Bent Drive Shaft replacement for 1989 240 wagon
 

Howdy all,

In 2005 I had the 1989 (M45) five-speed transmission replaced with a 1981 M46 five-speed transmission (both have the electronic overdrive). For all the fun details check out the help I received then from Volvo Forums, for which I continue to be grateful.

All has been working quite well - except now I apparently have a bent drive shaft. I don't know if this has to do with the tranny implant four years ago or not. (Really, I haven't been off-roading in my wagon!) At any rate, it is bent according to the mechanic.

My question is whether the replacement drive shaft needs to be the same as the 1989 wagon. I tried one from a 1981, but that apparently was too long. Is the drive shaft from 1989 sedan and wagon the same?

The price for staightening the existing drive shaft is about $400 so I hope to just replace it with a used one. Good strategy?

Anyone have one for an '89 wagon for sale for a reasonable price?

Any help, comments, etc. are certainly appreciated! :)

Teresa

The Volvo junk yard that I frequent has all kinds of 240's there. If you need their contact info, pm me.

There's some confusion, they don't both have the elec. OD, but that's not important: you have to worry only about the LENGTH of the replacement (and the attachment points). In this kind of conversion there is just such problems arising afterward. I'd measure the bad shaft and go to a junkyard and try to match it - a pain, no doubt...

Yeah this can be annoying, pretty much every transmission that came with the 240 except for the M45 and M46 needed a different length driveshaft. Tedv's idea is the best.

Just to be clear you're talking about the drive shaft between the transmission and the rear differential right? If so is it the rear drive shaft or the front drive shaft? If its the front drive shaft you need the one that can go between the manual transmission and the rear drive shaft. If its the rear one. Anyone will work from any 240. Unless

What great ideas! Thank you all for the great suggestions! The difference in lengths might be reason for the bending (?). I will have to check with the mechanic whether the front or the back is bent. Will update as soon as I find out.

...After reflection, it is true that the M45 did not have electronic overdrive... Ah, so hard to remember which is which after four years since that transmission, then having driven the car that provided the M46 before that...

Will report back soon. thanks again!

You need to be careful not to mix and match different front & rear drive shafts. It is my understanding that the two are balanced as a set. If you mix and match them, most likely it will be out of balance.

If the front one is bent, then when you pull one from a boneyard, pull the rear as well. If your rear shaft is bent and you only can find a rear replacement and want to use your current front shaft, then you need to get the two balanced together as a set.

Also - when taking apart the front & rear, make sure you mark the alignment on them as they need to go back together the same way (for balancing reasons again).

They are not balanced as a set. All rear drive shafts on the 240's are the same. The front one is where the difference is.

Update and reflection...
 

I got the 1981 drive shaft and we tried putting it in, but the front was too short. So after checking with the Revolvstore (Tucson, AZ), I got a front shaft that was the right size. Glen, the mechanic, said it fit just fine.

Now, unfortunately, there is such a wobble at the carrier bearing that it is hitting the edges of the frame of where the carrier bearing is, even the body (that is what Glen reported). He said that where it connects at the transmission and the rear end, everything looks fine, but in the middle is some serious wobble.

Would this be due to the balance that was discussed earlier?

Glen said he has never seen anything like this in all his years of mechanic-ing.