Once a suitable place has been found, it is time to make the car safe. Apply the hand brake and place a chock underneath the wheel. If you are working on the rear then chock the front, vise versa if you intend to work on the rear like we are then chock both front wheels as there will be no hand brake applied. Look in the Ford owner’s handbook for the best place to jack up the car
The first mechanical part of the job is to remove the wheel. Then I need to remove the metal cover in the center of the brake drum. This then allows access to the center nut that holds on the drum to the hub. There is a split pin through the center that is held in place by a castle nut. With wire cutters or pliers, undo the split pin and remove it. You can then remove the nut.
Next, you need to remove the drum. If you are lucky like me then the drum will come of easily however you may need some persuasion by a rubber mallet or in extreme cases a hub puller.
This may depend on the condition of the outer wheel bearing race/ housing and how long you have left the problem before attempting to fix it.
Once the drum is off the car, it is time to place it in a vice or if you don’t have one like me then use the wheel rim. Remove the wheel bearing inner race from the outside edge, turn the hub upside down. There is a rubber seal that retains the grease. Remove this seal and the inner bearing. With a rub of a dry rag to remove all the old grease you will be able to locate the outer wheel-bearing race. With a flat bar or screw driver you need to knock these out.
If you do not have a special tool to replace the new outer bearings, I use a large socket just fractionally smaller than the outer race. This works well but you must be very careful to ensure you do not damage either the new bearing or the hub.
In the genuine Ford replacement wheel bearing kit, you get all the bearings, grease, split pin, seal and inner and outer race. It is just a case of replacing all the parts like for like. Once the bearing is in place and all greased up, it is time to replace the drum onto the hub. Place the large washer then the locking castle washer followed by the main nut. Tighten the nut and then slacken it half a turn, spin the drum to see if it spins freely. With both hands holding top and bottom of the drum, check for any free play in the bearing. The Ford Fiesta is fitted with what they call Timken bearings. These do not require to be over tightened so read the Ford owner’s handbook and Ford manual to ensure you tighten them properly.
Once it is tight, place the split pin through the center and fold it over. Place some grease in the cover and knock it back into place. Lastly replace the wheel and tighten accordingly. After spinning the wheel to make sure you have eradicated the noise, lower the car with the hand brake applied, then test drive.
My Ford Fiesta has always run perfectly, it never lets me down and is always a joy to travel in. Today started like any other, up early for work, make coffee and drink on the way to work in the dark, cold and normal wet conditions.
Today started like any other until I was half way through my journey. At the traffic lights, I noticed the engine was not running as smooth as normal and the car seemed to be shaking. My initial thoughts were maybe bad fuel or the choke may be stuck on. I managed to reach my work place and decided to repair it at lunchtime well at least try to identify the problem.
The first step is to find a suitable safe area to carry out the repair. It should be level and away from moving traffic. You may wish to cone off the area or use signage to warn people about the repair you are doing not so easy in a car park.
DO NOT LEAVE THE KEYS IN THE IGNITION AS THIS COULD
RESULT IN SOMEONE TRYING TO MOVE THE CAR AND CAUSE
