Advice on fixing drive shaft, axles and more..

mushie1uk · Post by **mushie1uk** » 23 Sep 2011, 11:44

Hi everyone.. I posted a question and as much knowledge that my 'car brain' would allow on another site, but nobody is helping

So Im going to try to post the link here, and sorry that im doing it that way, but my kids are not allowing me the time to retype the whole thing.. And im basically just looking for feedback on everything i've said so far.. so anything from you guys would be appreciated! http://www.volvoforum.com/volvo-versati ... 0-awd.html And if you keep scrolling down in that link, you'll notice i've updated with the situation we're at right now!

Post by **jblackburn** » 23 Sep 2011, 12:01

Welcome. I'm going to cut and paste all your replies into the post below:

So I've had this loud rattling noise from under my car for a couple months now.. Sometimes its super loud and embarressing I've found that if i jerk the steering the noise will stop, for a little bit.. Anyways i've had the car at three shops, none of which could figure out whats causing this noise. We have a friend who is a mechanic but always super busy with his own job and family.. but last night he generously took time out and investigated our car! At first we were leading to 'strut bearings' (im not so good with the car talk, just telling what i can remember, lol) But then after an hour he's under the car and hitting something and my husband and I looked at each other and shouted 'thats the noise"! He was hitting on 'ball bearings' in/or near the drive train.. anyways i guess theres two sets of these ball bearings (front & back) and the front is heavily worn out and he reckons the back ones look like they're about to go too He explained most of this stuff to my husband which is useless cause he's not the one going to look for parts or take it to the shop and explain what needs done.. So im wondering if someone here can tell me if what i said makes sense, or better explain to me (simply) what i might say to the volvo guy, also tell me exactly what parts i need to buy.. i heard our friend say something about if able to get a 'dry shaft' would be easier just replacing the whole one part.. Thanks guys!

Well unfortunately we had to take a 2hour drive to the city without getting that 'drive shaft' fixed.. and it killed our car Had it towed to the shop and some part of the drive shaft went into the engine, all sorts of stuff was leaking and the axles are all bent.. Haven't heard from the mechanic yet, but we know by the amount of damage its not going to be worth fixing. So sad. And ofcourse we dont just have extra money hanging around to either fix or buy another car.. But I will say, when the time comes, im going back to the 1998 V70 as I've had two of them and never a bother unlike this 1999 which has just been problem after problem.

Just a quick update! There is no cheap little run around cars on craigslist or anywhere :0 Shocking huh.. Cant see anything for under $3000... So now we're back to square one and thinking of having the Volvo fixed! Which makes me really happy Just really concerned thou, if we replace drive shaft, axles and transfer case (aka beveled gear) what if it still doesn't come back to life? We have no idea if the transmission has been damage.. But i do need someone to tell me this, our Volvo mechanic suggested that if we dont replace the drive shaft then it pretty much reduce the car to a 2 wheel drive.. is this ok? I would love to do that, as i have utterly no need for AWD, plus it just kills me on gas and hate when i need new tires... My husband who is not car savvy, is going to try remove the drive shaft himself, see if the car turns on to find out if the transfer case is damage (and we highly suspect it is).. but once he removes everything, then we'll take it with new parts to mechanic and pray that everything turns out good! But please folks, any information would be appreciated!

Post by **jblackburn** » 23 Sep 2011, 12:04

For now, just remove the driveshaft - sounds like the source of your problem. You say you don't need the 4WD, so there's no sense in replacing it anyway - the car will drive just fine as a FWD model.

I'm not exactly sure what "locked up" - perhaps the CV joints in the shaft?

mushie1uk · Post by **mushie1uk** » 23 Sep 2011, 12:19

Thank you so much for taking the time to bring all my information over! When our mechanic friend initially looked, he said the ball bearings were so bad and there was no grease when there should be a ton of grease.. but yeah, im not sure why this happened with my car either. Yesterday my husband attempted to get off the drive shaft, but i believe only managed 8 bolts so far.. got about another 8 to go! But he's making me really nervous, he said the bolts are really hard to get off, and at some point he starting using a saw to hack at it

One other thing i forgot to mention was on that day of 'running my car into the ground' there was a bunch of smoke coming from our exhaust.. Initially we thought the head gasket had blown, thankfully not, but the mechanic whose willing to replace all broken parts said some oil has gotton into the 'catalyc converter'? Im not sure how much of a problem that is, and he said we need to replace the 'bent' axles.. The labour price seems really fair ($480), its just these dang parts.. (I wouldn't stick with these pricey Volvos had I not had the experience of TWO very bad accidents.. and not I or the 5 kids in cab had a scratch on us)!!!

Post by **Jack Rock** » 23 Sep 2011, 12:28

Here's a link to the removal process.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=35820

It's not too difficult for a seasoned handyman but not for the feint of heart. My bolts were very very tight, I broke two decent sockets and one extension getting it off. 24" or more length socket extension are a must.

Post by **holler1** » 23 Sep 2011, 19:15

One tip on getting the driveshaft bolts out (this is the front to rear driveshaft, also called a "propshaft"), is that it might help to get both rear wheels off the ground and turn the driveshaft a little to get the "top" bolts down to the "bottom" where they are more accessible. Be careful doing this and make sure the car is well blocked up. If the bevel gear is damaged, my understanding is that it can also be removed, but I have never done this, just read about it.

If the driveaxles are really bent the car probably won't run, or would vibrate a lot. Not sure what the mechanic meant by this. If his labor price of $480 is just to replace two front axles, not including parts, that sounds very high to me (maybe I'm misunderstanding this). If your husband can remove the propshaft, he can probably also replace the front driveaxles, unless there is some sort of other damage to the trans.

gilhuly · Post by **gilhuly** » 23 Sep 2011, 19:33

If you talk with independent mechanics you should be able to easily get the axles replaced for about $200 or so in labor and that's an OK deal for them. If your husband is having trouble I think the above advice about moving the shaft is good. If the bolts are tight, improve leverage with a Cheater bar, a piece of 2 ft exhaust pipe from wherever to slide over the wrench and increase leverage. I just removed a trailer hitch assembly from a ford expedition going to the great beyond today using a 3+ footer. Very effective. Removing the drive shaft is a perfectly legit tactic. I won't tell you how long it took me to remove one for a customer with a bad bevel gear, it would be too depressing for you. Stick with it, it will be rewarding.

mushie1uk · Post by **mushie1uk** » 20 Oct 2011, 20:00

Sorry for this very long late response... but thats us just finally took action on the car. My hubby never did get around to trying to remove the whole drive shaft by himself, so we had to wait until we could save the money for labour and parts.. So the mechanic called today, said everything was running great, he removed drive shaft, replaced axles and bevel gear. Since we had a wee bit of money left over we told him to go ahead and do that serpintine belt thats been needing done! Sadly thou, when we went to pick up the car, i started it and it was shaking like crazy :0 And the check engine and ETS lights were on. The mechanic was surprised, said he'd been running it up and down the street, even up at 80mph with no problems.. So he plugs it in to the machine and heres what we got:
EMISSIONS-RELATED POWERTRAIN DTC's, MODE 3:
ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT ID: 11
P0121
THROTTLE/PEDAL POSITION SENSOR/SWITCH A CIRCUIT RANGE/ PERFORMANCE PROBLEM
CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED SYSTEMS DTC's, MODE 7:
NO DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES RECORDED.

So the explanation from the mechanic was, the sensor in the gas pedal is done, need a new pedal.. which really doesn't sound too bad according to what we've been thru so far >:( Heres my thing thou, is it that simple? My hubby and I are really starting to doubt this cars performance now... so sad, but we've taken this long to save and pay this far, now we'll have to borrow for this pedal.. My worry is, the shaking that was happening when i turned on the engine was just dam scary, and when we popped the hood, the engine was just rattling all over the place man

And the whole deal AGAIN with this ETS, grrrrrr! Last year i did have the car in at VOLVO cause the ETS was on, and my mechanic mentioned something about a recall on it so VOLVO done what they done for free, but mentioned if there if the light stayed on after their fixing, then it would be another problem that i'd have to pay for.... What do you guys think? Replace the pedal and go from there? Or do you think with the engine shaking so bad, theres worse problems?
Thanks... Michelle

mushie1uk · Post by **mushie1uk** » 22 Oct 2011, 01:49

Well i went ahead and bought the pedal today and awaited the 'your cars ready' call... which, known my luck, never did happen. The mechanic figured it wasn't a pedal thats needed, its the 'throttle module' .. so i had some words with my volvo friend who says once i replace that part, the car has to be towed somewhere (normally dealership) to have software programmed into it, grrrrr... I live waaay far from the dealer. The Volvo guy talked with my mechanic and told him, pull the old one out, try cleaning it real good and see what happens.. so thats where i left it. Fingers crossed x

Post by **holler1** » 22 Oct 2011, 22:42

Reading over this whole thread, my impression is that either the mechanic doing the work is incompetent or (at best) inexperienced with Volvos, or is not telling you the straight story. The part where he thoroughly checks out the car, then you start it up and it shows a whole new list of faults, seems very suspicious to me. How could he not know it had a bad miss or vibration and had a CEL on if he had just been running it? And the confusing info he is giving you about the throttle module sounds almost as bad.

What did he charge you for the work on driveshaft and axles? Removing the driveshaft should be a 15-20 minute job for a skilled mechanic. And replacing front axles is also a routine job. Total labor for these two jobs - maybe $200-300? I don't understand what he did to the bevel gear. Was it replaced? If so, did he show you what was wrong with the old one? I certainly hope you didn't pay for a new bevel gear, given the driveshaft was taken out and the car was converted to FWD. Always ask to see the old parts when they are replaced and ask him to show you the defect or failure - this helps you keep the mechanic honest. Ask them to show you the new parts while the car is on the hoist. If you have to, don't be afraid to lay down a piece of cardboard and crawl under the car to look and see if there really is a new part installed. Take pictures and post them here! If you provide some info on what you are being charged for these fixes, the people on this forum can tell you if the cost is reasonable or not. It may not help with what is already done, but it may help protect you in the future from getting ripped off.