Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Is it time to give up on my 98 Contour?

I just checked Autozone. Front Timken wheel bearing is $42.99.

When I took mine to machine shop he charged me $20.00 for each bearing to press out and in.

Total cost if you do it yourself is about $65.00!!!

Bob

Although Ray is right you can do it, it is not really a trivial job. The one part you can not readily do is press the bearing back in. I just had both bearings done for $400 from the dealer. I decided that the time was not worth the dollars and to buy the hubs with the bearings was only saving me $80. Again that was not worth the effort.

Rich S

If you like the car,stick it out. If not,dump it. That's what I did with my Mystique. It was a nice car,but it was giving me all sorts of problems and it was a 4 cyl and automatic which was a POS,so I dumped it for a '95 Contour with a V6 and 5 speed. I'm much happier now,but....

=...it cost me $1600 to get it roadworthy. However,the Mystique would have needed just over $2k to keep it roadworthy.The Contour needed new struts and springs on the rear,rear brakes,e-brake cable,both lower ball joints and a 3rd brake light. I still need to get my tranny rebuilt because it grinds in 3rd gear as the synchros are worn out. Plus,the car has 262 000km on the original engine,but the body is in mint condition. There is not a speck of rust anywhere. I guess it helps the car was repainted in '99 after hitting a deer. lol

So,$1100 in 5 weeks isn't bad compared to $1600 in one day.