156 front wheel bearing replacement

[chrisga]

Has anyone else had this done? If so how much did it cost. Our local mechanic guy was supposed to do it today and has th epart but said it has a coded abs sensor on it so cant replace the part, and cant get the bearing out of the old one or something. Is this right? Anyone else had experience with these going?

[DuncanM]

Hello there,

I've just bought a 156 V6 for a runabout and both front wheel bearings needed doing.

The cunning thing to do is buy a hub instead of a wheel bearing as it is a complete pig to do bearings.

I'm not sure what the mechanic is on about reagarding the abs sensor though?

Yours

Duncan

[chrisga]

Thanks Duncan. Where abouts did you get your hubs from?

[DuncanM]

I used ebay, company called autolusso.

Just been browsing the alfa forums and noticed your post there, someone has replied stating they sell the hub/wheel bearing assembly for £30 + £10 delivery which is a good deal .

Yours

Duncan

[chrisga]

Yep, thanks Duncan, just wanted a couple of options, hence asking where you got yours from too.

[chrisga]

Hi Duncan. Im going to order the hub tomorrow hopefully and will givefitting it a go. Do you need any special tools?

[DuncanM]

If everything goes well it should be fairly simple, however that is seldom the case with cars .

We used cutting tool because the lower wishbone wouldn't come off.

Still easier than a wheel bearing imo!

Duncan

[chrisga]

Arghh, been trying to replace the hub strut thingy tonight as recommended by Duncan. Good shout there, and a big thank you to autolusso who sorted me out the part in double quick time with great service. Recommended!

Anyway, quick question that any alfa enthusiast may be able to answer, Ive been trying to get the disc off and found i needed a 36mm socket. Now i didnt happen to have one of them in my set (my spannering usually stops at my mountain bike!), so set off to fetch one from my Dads house. However when I got back, its the right size for the nut but the disc seems to taper on the inside meaning I cannot get the socket in far enough. What is the correct tool for the job to remove the disc?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Chris

[RicksAlfas]

The disks are only held on by small "pins".
One on each disk - 12mm socket.

Can you see the odd black blob about 4 o'clock?

[chrisga]

Oh no, you're joking. I spent ages dismantling everything and then put it all back together as i thought i couldnt get the disc off! I undid the blobby bit, but assumed this was just a locater for the wheel, whoops. So if I undid that how do I remove the disc. Do i need to take the caliper off first? And do i need to remove pads before the caliper? What order do I undo stuff to remove the disc. If I remove the disc then will I be able to use my 36mm socket on the nut on the driveshaft nut thats visible in the middle of the brake disc? Will a normal socket just fit straight on it?

p.s. I like the calipers in your pic, is that your car?

Edited by chrisga on Friday 24th July 08:18

Edited by chrisga on Friday 24th July 08:35

[RicksAlfas]

chrisga said:

p.s. I like the calipers in your pic, is that your car?

I wish!
No, it was just a random pic of a 156 brake I found.

This maybe of help to you....
http://www.alfa156.net/tech/Alfa156Brakes.pdf

[chrisga]

Thanks Rick, those brakes do look pretty smokey... I already printed that out this morning - had googled brake disc removal for 156's. Im still not sure if a normal 36mm socket will fit to remove the nut on the driveshaft though.....

[Plastilina]

good post! thans for the update!! download free wallpapers

[chrisga]

Quick update, still not been able to change the wheel bearings.
As you know I got stuck on the 36mm hub nut, not being able to undo that as I didnt want to grind down the socket I had (my dads). So we took the car to a mechanic who has spent all day on it trying to lso get the hub nut off. He has shattered a couple of sockets and it still wont budge. What sort of torque are these nuts done up to?
Im getting really narked off with it now, we've had wheel bearings changed on previous cars and they were almost done within the hour with no fuss. Why is this proving so difficult.
Anyone know any good places to take a 156 in the Rugby area to have the wheel bearings done.

[chrisga]

Final update. Hoorah the bearing is changed (only took about 6 weeks). We managed to change the upright hub unit thingy this morning with a lot of help from my dad and his airgun!!! Was fairly straight forward in the end, as he had a lot of tools that we needed.

Drove it and the new bearing seems fine. However the rear O/s was very, very hot when we got home. Do calipers ever seize, im thinking it may be the brake stuck on or something. Arghhh.... Nevermind, just something else to sort out.