Ball bearings

Tiny
JACK BOSWELL
  • MEMBER
  • 2012 BUICK VERANO
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 95,000 MILES
When pulling out of a parking lot today, our car started making a terrible noise that sounded like grinding metal on metal in the front of the car (really the driver's side front). We got out and found two ball bearings on the ground near the car. Bearings approximately an inch in diameter with some grease on them. Any ideas on what this could be? Thank you.
Sunday, November 12th, 2017 AT 5:24 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Sounds as if a CV joint has failed, I would not drive the car, I would get it towed to a work shop for further investigation, drive shaft replacement is a fairly easy job for a mechanic, but get them to quote the job first.
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Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 AT 2:14 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 50,480 POSTS
Hello,

It sounds like you have a CV axle that has come apart. To confirm the failure you will need to raise the car up safely.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/jack-up-and-lift-your-car-safely

Here is a guide of what it will take to replace the the CV axle:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-cv-axle

Here is how it will be like for your car:

Using a torque wrench (1) and the appropriate size socket, tighten the wheel drive shaft nut to 150 Nm (111 lb ft) .
Release the wheel drive shaft nut (2) trough 45 degrees .
Retighten the wheel drive shaft nut (2) final pass to 250 Nm (185 lb ft) .
Install the tire and wheel assembly. Refer to Tire and Wheel Removal and Installation See: MaintenanceWheels and TiresService and Repair.
Lower the vehicle.

Diagrams (below).

Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

Cheers, Ken
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Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 AT 2:17 PM

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