Need help, axle/hub

[Towlie]

ok so let me start at the top

wheel bearing went out, and i replaced it

and everything was fine, when i went for test drive, the axle nut wasnt tightened all the way so we had to re tighten it
than everything was fine


ran for a bout a week
and the nut came loose slowly

and the axle would just spin in the hub

so i tightened it up
all good for another week

than last night on the way home from work

feel loss in power and weird scraping like noise like it the axle nut was loose again

smoke everywhere
so i pull over
and sure enuff its loose again
but i had no tools

so after waiting from midnight to 4am for a tow truck i brought it home


and i put a new axle nut on that i already had and tightened it and it drives just abit
but its like i cant tighten the nut enuff to keep it from spinning

im thinking that
either the hub assembly and wheel bearing isnt compatible with the axle
i believe the one i got had no ABS
and my car is ABS
im wondering if that eve n matters

So QUESTION ONE: Are the parts compatible

and QUESTION TWO: what could be wrong
i notice theres not carter pin to keep the axle nut in place

am i doing something wrong

and QUESTION THREE : what could of been damaged from this?

[Towlie]

anyone?

[sierrap615]

sorry, i'm the busyest on weekends

1. to clearify, what all did you replace? bearing, hub, CV joint? new or used? your year and year of donor?
2. one of two types of nuts may be used in a case like this. and i'm not sure of the spelling on ether. one is a castlelated nut, this is the type used with a cotter pin. and if you see one wou will know it, it looks like a castle tower. the other is a interferance fit nut, one time use only, its designed to fit real snug on the threads. to the best of my knowage all years S-series used the interferance nut on the CV joint. a normal nut can not be used, get this nut from the saturn dealership. wishful thinking says fourth time's a charm. but just in case, use blue locktight, confirm with saturn that locktight can be use on this nut first, i'm not sure if there is something special with the interference fit.
3. thats harder to say, but smoke is not good. i hope you didn't fry the new bearing, i suggest you take it all apart again(sorry) and check everything with a fine tooth comb. check every peice is in place, use the opposist side for referance. for example i know there is a washer behind the axle nut thats easy to over look.

after that, you may want to post on saturnfans.com

[Towlie]

thanks, yea im guess the wheel bearing could of been fuked over, im not sure
but i replaced the hub bearing assembly all as one piece, my car is a 93 sc2, and i think it came off a 92-93 sc2, my friend mentioned to use locktight, so maybe ill try that, but as far as taking it all apart, eh i dont think id know what i was lookin for, so eh, i dont know what im gonna do with this

[carguy83]

locktight would work... its just a pain in the balls to get it back off if you ever need it again unless you have air tools

[sierrap615]

i don't see any differences in 92/93. but if it was used.....

i mean looking for uneven wear, bends, cracks, shinny/polished areas, ect.

[Towlie]

ok so i think my problem is that, the whole assembly that i got from the junkyard was non abs, and my car is abs, and i guess the axle and everything wasnt compatible, and it grinded it all up, so im guess i need to replace the axle and the whole wheel bearing assembly? im not sure, i need to find a mechanic to look at it in my area, but all are pretty busy

[Towlie]

i got the axle on so tight now it wont come off, i didnt even use locktight, but now theres like a scraping noise type thing going on, i think the wheel bearing got fucked up, and thats what the nosie is from

[carguy83]

is it a constant sound?

[Towlie]

yeaaaaa,

[carguy83]

nope not a bearing... they dont scrape
they make a droning sound and get worse with higher speeds

[sierrap615]

towel, what state are you in?

ABS vs. non-ABS would be a issue, i don't know about the kuncle, but the ABS CV joint has a sensor ring. but i don't see that smoking. the ABS sensor has a tight clearance of about 0.040" IIRC, i wonder if it hit some thing.

Originally Posted by carguy83

nope not a bearing... they dont scrape
they make a droning sound and get worse with higher speeds

good point, if the sound is not related to speed, then that leads to a non-rotating suspention part, tie-rods, struts, ect. i would not be surprized if a blown strut would smoke. you should also be able to see oil leaking from the strut.

[Towlie]

yea wlel there was grey grease scattered everywhere with what looks like tiny particles of metal in it

[Towlie]

oh and im in FL

[carguy83]

mmmm thats not good