Haldex Oil Change

[XC70Rider]

Ain't it easier to drop the hangers from the center and rear exhaust? Let it sit lower on the ground, not too much because of the flex joint on the downpipes. That's what i did, then you'll have enough clearance.
There is not much play on the propeller shaft, you'll need to break it at the cross brace.

After removing the center and rear hangers I dropped the exhaust as far as possible without damaging the CAT downpipe.



With the exhaust flange blocking the shaft center bearing and the resonator blocking the U-joint I couldn't get it angled enough to remove the rear CV joint from the flange.

[XC70Rider]

You need to slacken front CV joint bolts, then the rest will come out.

I loosened the front CV joint bolts halfway but it gave no clearance for the rear CV joint.



Do I need to completely remove the front CV joint from the flange? If so then I'll mark the U-joints for lining.

[vtl]

No, you don't have to. Move exhaust slightly out of the U-joint way and you'll have just enough space to take rear CV joint out of the flange. I did it that way many times

[XC70Rider]

No, you don't have to. Move exhaust slightly out of the U-joint way and you'll have just enough space to take rear CV joint out of the flange. I did it that way many times

With the exhaust bent to the right I did try lowering the center U-joint to the left but no luck. Biting my teeth in fear of breaking the exhaust I was too cautious.

I'll try it again tomorrow. If no success I'll cut off the resonator close to the mating exhaust flange. I can get the Walker resonator at autozone for only $43.

[vtl]

The flex joint is pretty flexible. I put the car on Rhino ramps that are 6-7" high, and just drop the muffler on the concrete floor.

Though making your way to a new exhaust is a good idea since they are all gone at about 13-15 years or 200k miles.

[XC70Rider]

The flex joint is pretty flexible. I put the car on Rhino ramps that are 6-7" high, and just drop the muffler on the concrete floor.

Though making your way to a new exhaust is a good idea since they are all gone at about 13-15 years or 200k miles.

The rear muffler is in good shape but the CAT and resonator are close to either failing or rust disintegrating. The aluminum Walker resonator is cheap but the SS (grade 304) Walker cat and a Bosch downstream O2 sensor will cost $340. I replaced the upstream O2 sensor last December.

Including the paint for the resonator the total exhaust minus the muffler will be ~$400. I'll give it thought while sleeping tonight.

[vtl]

Snabb 3" downpipe is very nice and costs less than $500. I also got a Jetex performance exhaust at the same time, unfortunately it came full of defective welds (I could count 4 spots where the condensation drips from), so trying to return it. New Volvo catback is about $500, which is not that bad, since I'm not going to get rid of the car any time soon.

[XC70Rider]

The flex joint is pretty flexible. I put the car on Rhino ramps that are 6-7" high, and just drop the muffler on the concrete floor.

Though making your way to a new exhaust is a good idea since they are all gone at about 13-15 years or 200k miles.

The shaft now has 100% clearance of the exhaust after letting the muffler sit on the floor. The U-joint still won't bend enough to get the rear CV joint out of the flange.



I also loosened the front CV joint bolts further, rotated the shaft to get the U-joint at different angles, and used a pry bar on the joint within the flange but still wouldn't release.

Seems like my only option is to remove the entire prop shaft or cut off the rear CV joint flange I'll be replacing?

[vtl]

Interesting... Your 2007 has next gen Haldex (Gen 3), so the flange may be slightly different, but the car was assembled somehow, so you should be able to disassemble it in reversed order.

Did you try pulling the rear CV joint backward as far as possible? Tilt it? It barely has enough space to come out on Gen 2 too, but it does it.

[XC70Rider]

Interesting... Your 2007 has next gen Haldex (Gen 3), so the flange may be slightly different, but the car was assembled somehow, so you should be able to disassemble it in reversed order.

Did you try pulling the rear CV joint backward as far as possible? Tilt it? It barely has enough space to come out on Gen 2 too, but it does it.

I did remove the two M8 bolts on the back of the flange so I could push the rear CV joint backwards but no success. I tried prying the joint from the flange but haven't tried hitting the flange yet.

If I cut off the flange to get the CV joint removed seems as if I won't be able to get the new Febest CV joint into it's flange after I mount it with the 24mm nut?