check your spring seats!

[Stevieb]

Lee, I can't adjust the top nut because the entire mount turns accompanied by a loud rubber squeaking - this only happens on the affected side, the other has very little movement. Jablackburn - when I push down on the front firmly it does only bounce back once so it would seem the shock is alright.

[jblackburn]

That's because the entire mount's bad

Mine spun right around with my hand alone.


To get that top nut out when the time comes, you'll have to shove something under it (I tried a large screwdriver, then gave up, scratched the paint, and used a crowbar) to push against while you turn the top nut. It took all 140 lbs of me and a 3 good soakings of PB blaster to get that darn thing free

Come to think of it, a vice grip or big set of locking pliers would work quite well too to hold it still.

[rcannon]

Is it possible to replace the spring seat on an 850 without taking out the strut? ie compress spring, remove nuts and bolts, push down rod, remove seat etc and replace.... raise rod, replace nuts and bolts.

[Ozark Lee]

Is it possible to replace the spring seat on an 850 without taking out the strut? ie compress spring, remove nuts and bolts, push down rod, remove seat etc and replace.... raise rod, replace nuts and bolts.

No.

The strut along with the spring needs to come out in order to make the repair.

...Lee

[zanzabar]

The answer is yes, you CAN do it but it is a huge PITA and not worth it. Way easier to remove the entire strut assembly and replace the spring seat while it's off the car.

[matthew1]

Agreed, it would be hell trying to do it without removing the whole assembly.

Here is a time-lapse I made when I replaced the spring seats on my V70 R, maybe it'll give you an idea of what it takes.

[cordrayl]

Newbie here...posting on this tread in hopes that it's not dead as I've already learned so much from it. Thanks! I have a 1996 850 that's making a noise in the strut mounts--I'm thinking the problem is spring seats. It creaks and groans like the front end is coming off on all but the smoothest roads (and the one I live on is a dirt road, so I hear this noise a lot). In the last 3 months we've replaced struts, tie rods, and cv shafts in an effort to chase down whatever is causing this noise. My mechanic and I originally agreed that the noise was strut related. When I asked my mechanic what he thought, he wasn't sure what else to replace that would cause that noise...so I started chasing down the problem myself.

I know just enough about cars to be dangerous, and I really prefer to have a trusty mechanic to rely on. However, I've moved to the middle of nowhere and the nearest import car shop is over an hour away--and they don't do Swedish. The Volvo dealer is about 90 minutes. The mechanic I use is the local guy who does everything from cars to tractors. He has a good reputation, but he freely admits that our Volvo is the first one he's worked on.

Anyway...I had my husband pop the hood and bounce it to see if we could replicate the noise. My husband has hearing loss from his days in the Army, so I periodically drive his car and the tractor to listen for noises they shouldn't be making. The noise is coming from the strut mount area. It's a low-pitched squeak--although fairly loud. I found a YouTube video that shows the same sound and the movement from the top of the strut mount as ours. It says the spring seats are at fault. It also says there should not be dramatic movement, but doesn't define what dramatic is. The vertical movement on ours is about 1/2 inch. My husband put some lubricant on the area, which stopped the noise. I can post a link to the video, if needed (and if it's allowed).

So, I called my mechanic and asked him to take a look at it. He said the movement is normal and that lubricating the mount was what we needed to do. But, the movement on ours is not much less than the movement on the video, and nothing I've read here or elsewhere suggests solving the problem with lubricant. Plus our mechanic freely admits that he doesn't have experience with Volvos. I'm trying to decide if I need to make a trip into the Volvo dealer for a second opinion. Obviously, if the spring seats are bad, and they go, it's bad news. But I'm just basing my concerns on a nasty noise, a YouTube video, and what I've found on this site--again, I know just enough to be dangerous. I'm also not excited about throwing $$ at a problem when I just had the struts replaced 3 months ago. If the spring seats are bad now, I'd think they wouldn't have been good then.

Any thoughts? Please feel free to educate me--I'm willing to learn.

[cn90]

Where are you in Nebraska?

Since you already replaced the strut, you should replace:
1. Strut Mount Bushing the strut mount, Volvo PN 8646713.

2. Spring Seat Bearing, Volvo PN 3546189.

You can buy those from the Volvo dealer in Kansas City:
http://www.thevpstore.com/

[cordrayl]

I'm about 45 minutes from Lincoln. Kansas City is about 3 hours away. The dealer in Omaha is about 90 minutes. I think it's the closest.

Correct me if I'm wrong...to replace the strut mount bushing and the spring seat, I have to remove the strut and realign, right? If so, I'll have to have a shop do it as I don't have the skill or the tools to do it myself.

[cn90]

I am in Omaha.

The dealer in Omaha is expensive.

You are correct, the strut needs to be removed to replace the Strut Mount Bushing and Bearing.
Use only Volvo parts for this if you plan to keep the car long.

If you can wait until the Spring, then we can talk, right now it is 0F!!!