I leave these alone if not leaking. It’s not a bad job to do, but none of my 990,000 accumulated Volvo mile cars have needed one

If you are careful pulling it out usually you are fine. If you let the axle slap around you may cause damage and have a leak.

How many miles?

In the P80 (I used to have a 1998 S70 GLT), the axle seals leaked at around 120K or so. When I rebooted the CV axles, I replaced using Corteco seals. The tricks are written in that DIY (basically removing the old seal using a screw, then tap the Corteco seal in gently using a wood block, then anothe...

Hmmm, kind of on the edge. How much are you driving it annually? It’s not a horrible job to do, and you will need a front wheel bearing in the next 50k anyway. We aren’t Iowa, after all.

My philosophy is... - If you have the seal on hand, then yes replace it. - If you don't have the seal, then button everything back and drive the car like usual. At 120K-200K, these seals can leak any time. Just inspect them once every 2-3 months using a flash light and shine through the wheel wells....

My philosophy on axle seals is about the same- they are cheap and easy to replace when the axle is out, a hassle to mess with at most other times. At 124k it should have plenty of life remaining but I'd probably put in a new one, or not sweat it if it came time to do the job and I didn't have one on...

The DEPTH of insertion is important in any seals, whether it is cam, crank, trans etc. This is why Volvo designed different installation tools for different seals. Seal installation tool is nothing more than correct O.D. (of the tool) and correct DEPTH. At factory, workers just use the tool and hamm...

If you look at the air flow: air from outside enters the area close to you (aft part of car) ---> toward the fore area ---> HVAC unit for distribution. You need to study the diagram of cabin air flow to do this. If you look at the photo below (FCPEuro video on youtube), you will see leaves collectin...

"If a bolt has got only, say, to 1/3 of it's plastic deformation zone, when it's fully released then tightened back, it still starts with elastic deformation, only the plastic deformation zone will arrive at a smaller torque this time. I suspect most car bolts don't go past 1/3 of the plastic d...

Japanese manufacturers have also built transmissions with that same complicated method for adjusting the ATF level, and put them into many cars including Volvos, it is not specific to German-built cars or transmissions. For P2 Volvo cars equipped with the 6 speed Japanese-built TF-80SC automatic tra...