Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi. Can anyone please advise? We have so far been to 3 garages! The 1st talked us into replacing all 4 wheel bearings (which he later said were probably ok and only needed greasing). We left the car with him and upon later inspection it appears as though he came across some difficulty. The front nearside bearing was fitted incorrectly resulting in a nasty knocking/grinding/crunching sound which has since been replaced by garage No.2 who deemed it "lethal"... just to give you some idea of the incompetence here in Leicester.

Garage No.2 appears to have become bored half way through the job and after we test drove his repair and found there was still an issue he took us on a joy ride (minus the joy) around the block in a scene resembling "Grand Theft Auto", claimed he could feel nothing (not surprising ... and we are awaiting the speeding fine) and was reluctant to remove and inspect the rear nearside wheel.

In brief, from what we gather, only one front bearing has been fitted and we have no idea about the back. All we can say for sure is that:

garage No.1 was spotted removing, what we now know to be called the 'half shaft'
The handbrake has been tightened some 3 or 4 clicks

the rear nearside wheel does not appear to move as freely as the other (when jacked)
The wheel appears to be bouncing and the car feels wobbly and with a possible drag (when driven on the road)

Lastly ... garage No.3 thinks all of this is fine!

If any of this rings any bells with anybody then you have our sympathy and would welcome your advice. Many, many thanks.

Where are you Kitty? Must be somebody competent in your area.

Andy

You have been thoroughly ripped off - I would be going to Trading Standards. It was never going to be 'wheel bearings' - what a load of tosh. Are you sure the tyre is ok - not bulging? Wheel buckled? Is the car sitting on the rear axle bump stops ? Could be knackered damper - does the car bounce up and down more than once if you press it down hard? More seriously - it could be a broken spring (check urgently) or spring 'perch' rotted away on the axle so the axle can twist. Lastly - are the rear spring mounts secure on the chassis - not rotted ??

Contact the Leicestershire branch, they should be able to point you in the direction of a good minor friendly garage. Contact details are on their website: http://www.leicsmmoc.co.uk/

And - it's gone quiet...... maybe just a balancing problem on that rear wheel - fit the spare - is it any better?

Please help. We have not received any replies and are still at a loss as to how to resolve this matter.

Many thanks.

Thank you for the suggestions, we shall look into them.

Sorry for not responding but we were not notified of any replies to our post nor was the page showing any interaction.

Thank you, again.

Why would you wait for 'notification; ??? You ask a question - check it at least daily for replies - often they will be there within the hour!!! Try swapping the spare on first ....and please do let us know if it helps - if it's not too much trouble of course.....

We are awaiting mechanic's intervention. Thank you for all the pointers. Will let you know the outcome.

Kitty,

You can set the default email notification to 'Yes' in the 'User Control Panel' - it is very useful to have it 'on'.

I would also take up the suggestion of contacting the Leicester branch to ask for some help from them.

Evening Kitty. I'm in Leicestershire and have a four post lift so you're welcome to come and pop it up on there and we can have a poke about underneath - see if we can find the problem. PM me if you'd like to sort something out

I have a daily traveller and some other minors too, and old Land-Rovers - not a fount of all knowledge like some chums on here but pretty competent.

Good luck with the 'mechanic' - I thought it had already been declared fine - no problem ??? Be wary of being ripped off for a lot of unnecessary work .

Yes, being ripped off for unnecessary work is something we have learnt the hard way! Being ripped off for bad/dangerous work is even worse.

Note we have contacted the Leicester branch who were very helpful but only able to make a personal recommendation ... outside of the county!

Thank you all very much for your kind support. Keep you posted.