I’d always thought it would be good to own a Volvo. My grandparents had a
240 wagon quite a few years ago, and so when I saw this for sale, I went
right away to check it out. I love this car already, even though I’ve only
had it a month. The odometer broke at 172,000, and the previous owner said
it’s probably about 180,000. No mechanical issues at all, it runs really
smooth still. I was a little nervous about doing work on the car, but it
ended up going real nicely.
The broken odometer is a typical 240 fault, and they will all do that at
one point or another. This is coming from someone whose odometer on an ’84
DL broke twice. There is a little gear within the assembly that become
fragile and brittle with age. Eventually, the gear breaks and the odometer
quits turning.
@louiearmstrong Definitely wouldn’t hurt to do both. Saves you from pulling
the front end apart twice. They’re both easy fixes, and if you get them
from a place like RockAuto.com, pretty inexpensive.
Nice to see a fellow Volvo enthusiast doing some DIY work on a car. How
many miles do you have on it, by the way? Any major mechanical issues? I
have a ’96 850 that has a mere 87k miles on it – it’s my summer car so it
doesn’t get driven as often as I would like. I have my daily driver (’99
S70) for racking up miles.
Thanks for posting. I’m trying to do the same repair, but I’m having
trouble getting the ball joint out of the plate that holds it to the stut
housing. Any suggestion on how to do this would be appreciated.
Volvo had rear discbrakes standard since the seventies.. i myself have a
Volvo 242 -79 and disc brakes all around as standard.. and now it is
converted to a 2,3 turbo.
@jakebelder Ive got the 3 and 9 wiggle. It’s only a couple of MM at most,
but the 12 and 6 has ZERO play. So it’s tie rod ends for sure? I should
probably do both anyways…
Good question. It was a few years ago now that I did this. I’m pretty sure
I just stuck it in a vice and unfastened the bolt that held it together. I
do remember that bolt taking a lot of effort.
I have a 83, a 89, a 90, a 91 and a 93, all are 240 models. I am going to
do my ball joints, tie rod ends, struts and end-link bushings on the 91
when the weather gets better here in New Mexico. Thanks for the video on
the front end work….and Merry Christmas to all. As for the odometer gear
breaking, I think it mainly breaks when the driver re-sets the mileage
counter while the car is in motion.
What were your original symptoms? Im working on an ’82 240 wagon and the
steering wheel is “wobbling” as it goes down the road, and the wobble is
coming from the front left wheel. Im trying to figure out if I need to do
what you did or replace the wheel bearings… though I should probably do
both.
@louiearmstrong I have the same car for years now, but and ’86 GL, in a
wagon even same color. And only 148 k. My steering was loose too. I paid
exactly 800 for just what you did there. I have heard that if you get
suspension replaced these are very smooth rides. Any idea or where to look
for fixing your own suspension? I wonder if I did it myself would all the
tie rod work get obliterated. Ciao.
@louiearmstrong The symptoms were just really loose steering, lots of
wobble over 40mph. Another tell-tale sign is when you have the car jacked
up, put your hands on the tire at 9 and 3 and see if the wheel has play in
it. That’s a bad tie-rod end. If you put your hands at 12 and 6 and do the
same, and it has play in it, that’s a bad ball joint. The bearings seemed
okay in my car, usually they’ll make a lot of noise if they’re bad.
@unclegeemus, @louiearmstrong I have a ’90 740 GLE and I notice wobbling
but only under braking. There isn’t too much play with my steering when
simply driving, but when I brake the front right wheel shakes pretty
un-controllably and pully right. I’m really afraid I may have a warped
rotor (as I understand it that means I have to replace the entire brake
assembly on all 4). Any Thoughts?
){kind=link}
do you still have your 240?
Thanks for the head up on RockAuto, they rock
I’d always thought it would be good to own a Volvo. My grandparents had a
240 wagon quite a few years ago, and so when I saw this for sale, I went
right away to check it out. I love this car already, even though I’ve only
had it a month. The odometer broke at 172,000, and the previous owner said
it’s probably about 180,000. No mechanical issues at all, it runs really
smooth still. I was a little nervous about doing work on the car, but it
ended up going real nicely.
You should change the bushings of your sway bar. they are dead. it will
handle a bit better.
The broken odometer is a typical 240 fault, and they will all do that at
one point or another. This is coming from someone whose odometer on an ’84
DL broke twice. There is a little gear within the assembly that become
fragile and brittle with age. Eventually, the gear breaks and the odometer
quits turning.
@louiearmstrong Definitely wouldn’t hurt to do both. Saves you from pulling
the front end apart twice. They’re both easy fixes, and if you get them
from a place like RockAuto.com, pretty inexpensive.
Nice to see a fellow Volvo enthusiast doing some DIY work on a car. How
many miles do you have on it, by the way? Any major mechanical issues? I
have a ’96 850 that has a mere 87k miles on it – it’s my summer car so it
doesn’t get driven as often as I would like. I have my daily driver (’99
S70) for racking up miles.
Thanks for posting. I’m trying to do the same repair, but I’m having
trouble getting the ball joint out of the plate that holds it to the stut
housing. Any suggestion on how to do this would be appreciated.
I love Volvos they r built well 😉 you sound like Paul gray the bass player
from slipknot lol 😉
Video is well done. Thank you for posting.
Volvo had rear discbrakes standard since the seventies.. i myself have a
Volvo 242 -79 and disc brakes all around as standard.. and now it is
converted to a 2,3 turbo.
@slimepuke Why? A little grease under the fingernails is good for you.
@jakebelder Ive got the 3 and 9 wiggle. It’s only a couple of MM at most,
but the 12 and 6 has ZERO play. So it’s tie rod ends for sure? I should
probably do both anyways…
Good question. It was a few years ago now that I did this. I’m pretty sure
I just stuck it in a vice and unfastened the bolt that held it together. I
do remember that bolt taking a lot of effort.
Presumably you will have disc brakes, yes. Mine was an ’88 and had them, so
I assume they wouldn’t regress in the ’89 model year to drum brakes.
I have a 83, a 89, a 90, a 91 and a 93, all are 240 models. I am going to
do my ball joints, tie rod ends, struts and end-link bushings on the 91
when the weather gets better here in New Mexico. Thanks for the video on
the front end work….and Merry Christmas to all. As for the odometer gear
breaking, I think it mainly breaks when the driver re-sets the mileage
counter while the car is in motion.
What were your original symptoms? Im working on an ’82 240 wagon and the
steering wheel is “wobbling” as it goes down the road, and the wobble is
coming from the front left wheel. Im trying to figure out if I need to do
what you did or replace the wheel bearings… though I should probably do
both.
@louiearmstrong I have the same car for years now, but and ’86 GL, in a
wagon even same color. And only 148 k. My steering was loose too. I paid
exactly 800 for just what you did there. I have heard that if you get
suspension replaced these are very smooth rides. Any idea or where to look
for fixing your own suspension? I wonder if I did it myself would all the
tie rod work get obliterated. Ciao.
Nice video. Getting ready to do this job tomorrow and was a great overview
of what to expect. Thanks for making and sharing it.
@louiearmstrong The symptoms were just really loose steering, lots of
wobble over 40mph. Another tell-tale sign is when you have the car jacked
up, put your hands on the tire at 9 and 3 and see if the wheel has play in
it. That’s a bad tie-rod end. If you put your hands at 12 and 6 and do the
same, and it has play in it, that’s a bad ball joint. The bearings seemed
okay in my car, usually they’ll make a lot of noise if they’re bad.
Yeah, I remember reading that somewhere. Oh well. 🙂
I just watched it again, yuck 🙁
This is one of my favorite videos. I just wish you would’ve wore gloves!!!
@unclegeemus, @louiearmstrong I have a ’90 740 GLE and I notice wobbling
but only under braking. There isn’t too much play with my steering when
simply driving, but when I brake the front right wheel shakes pretty
un-controllably and pully right. I’m really afraid I may have a warped
rotor (as I understand it that means I have to replace the entire brake
assembly on all 4). Any Thoughts?
there are no drums on the 200 series. you will have a disc in wich there
are parking brake shoes. the disc is a drum in itself : )