S40 rear brake life? Topic is solved

bigric · Post by **bigric** » 19 Mar 2003, 22:19

I've had a lot of problems with my 2000 S40, and here's my latest: the rear brakes, installed by the dealer not 18k miles ago, are ready to be replaced again. The dealer clames that the organic pads wear a lot faster than other pads, so 20k is usually how often these pads are replaced. I've been working on cars for a long time now and have never seen this sort of problem before. Does anybody else have experience with S40s doing this, or is aware of of this problem?

It would also be nice if it would quit eating tail light bulbs every few months.

jim · Post by **jim** » 05 Jun 2003, 08:47

Our 2002 40 is in the shop for brake pad replacement with 23K miles. The dealer claims this is about average. I've been through a lot of cars in my life and never had this issue with any of them. This isn't a NYC taxicab.

The car has been serviced 14 times in the first 19 months. I wish someone would steal it.

iLLuZi0n · Post by **iLLuZi0n** » 09 Jun 2003, 07:31

address? city? state?

i dont care if your car has bad breaks, i will drive it

cupertino-kid · Post by **cupertino-kid** » 17 Jun 2003, 15:14

I'm in my 9th year owning a 850T (1995) and the worst things about the car is the breaks wearing out so far (about every 20k). I was told I could get after-market brakes but I would like them because they are noisy.

By the way - any have a Volvo 850 that the cup holder that isn't broken?

iLLuZi0n · Post by **iLLuZi0n** » 17 Jun 2003, 21:17

i have one that is 1/2 broken

(the front holder doesnt have the bottom clip thingy under the holder, and the read one works fine, i do have a broken ash tray though (not like i smoke, but i want one that works)

Bartman · Post by **Bartman** » 17 Jun 2003, 21:40

Mine are both still intact. 1997 w/74k miles

Volsey · Post by **Volsey** » 23 Jun 2003, 02:18

Starting with new pads, the S40 and 850's will wear the fronts twice as fast as the rears. I generally replace my front pads every twenty thousand miles, thus 40,000 on the rear pads. I highly reccomend the metallic rear pads as opposed to organic because the S40's have a tendancy to warp out the rear rotors. The metallic pads generally produce less heat and also stop more efficiently. Also, genuine volvo pads are the best option. I just used high quality aftermarket pads in my last brake change, and they've been problematic. If you use aftermarket pads, be sure to apply disc-quiet or another suitable product to the backs of the pads. Otherwise, the pads will rest themselves against the rotors at all times and overheat the rotors causing glazing and warpage. I found out the hard way. Another tip, make sure to clean the hub to wheel surface. It accumulates rust and this prevents the lugs from creating an even torque on the rotor (yet another cause of warpage). GOOD LUCK.

bill740 · Post by **bill740** » 23 Jun 2003, 22:37

as a long time volvo tech i can tell you that the s40/v40 is the only volvo that rear pad life is less than front life. so it is important to ck all brakes at reg intervals having said that the engineers i spoke to focus on stopping the car.with some concern for pad life note: for people who change their own pads their is a special tool and process to change them you cannot just compress the piston. machineing the rotors is not necessary and not rec as a factory repair not to say that some people do. with limited sucess. the rotor thickness must be measured and for some models their is a min thickness at pad replacement volvo makes a specification book for most models that lists specks for lots of items the binder is model dependant and is app 3" 5" handy to keep around have several from s/v40,850 s/v70 01v70 s80s and others check your local retailer.

Goldbong31 · Post by **Goldbong31** » 27 Jun 2003, 22:29

I leased a volvo s40 in Nov. of 1999. It's a 2000 model. So far the brakes rear breaks have gone twice. Once at 14600 miles and now again at 23700 miles. The motor in the rear passenger side window had to be replaced. The front headlight went once, the tail lights are out, I need a new power steering rack. There's rattles all over the place, the cd player skips constantly, the tires went at 19000 miles, and i'mm sure there's more that i can't think of right now. Worst car EVER.

[email protected] · Post by **[email protected]** » 17 Nov 2003, 10:22

bill740 wrote:as a long time volvo tech i can tell you that the s40/v40 is the only volvo that rear pad life is less than front life. so it is important to ck all brakes at reg intervals having said that the engineers i spoke to focus on stopping the car.with some concern for pad life note: for people who change their own pads their is a special tool and process to change them you cannot just compress the piston. machineing the rotors is not necessary and not rec as a factory repair not to say that some people do. with limited sucess. the rotor thickness must be measured and for some models their is a min thickness at pad replacement volvo makes a specification book for most models that lists specks for lots of items the binder is model dependant and is app 3" 5" handy to keep around have several from s/v40,850 s/v70 01v70 s80s and others check your local retailer.

What is the special tool and proccess to change the rear brake pads?. I did it the only way I new how by copressing the piston with a heavy duty C clamp. It was very hard to copress the piston but I managed to do it and every thing is working fine. Is there a potential to damage the piston by copressing it?.