Advice on fixing drive shaft, axles and more..

[mushie1uk]

Holler, I appreciate your advice/concern.. The mechanic doing the work is NOT so knowledgable with Volvos This was always a concern of mine when choosing him to do the work. He is my bro-in-laws mechanic mostly working on American and Japanese autos. My regular Volvo guys prices were just too much for the work we were asking for. I bought axles and bevel gear (all used) from the Volvo guy for $550.. We debated needing the bevel gear, but mechanic said we should buy another, (keep in mind we made that car keep going for over an hour with unsafe drive shaft car smoking, and loud noises).. so we felt whilst he's in removing drive shaft and replacing axles, may as well just put in another bevel gear. Then we had the mechanic replace (with his own) serpintine belt.. Total cost for all this work was $445.. Which we felt not too bad at all, considering how much im usually for other things at the volvo guy.. I too found it very strange, after all the excitement of being told 'cars ready' then its shakin and revving like crazy. But I do feel comfortable with this guy, he seemed very shocked too when i started the car.. and he is keeping my car free of charge at the shop, whilst i do all the running around for other parts and saving more money for labour (which probably just made your suspicions rise) lol.. But when that happened the other day, he didn't even wanna take the money from my husband, said he felt terrible.. (we made him take it, as we'd spend it elsewhere) I've been to my volvo guy several times, trying to seek info and he himself has called the mechanic to give him advice.. My problem is, before the whole drive shaft thingy, my car ran fine (with exception of rattling noise from shaft). Even 2 years ago when the ETS light was on, it still drove fine. Then Volvo took care of that, saying it was recalled! I also called dealership today to see about that whole warranty thing, said mine ran out in 2008 But this mechanic has only replaced things that run the wheels, (with excption of serpintine) where is all these new problems coming from? Luckily the volvo guy took the pedal back and saved me that $75.. so if its not the pedal sensor?.. the code from his machine says P0121: [Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/Swith A Circuit Range/ Performance Problem ] WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??? My next step is.. on Monday buy throttle module, have mechanic install it, have my generous friend use her AAA to tow the car 35 miles to a guy who does the programming for $90 all while PRAYING HARD!!! But I just cant help thinking, what if, what next, if that doesn't do the trick? Could there possibly be more crap wrong with this car.. Oh by the way, it does have 140xxx on it. So, like I said before, any input is welcomed!!

[holler1]

Mushie,
I agree, those prices are not too bad. The labor seems a little high, but of course I don't know what kind of damage he may have encountered with the old axles. I would still check on the old bevel gear. It it isn't damaged, you might be able to re-sell it. It's important to have a mechanic you trust.

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the ETS - my 98 doesn't have one. I suggest you make another post on the ETS issue.

In general, yes, at 140K miles more problems can develop with these cars. You just have to read some other threads to get an idea - check the major maintenance thread above. Make sure you read the PCV thread. These Volvos are wonderful cars to drive but they are definitely "high maintenance" compared with, for example, Toyota or Honda cars of similar vintage. I bought used Hondas for my daughters going away to college a few years ago, and they ran those cars up to close to 200K miles with almost no unscheduled maintenance. Don't expect the Volvos to match that.

[mushie1uk]

Thanks, I defo will check out those other threads!
Im so jealous of your '98. I've had 2 '98's which both got put off road thru other peoples careless driving.. And because I had enjoyed my '98's a lot, I tried so hard to buy another with the insurance money, but there just wasn't any out there
My Volvo guy who sold me the '99 said the only difference of what im used to is the electronic throttle and thats really no big deal.. (YEAH BUT ITS A BIG DEAL NOW)!!! But I've just never enjoyed this car as much as my others. I remember when I took my first '98 and sold it to the dismantlers, they said "the '98 was the best model ever made".
Anyways I'll go check out those other threads, but I'll keep this posting updated with whatever happens come tuesday.

[mushie1uk]

So just wanted to give a quick update.. Put the new throttle body in, had the car towed to a guy 30 miles away to install software and for the first time in over a month, drove the car home! Car ran smooth! Thou when we got home, theres a burning smell coming from under hood, which i think is oil.. We've always had to top up our oil more than any of our other cars, its seems to drain sooo fast.. but there is never oil sitting in the driveway?

It also turns out that I need a new pedal position sensor, which eventually if not replaced will cause that ETS light to come back on. But installed will only cost $150.

Anyways that might be the least of my worries, cause the guy who done the software also noticed the car slips in reverse :O I too had felt this b4 the whole driveshaft ordeal happened. I tried telling my husband, that reverse didn't seem to work as good anymore, but what does he know!! The mechanic (who is a certified volvo technician that worked for the local dealership for 30 years) said he'd never seen this problem with just 'reverse' before? I should probably make this new problem a new posting, but just wanted to let you guys know how i got on.

[E Showell]

Just read on another thread that slipping in reverse means the tranny is toast -- or soon to become so. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.