2013 Honda Accord front left wheel bearing replacement. How hard of a DIY?

mosaud1998

mosaud1998

Joined
Nov 12, 2020
Messages
946
Location
Chicago, IL
I started noticing a couple of months ago that the car kept pulling to the left. So, I had an alignment done at my job and the tech did say the alignment was a little off. Nothing crazy. They still did the alignment. But, the car was still pulling a little bit to the left after the alignment. So, I thought maybe it was just the road. Now, I am hearing what seems to be a humming noise from the left side. The car is pulling to the left again :(

The car is at 95k miles. So, almost due for plugs and a coolant exchange. Front brakes I'll probably replace myself. Never done a wheel bearing though. I had the rear wheel bearing replaced on my 2009 BMW 328. Cost about $325. Thinking the Honda will be cheaper. Watched one DIY video and the guy was using a big socket and a hammer to knock the bearing out. I don't think that would be wise.
 
Getting the bearing out is the easy part. Socket and a hammer is fine for that, but you're going to need a hydraulic, clamp style, or cup and bolt style press to get the new bearing in. I would start with confirming you need a wheel bearing first.
 
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I don't know if this is 100% the case, but typically on "driven" wheels (in your case, the front since it's FWD), the bearing and/or assembly needs pressed out, using an arbor press. You remove the knuckle to do this. There may be on-car tools that work (slide hammer ?) but it probably depends.... Non-driven wheels (in your case, the rears) are normally bolted in and much simpler to replace.
 
I did a wheel bearing on my Mothers Suzuki Jimny a few years ago. I hit the old bearing out with a large hammer and a suitably sized socket and put the now-bearingless hub in the oven on maximum for a couple of hours. I'd had the new bearing in the freezer all greased up ready to go for a few days, and so with the very hot hub and the very cold bearing, the bearing simply just dropped into the hub.
 
Pew said:
After 3 14F days and multiple trips to autozone, I have concluded that next time a wheel bearing needs to be changed that isn't those AWD bearing/hub assembly, I'm bringing it to a shop.
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Before we sold our '03 Explorer last year, one of the rear bearings was on its way out. Although I'll tackle a lot of easy to moderate repairs myself, I had a hunch this was something I'd get taken apart and run into an equipment/experience limitation that would turn it into a catastrophe. My indy shop broke a couple tools trying to get the bearing out of the hub assembly before they had to admit defeat and replace both parts. I think that repair bill was money well spent.
 
Bailes1992 said:
I did a wheel bearing on my Mothers Suzuki Jimny a few years ago. I hit the old bearing out with a large hammer and a suitably sized socket and put the now-bearingless hub in the oven on maximum for a couple of hours. I'd had the new bearing in the freezer all greased up ready to go for a few days, and so with the very hot hub and the very cold bearing, the bearing simply just dropped into the hub.
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Nice job!
 
I thought this was a hub, so it’s possibly a DIY to change out the hub assembly. Question is: what else has to be done to get the knuckle off/gain access to drive the hub out? Can you do those things with your tools?

It will be about the same as the BMW to get this one done.
 
Astro14 said:
I thought this was a hub, so it’s possibly a DIY to change out the hub assembly. Question is: what else has to be done to get the knuckle off/gain access to drive the hub out? Can you do those things with your tools?

It will be about the same as the BMW to get this one done.
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I believe the rears are bolt-in hub bearings, but the fronts are press-in bearings for this MY. Could be wrong.
 
I did my Mazda with tools rented from O’Reilly. But I do have an electric impact gun. It helps a lot. Didn’t have to remove the knuckle. You will also need something, like a grinder with a small or worn disk or similar, to remove the inner race. Removing the inner race was probably the trickiest part.

Here is the thread, I took pictures of the tools I rented.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/mazda-3-needed-few-things.308731/#post-5096343
 
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tessaseveride said:
Getting the bearing out is the easy part. Socket and a hammer is fine for that, but you're going to need a hydraulic, clamp style, or cup and bolt style press to get the new bearing in. I would start with confirming you need a wheel bearing first.
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I think I'll pop the car on jack stands and spin the left wheel around. If it makes a "grinding" or humming noise, I'll know it's the bearing
 
A quick and easy way do doagnose a wheel bearing-have the front wheels up in the air and the car in neutral. Grab onto the coil spring and tug and give the wheel a spin.
You will be able to feel the vibration in the spring.
 
TheRuley said:
A quick and easy way do doagnose a wheel bearing-have the front wheels up in the air and the car in neutral. Grab onto the coil spring and tug and give the wheel a spin.
You will be able to feel the vibration in the spring.
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Looks like I'll have to get a jack also. I had a Daytona jack but sold it a year ago since it stopped working.
 
Based on my experience with 04 Sienna, I would get a new steering knuckle where the bearing is pressed on.
You can press the bearing before even taking out the old parts.
 
JMJNet said:
Based on my experience with 04 Sienna, I would get a new steering knuckle where the bearing is pressed on.
You can press the bearing before even taking out the old parts.
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Negative to that is the quality (or lack of) of the bearing assembly. From a standpoint of installation, it's very appealing though.
 
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