I have a 1997 Previa all wheel drive (AWD) that was diagnosed by Toyota dealer as needing a front axle replacement on one side. Within 48 hours of getting the repaired vehicle back, it started to make noise in the wheel assembly, and fearing a major system failure I had it towed in. While the car was on a hydraulic lift, I noted to the technician that the entire affected front wheel was wiggling loose sideways. Dealer now says the entire bearing has failed and needs replacement. Dealer is making the claim that this bearing failure had nothing to do with their axle repair and was simply failing on its own over time. They are charging me for the replacement parts at over $500.
A very knowledgeable mechanic friend of mine claims it is impossible that this is a bearing that was slowly failing. My friend claims that a bearing failure would have been seen by any mechanic at the time of axle replacement, because a bearing failure that takes place over time would create a fine white powder that would be all over everything as soon as the axle was removed from the bearing assembly.
On one web site, I see that for the AWD version of the Previa the bearing is not directly accessible, and you have to replace the entire hub assembly, which apparently includes the bearing. Is there any chance that a technician removing the axle from this assembly on the AWD version of 1997 Previa would fail to notice a bearing that was undergoing a slow failure over time?
I'm trying to give the dealer the benefit of the doubt here, but it seems to me that a catastrophic failure of a front bearing within 48 hours of the same side axle being replaced points 95% to an incorrectly installed axle, and not to a pre-existing failure in the bearing. But I don't have enough knowledge about this model of Previa to make a cogent argument to them.
I would appreciate insights on this from any experienced Toyota mechanics.