Honda City rear bearing replacement at 43,000 kms?

[DukeSan27]

I have a 2004 Honda City CVT and its done about 43,000kms. I gave it for service today and was informed that both the rear bearings have to be replaced, costing 6k each.

The service person said that the life of the bearings is about 30-35,000kms. The car is driven only Bangalore.

Is this normal with Honda or other cars?

[danlalan]

Originally Posted by DukeSan27

I have a 2004 Honda City CVT and its done about 43,000kms. I gave it for service today and was informed that both the rear bearings have to be replaced, costing 6k each.

The service person said that the life of the bearings is about 30-35,000kms. The car is driven only Bangalore.

Is this normal with Honda or other cars?

i think this is normal with honda cars. My friends city also need the bearings to be changed at 30k odd or so.

[Bomi]

Are you referring to rear wheel bearings? If yes, I am surprised they require replacement at 30-40000 kms. In my Zen and RS the originals are going strong at 78000 and 32000 kms. Thats Honda quality, I guess!

[Jaggu]

can happen, and yes honda charges bomb for parts. colleague got 70 k insurance bill for a rear end damage.

One tail light unit at 6 k!! i think ridiculous since the car has been around for so long !!

[DukeSan27]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

can happen, and yes honda charges bomb for parts. colleague got 70 k insurance bill for a rear end damage.

One tail light unit at 6 k!! i think ridiculous since the car has been around for so long !!

I completely agree. My service bill is coming to 24k (including the rear bearings (12k), fromt brake-pads(3.5k), spark plugs, engine oil etc).
They want another 5k for the front right fender repair (got dented in an accident). This includes 3.5k for painting.

Is painting also so expensive? For fender hardly of 1 sq.meter area.

[anandpadhye]

My 2004 NHC Gxi has done 55000 KM till date and wheel bearings are fine.

However, even I was told that majority of NHC's need rear wheel bearing need to be replaced around 50K timeframe. Ofcourse, I told them very clearly that they have to show me that the bearings are gone (whenever that happens).

I don't think they cost much.

If you can, just ask them to show the wear to you and then take a decision.

[sgiitk]

Surprised. My Esteem did 65k+, Zen Auto 60+, Zen Manual 55+, and Accent 40+ and we never needed rear bearings. One second hand Alto VX we bought with 12k on the clock required one immediately after purchase.

This is indeed news.

[gkrishn]

But why the rear ones? I thought the front one take more load and might need an early change.
Replaced both the front bearing at about 36k kms. parts, labor, tax all inclusive came to about 5k. And i thought it was expensive.

And are you hearing some noise from rear? When bearing goes kaput, they make a distinct noise.

[zakaaaaasss]

Yes its a known fact and have been discussed in the forum earlier....
dukesan@ I have same year CVT and had to change rear bearings at arnd 30-35K odo..however did'nt pay anything as my car was in warranty..

if you need cheaper option, try to locate the part no, buy it from bearing dealer in your town and get them fitted outside.

[Blue Thunder]

wheel bearings replacement at 43K km seems a bit early. And that too rear wheels . Usually front wheel bearings need to be replaced earlier. Did you go over any pothole at high speeds fully loaded : then the rear wheels have a higher chance of getting damaged. I once drove my M800 (now replaced with a Gypsy) at high speed over a deep rain puddle, and heard the loud thud made by the front right wheel. At the next service, the front right wheel bearing had to be replaced : but this was at 85K km+

[DukeSan27]

Originally Posted by zakaaaaasss

Yes its a known fact and have been discussed in the forum earlier....
dukesan@ I have same year CVT and had to change rear bearings at arnd 30-35K odo..however did'nt pay anything as my car was in warranty..

if you need cheaper option, try to locate the part no, buy it from bearing dealer in your town and get them fitted outside.

That's reassuring. But my warranty is over a while back so I had to pay for them.

I have got the original bearings with me now, but I dont have the expertise to tell anything about them. If someone can then I can post some pics.

Did you go over any pothole at high speeds fully loaded : then the rear wheels have a higher chance of getting damaged.

Not that I know of. But half the time the car is driven alone by the driver, so it may be possible.
On the other hand from zakaaaaasss's post it appear that the replacement time would be normal for City.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by DukeSan27

That's reassuring. But my warranty is over a while back so I had to pay for them.

I have got the original bearings with me now, but I dont have the expertise to tell anything about them. If someone can then I can post some pics.


Not that I know of. But half the time the car is driven alone by the driver, so it may be possible.
On the other hand from zakaaaaasss's post it appear that the replacement time would be normal for City.

How much did you pay?

And yes, pics will help us all to know how it looks.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by DukeSan27

I have got the original bearings with me now, but I dont have the expertise to tell anything about them. If someone can then I can post some pics.

Posting pics may not be much of a help, I feel. You can check it yourself : hold the bearing in one hand holding the outer surface, then try to move the inner surface by the other hand to see if it has any play (movement in the opposite directions back-and-forth, not rotary). Any movement apart from the normal rotary motion indicates play, and indicates that the bearing needs to be replaced. There should be some play : if there is no play, then probably it need not have been replaced (the dealers were trying to make some extra parts sales ).

[Gasolinejunkie]

The Honda dealership is fleecing you, but that’s not unusual.
For the wheel-bearing to **** itself at 40,000ks something must be wrong somewhere. I recon someone undid the bearings and then tightened it with excessive preload.
If your car was only serviced by Honda, you can take them to task.
I don’t know about India, but in Aus the warranty does cover premature wear on parts due to manufacturing defects. This is manly because the companies need to keep up their reputation. Throw your weight around with Honda and see what you can do.
Usually the front wheel bearings take a lot worse beating, especially on front wheel drives. The front wheel bearing is also locked tight and there is no problem of a mechanic adjusting incorrect preload. With the rears, someone definitely undid them maybe to adjust the handbrake and then didn’t preload it correctly.
Either that or someone might have been doing toomany handbrake turns.
If taken care of, wheel bearings last long. My car has done 279,000 kilometers and I think its driving on original rear wheel bearings.
To check wheel-bearings jack the car up and feel the wheel for any upward/downward play. Depending on the suspension set-up you might need to jack up under the lower-control-arm.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by Gasolinejunkie

Usually the front wheel bearings take a lot worse beating, especially on front wheel drives. The front wheel bearing is also locked tight and there is no problem of a mechanic adjusting incorrect preload. With the rears, someone definitely undid them maybe to adjust the handbrake and then didn’t preload it correctly.
Either that or someone might have been doing toomany handbrake turns.
If taken care of, wheel bearings last long. My car has done 279,000 kilometers and I think its driving on original rear wheel bearings.
To check wheel-bearings jack the car up and feel the wheel for any upward/downward play. Depending on the suspension set-up you might need to jack up under the lower-control-arm.

Hey @gasolinejunkie,

This is quite a useful piece of information.
So, if one drives a lot with the hadbrake on, will the rear wheel bearings wear out faster?

And jacking the car up to check upward/downward movement of the wheels seems a very nice (Do It Yourself) idea...I did not know that worn our bearings cause vertical play!

Thanks a bunch! T-BHP rocks!!
Anand