Alero (Trac off, ABS, and Service Vehicle Soon lights on)

[Festivus]

Tried to replace the hub assembly on mine last night. Wasted 5 hours and simply could not get the hub to come out. Discovered abnormally worn brake pads and a sticking caliper in the process.

It's in the shop today.

[tblake]

5lb hammer usually does the trick for me. Those things are stubborn, but they come.

[Festivus]

Originally Posted by tblake

5lb hammer usually does the trick for me. Those things are stubborn, but they come.

So where do you hit it with the big gun? In what direction? I couldn't find a spot where I could get enough backswing without hitting something else.

[tblake]

well, the hub is shot right? Just beat downward or sideways on the part where the wheel mounts. Once the rust bridge is broken, you should be able to get a srewdriver or a chisel tip punch in there and help pound it off more.

[Festivus]

This car is going to drive me to drink.

So it's been in the shop now for 2 full days. Here's what's been done:

Prior shop installed new hub assembly and fixed CV axle. Although now we get an occasional loud clunk from the front end. Who the heck knows what that could be? I don't even want to guess. Now on to the brakes.

A caliper was locking up so I replaced the front calipers, rotors, and pads. But couldn't seem to get the brakes bled correctly. Brake pedal was spongy only when car was running. It was fine when car was off.

So it's now in another shop that I like better. They have been attempting to diagnose and fix this brake issue. I thought it just needed a better bleeding than what I was doing. Apparently not. They bled and bled it to no avail. Replaced the master cylinder, did nothing. Now they're saying that some valve is stuck open in the ABS module. Need to get that part from the dealer, put it on, and see if it fixes the issue. Can't do that until tomorrow.

At least this place isn't charging me for parts that do nothing but we've been without this car for 2 days now.

Anyone want to buy this piece? I'll NEVER buy a GM product ever again.

[tblake]

Dang, I may have been interested a couple weeks back. I just bought one at an auction. 2000 Alero, 3.4 V6, 100k, got it for 800 bucks. Interior has never been cleaned, Needed front fender (replaced) and still need a back bumper and possibly a front at some point, SES light was on, SVS light on, Trac off light on, ABS light on, Low Tire pressure light on. Needed a back shock, replaced, and it needs back brakes horribly.

But I have heard of ABS issues. How much is the part costing you? I think there may be a company that you can send your ABS module to and get it rebuilt.

And your going to have issues with any car you buy, its not just GM's. But sorry if this one left a bad taste in your mouth.

[Festivus]

I have a Honda with 108k on it. The only thing that has ever gone wrong with it (besides battery and brake pads of course) is a power door lock actuator. It's solid and runs like it's brand new.

Seriously, I would not buy an alero. But if you got one for $800, I guess it might be worth it. Aside from the major repair items stuff just falls off of the interior. It's incredibly cheaply made. For example, things like the trunk release button and the accessory cig lighter have come loose and now hang loosely in the car unless taped or glued. One of the air vents is broken to where it can't be directed or closed an longer. The cruise control won't stay on unless a dime is wedged in the button to keep it in. The big piece of plastic in the trunk over the latch has broken off and won't stay on. It uses about a quart of oil every 5k miles which isn't too bad but again my Honda uses almost none.

I'm sure I'm missing some stuff as well. Some of it is probably that the kid is really hard on it too. But I don't see how his being hard on it can cause everything that has gone wrong.

Good luck with yours though!

Edit: Forgot about these things:
Both tie rod ends needed replaced.
Both window crank brackets, (where cable attaches to window broke) it's a coupe.
Leaks into back seat during hard rains.

[tblake]

Holy smokes. Thats quite a list! Sorry to hear that. I'll let you know how mine tures out. Its a work in progress.

[Festivus]

Now this is freakin' interesting...

Been dealing with the mushy breaks after all of this work. Shop can't figure it out. So I told them to give it up. Don't get the expensive abs unit, I'll just drive it. The part was going to be $1800 from dealer, $250 from salvage. Another $250 to install it.

So I get it home and decide to flip the pads. Inner to outer, outer to inner. I didn't think that the wear indicator mattered but I've read that it needs to be on the inside. So I did that. Cleaned off everything, and of course compressed the piston to pull off the caliper.

Got it all back together and no more mushy brakes!

Now, I just can't believe that a wear indicator did this. I'm thinking that in compressing the pistons and pushing fluid back up through the master cylinder that I did something. I'm not complaining, that's for sure!

[tblake]

Wow, stuff like that never happens to me.

While its still working good, you may want to siphen out as much fluid as you can from the master cylinder and refill it so maybe you can get whatever contaminant that cause it to come out. Just don't go too low and let air get into the system or you be back to square one.

[Larson17]

You don't need a hub puller. It's all one assembly with the bearing already installed in the hub. It's basically removing the two strut bolts to separate the strut from the knuckle, taking the bolt off the C.V shaft and pulling that out, and if needed, the tie rod...

The hub itself is held on by three or four bolts which connect it to the knuckle. After seeing this problem a thousand times, I'd have to say that 90% of the time its the bearing. Those things go bad, you get play, and it kills the sensor.

Sure, other problems root from there, but that's where I've seen a lot of them start. Those three lights being on (service vehicle soon, trac off, and ABS or whatever) have mostly been from those sensors at the hub to about a foot up the harness, because of where it's placed in the car, (underneath where its exposed to water and the elements.)

[Larson17]

lol annnnnnd just realized I posted that last one looking at the bottom of page one.... not page two......

haha, anyways, hope that answers your question festivus.

ITS A FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!!!

[undersc0re]

Thought I would throw this out there, if your trying to figurte out which bearing is throwing the code and 3 lights on unlplug the wire from the sensor and put a 1000 ohm resistor in the plug (the end that goes to the computer and not the bearing of course) then turn your key to run position and see if the 3 lights are out now. That would be your bad bearing if the lights are gone, if the lights were still on then check the other one, 95% of the time its the front bearings. This is much cheaper than driving to the shop and having it scanned. You can get a 1000 ohm resistor from most electronic parts supply shops and even radio shack if they are still around. Doing a test on the road by swinging your car back and forth doesn't always tell you which bearing it is because when you hear a louder grinding noise when putting pressure towards the left wheel the it could be the inside race of the right wheel making the noise. I have only had this case happen to me once so far, but if you use the resistor method its most surely to tell you which one is bad.

[Festivus]

undersc0re, used your trick with the 1000 ohm resistor today. Worked like a charm. Got a bad passenger side front, again.

[tblake]

At least this time it should come off easier!!!!