'99 v70: New strut too long through plate?

osage · Post by **osage** » 16 Dec 2014, 19:31

Mechanic replaced front struts on '99 (used Gabriels) Now, the left strut moves up and down. He replaced the strut plate because he said the plate bushing was coming apart.

Again, the strut moves up and down through the plate: I can rock the left side of car and see it move up and down.

What the heck is going on please??? Doug

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 16 Dec 2014, 19:46

How much does it move? Under 1/8" is pretty much typical but if it is more than that then they weren't installed correctly.

...Lee

osage · Post by **osage** » 16 Dec 2014, 20:13

The bolt coming thru bushing and the bushing lift up together at least half inch. Both bolts under, and on top are turned to maximum, mechanic said. Gabriel strut and plate. I called Volvo dealer. They said to use OEM parts.

Post by **cn90** » 16 Dec 2014, 20:29

Did the mechanic replace the Spring Seat. Best is to use XC90 Spring Seat:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=28455

osage · Post by **osage** » 16 Dec 2014, 20:35

Will check. Initially, both struts replaced by them, and right strut is mounted correctly. When the left strut was seen moving up thru bushing,they said it was doing that because the bushing in the old struct plate was worn. Thhat's when they recommend replacing the strut plate, but result is same.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 16 Dec 2014, 21:50

I'm not sure what they are calling a "Strut Plate". The part with the bushing is the spring seat and then the spring seat fits into the strut mount bearing which is bolted to the top of the shock tower on the chassis from underneath.

If they were used struts then they were likely replaced as an assembly with the used spring and spring seat. Even a mechanic that wasn't paying any attention would see that a spring seat was bad and not re-use it if they actually took the assembly apart to swap out just the strut.

Grab a wrench or a large Crescent wrench and try to turn the nut on the top of the strut. With a good spring seat the nut will turn, with quite a bit of resistance, up to around 1/10th of a turn (don't force it or you can actually break an otherwise good seat). If the nut turns freely then for sure the spring seat is bad.

...Lee

Post by **erikv11** » 16 Dec 2014, 23:42

cn90 wrote:Did the mechanic replace the Spring Seat. Best is to use XC90 Spring Seat:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=28455

Check the online parts catalogs: the XC90 spring seat and the P80 spring seat are now the same part, it's been that way about 2 years now. So you don't have to bother with this thought (or advice) any more, just get the Volvo branded spring seat for the vehicle and you are good to go.

osage · Post by **osage** » 17 Dec 2014, 07:52

Taking it back today to get resolved. Got a lot of good direction here. And thanks so much for your help. Doug

Post by **cn90** » 17 Dec 2014, 09:06

erikv11 wrote:...Check the online parts catalogs: the XC90 spring seat and the P80 spring seat are now the same part, it's been that way about 2 years now. So you don't have to bother with this thought (or advice) any more, just get the Volvo branded spring seat for the vehicle and you are good to go.

I hope you understand that sometimes people clear out old stocks (NOS: New Old Stock) and list the S70 spring seat on places like ebay. It is not that bad, it works but XC90 spring seat is better.

So my advice to use XC90 spring seat is the generic advice. I just want people to be aware of it.

On the other hand, even the stock spring seat is fine, it will easily last some 90K miles (mine broke at 90K miles). By that time the car is probably gone.

Post by **cn90** » 17 Dec 2014, 09:13

@erikv11,

Since you are smart, I will show you that if you google "Volvo 8646713", you will see that the Volvo dealer does not carry this any more, simply because it is superseded by XC90 parts.

However, you will see tons of people selling 8646713, ebay is a good example. There is even an OEM Boge 8646713 on ebay as we speak, not a bad choice, because as I said even the stock one should last some 90K.