I replaced the front wheel bearing in my mazdaspeed3, I thought the metallic side of the wheel bearing was the magnetic side, can anyone confirm/deny that I'm an idiot and installed it backwards? The ABS light seems to indicate that I am and did.....
There's a metal side that looks like the same material as the rest of the bearing and a side with a plastic looking black ring on the other. This was an oem bearing, part #BBM2-33-047.
Sucks to have to do this again....
accordionfolder said:I replaced the front wheel bearing in my mazdaspeed3, I thought the metallic side of the wheel bearing was the magnetic side, can anyone confirm/deny that I'm an idiot and installed it backwards? The ABS light seems to indicate that I am and did.....
There's a metal side that looks like the same material as the rest of the bearing and a side with a plastic looking black ring on the other. This was an oem bearing, part #BBM2-33-047.
Sucks to have to do this again....
Oopsie.
I hope you can save the bearing.
I would think that the metal facing side would interfere with the ABS sensor, so yeah the plastic side would need to face the sensor
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Bummer, in my head it made sense that the metal side faced the sensor and I just autopilot put it in and stuck it together. Oh well.
Mr_Asa said:I would think that the metal facing side would interfere with the ABS sensor, so yeah the plastic side would need to face the sensor
Yep. It's the plastic side that needs to the face the sensor. The reason is that it's the seal that's magnetically encoded, not the housing.
A lot of guys use a paperclip. Whichever side of the bearing the clip sticks to goes toward the sensor.
Thanks guys, according to the internet I'm most likely not the first to do this and I probably won't be the last. I ordered one of those ABS Sensor Cards so that I hopefully never do it again. Supposedly they also can help you check for a bad sensor ring before installing so that's a bonus.
accordionfolder said:I ordered one of those ABS Sensor Cards so that I hopefully never do it again. Supposedly they also can help you check for a bad sensor ring before installing so that's a bonus.
I'm not going to lie, when I read that you ordered something I thought in my head "why spend money ordering something when a paperclip will check magnetism for free".
But, I'm getting older. And as I have gotten older I realize more every day how much I don't know.
So I went off to research this magic sensor card deal.
That's neater than hell. Super slick idea. I immediately dropped one into my shopping cart.
For those who aren't familiar.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah - they're pretty cheap/nifty and good insurance for my head as I've heard of mixed results for tone rings functioning - hopefully not a problem with an OEM bearing. But in the reviews several people noted that they could identify a defective bearing by checking with one of these, cheap peace of mind for me - and I almost never regret buying a new tool.
There are people who never do anything wrong (yeah right) and there are people who admit to being people.
We learn more from our mistakes than if it went right.
And now I am going to look at that sensor card, cheap insurance on a picknpull run! 
Don't feel bad, i've verified which side was magetized and then STILL put it in wrong. At least you have the excuse of not knowing better. You can tell which side is magnetized just by holding a screwdriver to it. It's faint but detectable. And it's usually the blackish (sometimes dark brown) side.
You're definitely among friends here. I did the same on a lancer. I was able to gently persuade the bearing back out and flip it so it is possible. Maybe give it a shot?
Thanks for the commiseration and advice! Here's the new tool in action.
We had one of those cards here at work, but it disappeared quite some time ago.
Scott
In reply to accordionfolder :
Cool. I use a .004 feeler gauge.
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