Bad jacking experience and A/C maintenance

springlj · Post by **springlj** » 19 Sep 2010, 19:45

This is my first post and I would like to thank Matthew's Volvo Site. I've been doing the maintenance on my 2001 Volvo V70 2.4T since 2005 and I've used this site almost exclusively for instruction. Since 2005 I've done all my oil changes, timing belt, transmission flush twice, alternator replacement, brakes with fluid flush, parking brakes, front struts, rear shocks, coolant change out, radiator replacement, and other small items like various air and fuel filters. The car has not been to a shop since I started.

I wanted to relay a very embarrassing and expensive lesson learned. I was about to do brakes and suspension and the first jacking lift, which I've done dozens of times now, went badly. I used to jack up the car directly onto the engine sub-frame (right behind the radiator), but the subframe was starting to bend slightly where the jack was making contact. As a solution, I use a wooden plank that distributes the weight across the entire front portion of the sub-frame. This particular time, however, the jack did not roll towards the back of the car as I jacked it up. I don't know why the jack did not roll back, maybe a pebble behind the wheels on the jack... I just don't know. Since the parking brake locked the rear wheels (does anyone else do this?), the wooden plank rolled off the front end of the sub-frame just as the jack was at its highest position. The car came slamming down and the radiator assembly took the brunt of the car's weight on the fully raised jack. The condenser and intercooler bent more than the radiator, which I guess is stronger. No gushing fluids or catastrophic R-134 leaks – all the aluminum radiators bent without breaking. I finished the brakes and suspension jobs and the car still ran fine with the bent radiators. The right lower end of the radiator leaked a little more than it usually did (it always had a very small leak). I was afraid of an internal coolant to transmission fluid leak, so I used the car sparingly last week and decided to replace the radiator with a new Nissens. (FCP initially sent me a cheaper OEM radiator in error, but after I called customer service they overnighted the Nissens. Thanks, FCP!) I just completed the radiator replacement and am kicking myself for not doing the intercooler at the same time – I didn't realize you have to completely remove the intercooler to remove the radiator. I also did a transmission fluid flush just to be safe – it was only about 20k since the last one, but what the heck – it is easy to do and I have good piece of mind that there is no radiator fluid in my transmission.

I was planning to get a shop to pump down the R-134 so I can replace the condenser (and I'll do the intercooler as well). Does anyone have any experience with this repair? Just nuts and bolts like the radiator? A/C particulars?

I was also planning to replace the evaporator (I think I have a leak there) and the heater core (I know I have a very small leak there), so one day I'll have to remove the dash, but I'm not looking forward to it. I've seen the great posts for the 850 evaporator replacements, but not for a 2001 2nd gen V70. Any advice would be appreciated.

From now on, I'll set the parking brake after safely on jack stands but before starting work.

: Before the repair.

: After repair. Still have to replace intercooler and condenser, but at least the car runs without fear of internal radiator leaks.

Post by **writer100** » 20 Sep 2010, 12:39

It appears that you were placing your jack in the center of the car, rather than jacking up one side at a time. Obviously this would lift both front wheels at once. I wonder if this practice contributed to your jack slipping. Perhaps others can comment.

Post by **jblackburn** » 20 Sep 2010, 13:05

I do the same using a board - since my jack has a smaller "head" on it than my old, nice one that blew out, and started bending the subframe - I had a nice dent in it after only 2 uses.

I should just buy a new jack, but they're expensive. What I did is got some 4x4 post mounting brackets (like for a deck) from Home Depot, and put those on the ends of a 2x4 to hold onto the subframe. Then under that, I stapled down a piece of a shingle I cut to fit so that it would have even less of a chance of slipping and make better contact with the frame. The jack has created a nice little hole in the bottom of the board for itself to nestle into.

I try to jack it at the horizontal piece of the subframe behind that one (towards the back of the engine)- so that I don't damage anything up front if it were to slip. It's a bit hard to start off, as you don't have much room to move the handle, but once you get some room it starts going up nicely.

It's better to jack up the entire car than one side at a time - you're asking for more trouble that way.

I'm always very cautious about getting under a car on jack stands - usually I try to put old wheels (and a scissor jack holding part of it too - if it's not going to be in the way of what I'm working on) up under the doors of the car so if it falls it won't squash me. I was changing brakes on my old car once on a not-so-level driveway, and didn't realize I didn't have the parking brake clicked up all the way. I had been yanking on the rotor, and as I walked away from it, there was a massive thud and the jackstand slipped out from under it.

I'm glad to hear that both you and your car are ok and survived the ordeal.

Post by **writer100** » 20 Sep 2010, 15:06

It's better to jack up the entire car than one side at a time - you're asking for more trouble that way.

How can this be?

I don't think I've ever read a single manufacturer of either a car or a jack recommend lifting a car in this way. On the contrary, they recommend lifting one corner at a time. Besides, the weight of the entire car is obviously a strain on the subframe member, hence its deformation.

Jablackburn, I have read your posts and I respect your knowledge. I am not trying to argue. I don't care if I'm right or wrong, I'm just trying to determine a best practice for the hazardous activity of jacking up a car. Hopefully others can chime in. Thanks.

Post by **jblackburn** » 21 Sep 2010, 08:37

Angle - it's just awkward to do that. The way my jack stands go under, to jack up one side of the subframe, you'd risk knocking the other off as you started to raise up the other side. I tried some of the new ones with the 'hook' on the end of the stands, but they won't fit where I want them to...so I just use a set of 30-yr old ones with a flat top.

If you're just trying to get one wheel off the ground at a time, by all means, only do one side of the car - that way, at least a front and a rear wheel are on the ground so it's not going to go anywhere. That's why the scissor jack that came with the car is designed to raise only one side of the car.

springlj · Post by **springlj** » 22 Sep 2010, 05:53

I think I'll follow Jablackburn's lead and make a better custom board that will make better contact and not slip. I'll also try jacking using the subframe member further back, but I really hate reaching too far under the car while jacking it up.

jablackburn wrote:I'm glad to hear that both you and your car are ok and survived the ordeal.

Yeah, I survived, but my ego is permanently bruised. Thanks.

BT BT... Could anyone comment on my proposed A/C maintenance, specifically replacing the condenser?

Checksix · Post by **Checksix** » 24 Sep 2010, 21:00

springlj, sorry about your experience. I've been jacking up my 01 V70 T5a since new using the main cross brace and a floor jack with about a 6" diameter cup located in the center so the car lifts evenly. I've not used any wood etc, and have jacked up the car numerious times with out incident. Your photo makes it looks like the movement was HUGE, I would have expected a few inch slip at most.

Jerry

RaymanSean · Post by **RaymanSean** » 26 Sep 2010, 23:39

springlj wrote:BT BT... Could anyone comment on my proposed A/C maintenance, specifically replacing the condenser?

I have done my share of HVAC work and it is not uncommon to remove one or two passes from the condenser to fix a leak. In your case you started out without a leak and may have caused one. I would put a set of gauges on the car to see what the head pressure was running, while it is unlikely that you managed to cause a high side restriction you need to verify that you did not. If you did not cause a high side restriction then I would just drive it as it is, until you get around to doing he inter cooler etc.