Cause of burned wheel bearing?

[Lin]

Not my bearing and not from my car, but I am curious as to the probable cause of the burn on this bearing. It was installed on an Alfa less than a year ago. Any thoughts?

Lin

 

[roscoe]

It certainly looks like the inner race has been spinning, assuming it isn't supposed to. Although that can cause a bearing to overheat It doesn't really look like a burn to me ( certainly no blue color), no broad heat discoloration. Seems very localized for a bearing over heating. When I blow it up it kind of looks like corrosion. I can't tell from the photo what condition the grease is in. Does it smell at all burnt, ismthe bearing still smooth when you load the inner race with your hand and turn it?

 

[LarryK]

Looks like car sat in damp weather for a while or defective.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

My first question is 'why was this bearing removed' (since it had been installed less than a year ago)? It looks to be well-greased; I'd clean it thoroughly and have a close look at whatever you can see on the outer part of the inner race, 'across' from where the discoloration occurred. I agree it doesn't look burned; this may be just surface corrosion. If so, I'd want to figure out why it corroded in under a year; what does the spindle look like; i.e. is there any corrosion, pitting, etc. where the bearing sat? What does the bearing and spindle look like on the other side (of the car)?

If nothing obvious turns up, and it's just surface corrosion, and you can determine what caused it I'd be tempted to sand the corrosion off and re-install. I know, the adage is "If you've gotten it out, might as well replace it with new," but with the 'quality' of some aftermarket parts these days it could be better to reuse an older, better one. My experience is that, in attempting to be the part that shows up first in a 'search by lowest/increasing price' internet search many companies are skimping on coatings and corrosion protection (anybody bought any really good repop chromed parts lately?)

 

[LarryK]

Was the car driven thru hurricane water or down the beach?

 

[Keoke]

Interesting to say the least ???