and turn your wheels I bet you can access the sensor bolt without having to take everything off. Probably just the wheel if anything. It's on the opposite side as teh brake caliper.

 

Are the bolts behind the hub hex nuts or allen holes?

How long did it take for the part to deliver?

 

The four bolts are regular hex nuts. The part came in about 6 days but I chose the slowest shipping to save some money.

 

Thought I'd weigh in on the ABS sensor issue as I've an 03 Murano in upper New York and corrosion is an issue. I'm doing struts, but still had to get the sensor and wiring harness out of the way. Consider the following....

1. As a penetrating oil use PB Blaster. I work with diesel bus mechanics and they swear by it, it does work.

2. Use a heat gun to carefully warm the hub in the area of the sensor. You can use a propane torch but if you do be careful. Don't get carried away. Warming the area will expand the hub metal slightly and help the PB Blaster get into the threads. You can also gently tap the hub near the sensor with a ball peen hammer.

3. Clean the 10mm head on that sensor bolt and gently try turning it left. Then right, then left again. You're trying to rock the bolt and get it moving. Don't get crazy with the ratchet....be gentle. Consider using a 1/4 inch drive rachet.

4. Keep working at it and eventually, with patience you will get the bolts out intact. Once the bolts are out work the sensor gently back and forth until you can extract it.

5. before you reinstall the sensors apply "Never Seize" to the sensor, the retaining bolt and the hub where the sensor lives. If you ever need to remove the sensor in the future the "Never Seize" will make the job easy.

Good luck,

Pearl88

 

Hey guys, I wanted to update the thread on what I accomplished this past weekend. So I wasn't sure if I would be able to remove the ABS sensor to replace the part myself, so I decided to try to take it apart before ordering the $140 part.

I followed everyone's instructions/advice in here, and after some patience and a lot of wiggling and spraying, I was able to get the ABS sensor out. I have 130k on my car and live in NJ where the winters are harsh w/ plenty of salt.

I was able to get out all four bolts without an issue behind the hub, and the brake bolts came out nicely as well. The ABS sensor had a little bit of rust around it, but nothing too bad. The same w/ the bolts behind the hub. I was really pleased.

Going into more detail/advice for anyone trying to take it out--this sensor IS keyed so don't turn left and right too much. You want to firstly, spray, spray, spray! I used WD-40 which worked like a charm. I kept soaking the bolt w/ WD-40 and it came out relatively nicely. The threads weren't rusted, it was the tip and the top part of it (where the plastic is on the sensor) that were rusted).

After the bolt was out, you'd think the sensor should pop out--NOPE! That was definitely not the case here, it took a ton of spraying and a ton of wiggling w/ pliers to get it out. I was VERY gentle with the sensor and wiggling since the sensor is made of plastic. You need to grip the top and bottom of the frame and wiggle gently while pulling. The plastic will get nicked a little bit here and there from the pliers, but it takes a lot of careful patience to ensure you don't ruin the sensor. I spent about 25 minutes wiggling and spraying with no luck... I sprayed some more, went to lunch, came back, sprayed some more, and wiggled, got it out after another 25 minutes of wiggling. So yes, patience is required, but very rewarding.

The rest was pretty straight forward. I ordered the part last night from partstrain.com and hoping it gets here by Friday.

 

Just finished replacing the wheel hub. I probably made every mistake possible so I can tell you guys what to look out for.
Since I got the sensor out last week taking it apart this weekend was no problem. Taking off the wheel hub was a 25 minute process of beating it up with a rubber mallet. It eventually popped off. I was hitting the hub from all sides.

Mistakes to watch out for:
1) make sure you put the brake dust shield on the right way! I put it on backwards and had assembled the whole hub already when I realized this.
2) make sure you put the wheel hub on correctly. Afrter I corrected the first mistake I made this one ... it was upside down and the abs sensor didn't fit because the slot was on the opposite side of the wheel hub....
3) be patient!

Good luck everyone, I hope this helps.

 

No joy in NC

After putting up with drivetrain noise for the last couple of years on our '05 SL AWD, I did both front bearings/hubs today. Two years ago, while still under extended warranty, the whine started, and the dealer insisted it was the tires. The tires were finally replaced last week, and lo and behold the noise remained. Of course we're now at 108k miles, and the extended warranty has expired.

Digging around online, I figured it was likely the bearings. Got some good quality Timken bearings, and installation was a breeze - no corrosion problems, so everything came apart easily, including the ABS sensor.

Unfortunately, the eagerly awaited post-replacement test drive showed the whine is still there. It has changed a bit - I would say it is a pure whine now, whereas before it had some 'crunchy' component to it. I think the bearings did need replacement, bit I'm now at a loss as to what the issue is.

The dealer is useless - they say the din is perfectly normal, no problem, yada yada yada. My usual independent garage says they don't want to get into trying to diagnose CVT drivetrain problems, and point me to the dealer.

After having just put $1k into it (tires/bearing/brakes), I'd like to keep it for a whole longer, with new ones running $35k and up. We won't get squat for it in a trade, and I don't want to hand the problems to some poor sod in a private sale.

What to do?

P.S. I should have described the whine. It becomes loud above 40 mph, and is proportional to speed, not rpm. It is unchanged if the car is put in neutral and coasts. Does not seem to vary in turns. Seems to be centered in the middle-front (I figured that was because both bearings were toast, but now I'm wondering about xfer case and xmission...).

 

Update

What to do?

P.S. I should have described the whine. It becomes loud above 40 mph, and is proportional to speed, not rpm. It is unchanged if the car is put in neutral and coasts. Does not seem to vary in turns. Seems to be centered in the middle-front (I figured that was because both bearings were toast, but now I'm wondering about xfer case and xmission...).

Update on this - Problem turned out to be the transfer case, which was nearly dry. It hadn't leaked, the fluid had just deteriorated into black goo. My bad as I thought I had this fluid changed at 60k, but don't see it in my records. Got as much goo out as I could, and refilled the case. Whine is much reduced now. Plan to change the fluid again in a few weeks, hoping the rest of the goo has dissolved.

So when you get a centered, high pitch whine as described above, check the transfer case fluid level! It only holds about a cup of fluid, and is apparently under a lot of stress, so this needs to be checked regularly (I would suggest every 30k rather than the recommended 60k).

 

Wheel bearing grind

'03 AWD SL
Don't mean to belabor the point, but I had that crunchy, whining noise for a year or so, only when turning the wheel to the left, on highways around turns, and it did not take a lot of turn to get it to start. My passenger front WB was toast, no doubt about it. You could tell the difference turning the new (Timken unit) vs the old by hand. The noise would not be there while going straight or turning right, but turning left sounded like the wheel was coming off. I bought my '03 MO new back in early '04. I had the same whining issues under warranty, and eventually took it back enough times (and finally took the service manager for a test drive) that they started listening. I even had them drive two other new MO's on the lot, with the statement if they made the same noise, I would go away, and never come back. One made no noise at all, and the other was WORSE! I think there was a quality issue with these hub assys, that was kept hush-hush. Be persistent, and keep good records. Get EVERYTHING in writing. The car had between 18-20K on it when this all started. Under warranty, they replaced the CVT, and finally the front diff, which of course included the wheel bearings.

 

You guys with issues need to start a new thread...

 

Thanks chris27

Thanks for the WONDERFUL writeup and step by step! Had I followed the directions verbatim I could have saved an ABS Sensor, but low and behold I snapped the driver side when the hub broke loose trying to get the axle nut off. (Read Homer Simpson DOH!) I ordered the Timken bearings from rockauto.com (!) and will be ordering the replacement ABS sensor from them as well, which is a better price than I can get locally. The only thing I would add for anyone interested in doing this would be to get a slide hammer rental from the local parts store. Only took 2 bumps and the bearing was out, easy as pie.

I also had my rotors turned, as I was beginning to get a slight shimmy in the steering wheel when braking, though not too bad. Now the MO is smooth and silky, just like it should be.

My next project to tackle is to replace the struts with the KYB's. While I'm at it, I will be wrapping the A/C lines per suggestion from WarHammer. :29: I will post back and let all know how that goes. Hope something in here helps someone out there!