F Wheel Bearing w/ Nicked Spline = Noise?

[3k015t]

I had a front wheel bearing on an 09 1.8L Vibe replaced a couple years ago by a shop and while the road noise from the bearing was reduced quite a bit I noticed almost immediately there was still a little noise. Long story but the shop wasn't near where I lived so I never went back to complain. Unfortunately the noise increased with time. After two years the bearing noise got so bad I decided to replace it myself. After removing the bearing race from the spline/hub I noticed the spline was nicked by the shop two years earlier when they cut the race off. I did not see any other signs of damage to the bearing. Unfortunately I convinced myself that the nick was too small to possibly matter so I pressed in a new bearing and put everything back together. Well I am back to where I was, just a little noise that is surely coming from that bearing. Am I crazy? Can a spline that was nicked by an angle grinder create noise in the bearing?

[3k015t]

I wrote spline when I should have written spindle.

[andrewclaus]

I don't follow where the nick is. When I replaced my front bearing, I removed the steering knuckle from the car and had a shop press the old hub and bearing out of the knuckle, and the new ones back in. No cutting or grinding needed.

Unless you're talking about the axle nut, which I've had to cut off on other cars, but that doesn't affect the bearing unless the threads are so shot the nut can't be torqued correctly. If that's the case, you'll need a new axle.

[3k015t]

I was on a road trip and got talked into using a shop that was dirt cheap. There are a variety of tools and methods to press out and in these types of bearing but they all rely on pulling the old bearing apart and in doing so one of the races remains on the spindle. There are tools to get it off but one of the easiest ways is to cut it off. You can do that with an axle grinder or a dremel. I used a dremel, it is definitely slower but it wasn't that slow. The el cheapo shop used and angle grinder like this https://youtu.be/edabaqTXBYw?t=1129. They nicked the spindle

[jolt]

Fast answer is; no. A nick made by a cut off wheel in the shaft or hub, were the bearing is pressed on or into, will not make noise. You may want to check the bearings at the trans-axle where the axles insert into the transmission case.

[3k015t]

I will do that. Thank you Jolt!

[zbyers]

When i had a bearing pressed in at a local shop, they messed up the groove the snap ring sits in... My snap ring now doesn't fully seat, so it does make some noise.

It's possible that your situation may be similar.

[3k015t]

Thank you for the suggestion but I did not have any issues putting the snap ring back in.