New Member Needs drive shaft advice. 2000 XC

jdm1 · Post by **jdm1** » 26 Feb 2010, 10:14

Glad I found this board, I am a long-time Volvo owner, currently, 2 240s, 1 965, and an '83 Turbo. I recently inherited a 2000 XC from my dad. The car has 169K, timing belt is good, but the drive shaft running to the rear differential has been removed. Dad used various shops for repair work, as far as I can tell none were exclusively Volvo shops. I am have worked on my cars for years so feel I can handle many repairs on the XC. I also noticed that the (transfer case/bevel gear housing, not sure of proper term here) is leaking. From what little I have read this needs to be resealed, is the drive shaft install and resealing the bevel gear housing a DIY repair? Are there decent shop manuals available? Thanks in advance for your help and advice I will post pictures shortly.

John

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 26 Feb 2010, 11:41

I too, got my 2000 V70XC from my dad!

I recently had the drive shaft removed because some part of the AWD system was dead. The drive shaft was new, but there was a rhythmic grinding noise that went away immediately after removal. Probably the bevel gear died, maybe the viscous couple, I don't really know. It's not worth it to me to fix it, and the car still works perfectly on ice and in snow for me as FWD.

If the drive shaft was removed on your car, it was probably done so for a reason. It would be pointless to get a new drive shaft and reseal the bevel gear, only to find that the bevel gear is shot. For anyone but the most experienced, I would say resealing the bevel gear is not a DIY.

Good luck!

larryh · Post by **larryh** » 26 Feb 2010, 12:06

Hard tellin, but could also be the driveshaft was removed because the driveshaft was bad. If you want to get the awd back, I guess all you can do is put on a known good shaft and see what happens. Colorado driveshaft is a good place to get one.

The bevel gear also sometimes leaks out of the breather, or the shaft seals. You need to clean it up so you can tell for sure where it's coming from.
Volvo makes a newer breather valve that doesn't leak, but you need to remove the bevel gear to do it. It's doable, but takes some time. I have done the seals and breather in mine but never taken the case apart, so I can't say what kind of a job that is.
Just make sure the bevel gear is not toast before you go to all the trouble...

I don't know why everyone hacks the all wheel drive on these things in a heartbeat. You can easily get parts cheap from wrecking yards....If you can't keep the car running as it was intended, get a honda!

jdm1 · Post by **jdm1** » 26 Feb 2010, 19:32

Thanks, I will look at Colorado driveshafts, I agree about hacking-up the four-wheel on the car, so I want to do this right. I am sure Dad did not want to hassle with it and some bozo said take the shaft out and he agreed.