850 auto front driveshaft

[scot850]

Been there, done that...! Glad you got a resolution in the end, so hopefully your car will be good to go soon!

Neil.

[Covert]

Ha cheers neil gotta put the cams in yet and time it up.

Back to the driveshaft how do i get the joint off the end to replace it , is it held in with a circlip ?

[scot850]

Yes, but a reverse clip. If you remove the old boot (just cut it off carefully) and clean as much of the old gunge/grease out, you will see the ball bearing cage and the ball bearings in the moveable end portion. There are 6 indents in the bottom of the cage, and if you look carefully you will see one is different to the others and in there is hidden the 'reverse' circlip. You have to widen the 2 tips from each other to allow the clip to get out of the channel it sits in. I've found the easiest way to remove this is plenty of penetrating oil and trying to move the circlip until it will rotate in the groove. With age time it gets stuck. If you don't do this it will not release from the groove allowing the end portion to slide of the splines.

Hold the shaft in a bench vice firmly, and (it helps if you have a third hand) expand the circlip and either with a flat punch or brass hammer (if you are re-using the end portion) but give it a few good hits under the cage area and it should come off. Took a few attempts the first time. Do you need to replace the end portion? Volvo OE shafts are usually good for a long time (many will tell you that), so if the boot has just split you may get away with a good clean and rebuild with fresh grease and boot. GKN Lobro is the ones I have been recommended and they supply a good kit for the outer boot, none supplied for Volvos for the inner. I have heard of a possible SAAB one may work.

Neil.