My fiance and I inherited a 88' Volvo 240GL and it has 240k miles on it. Her grandfather owned it since it came off the factory line and has taken good care of it.

The issue I am having is with the ride quality. I realize that this is an older vehicle and probably will never ride as smooth as a newer vehicle. However, when going over rough roads, small bumps, and pot-holes, it sounds as if there is some type of a clunking sound. Its hard to explain and hard to identify where it is coming from. Its a very sharp but deep rattle almost like if you were on an airplane and had a solid item on your eating tray while flying through turbulence.

I took the vehicle to Les Schwab for an inspection and the technician told me that the steering rack and pinion had been completely replaced. All of the tie rods, lower ball joints, and shocks were also in great condition and had been replaced at some point prior to us getting the vehicle. Only issue they found was with the battery...

I am stumped as to how to go about finding out what is causing this noise? If i had to put money on it, I would say it is coming from the rear of the vehicle and possible the rear passenger side. If i had to guess I would say it may be a loose shock mount? Bad bushing?

Any help or advice about how to tackle this issue would be great.

Thanks in advance.

 

had the same issue, mine ended up being the trailing arms. I also had heavy duty coils put in, and it rides amazing now. Good luck!

 

How did you get the bushing out? Does it basically just get forced out of its hole? I have seen tools for bushing removal and it looks like they just push on the busing until it slide out of the hole. Thanks in advance.

 

typically, you need to take the parts and put them on a several ton hydraulic press to get the bushings out. some of them can be a major **** to remove.

candidates for rear rattles include the bushings on trailing arms, the torque arms, the panhard rod. of course, a broken or missing shock bolt could do it too.

also theres a center bearing on the drive axle that can make a rumbly kind of klunking sound when its worn.

 

took mine to a mechanic that did it.

 

did what???

 

Just curious but did you check the exhaust system?

 

So theoretically, if one had unlimited strength, you can just push the bearing out, and then push a new one in? I dont see why it is necessary for people to use the $180 tool or to create one? Why cant you just put a brace on one wide with a bolt that goes it and the bushing, use a large washer and nut and wrench them together until it is flush in its slot?

Thanks in advance.

 

In theory, practice is the same as theory. In practice, its not.
I dunno who said that but he was a wise man.

installing the new bushings isn't the hard part, a little grease and a few taps of a rubber mallet, and most of them go right in. its getting the OLD one out thats the SOB, the buggers have been in there for like 20 years, buried in road sludge etc etc. most of the OEM bushings have a metal outer shell that rusts onto whatever metal its pressed into. etc etc.

 

Once again, Pierce is on the money. Speaking of money, I just spent a ton of it having the trailing arm bushings and the torque rod bushings done on my '89 240 wagon, to cure the same type of problem you described. I ordered the polyurethane bushings from IPD, which are horrendously expensive (about $300) because I intend to keep the car forever, but I never want this problem again. I was semi-thinking of doing this myself until I started reading posts/ reviews of some people who had. The IPD instructions call for heating the old sleeves with a torch, some guy used a Sawzall; all said it took a *lot* longer than they thought it would. The tech at the independent Volvo shop I took mine to (which has a lift, high torque air tools, torches, etc) said it was a bitch of a job and that he would just as soon not do another one for the rest of his life. The car was in the shop for three days. The good news is that the results were everything I had hoped for; problem solved.

I should mention that in my case I knew for sure that the original rubber bushings were bad; there was practically nothing left of them. Jagtoes could be right, if you're lucky, it could just be some hangers gone bad on the exhaust system. Crawl under there and give it a look!

 

re: bushings, IPD and FCP sell a mix of good and not-so-good poly bushings. I've heard a lot of stories of the "URO" and "Scantech" and other Chinese brands going bad prematurely. Superpro (in Australia) makes the good stuff, and both IPD and FCP have *some* Superpro stuff, but there's a guy gsellstr on the turbobricks forum who does a monthly group buy from Superpro for near wholesale. Look in the 'group buys' thread for the previous ones. I'd assume a march 'buy' would be gearing up soon.

Going all poly bushings will significantly tighten up the ride, some folks feel excessively so (great for a performance car, but not so great for a daily driver). Many people suggest a mix of OE rubber and poly for a good compromise.

another thing, use a LOT of grease on/in the bushings... a premium marine 'green' grease is best.

indeed, exhaust hangers seem to me like they'd be more likely to cause rattles. worn suspension bushings in MY experience have been more like 'klunks' that you feel as much as hear on bumps and/or left-to-right or right-to-left turn transitions.

 

]The bushings I got from IPD were all "Superpro", so I guess I lucked out.

I have no complaints at all about the ride on my daily driver, which is vastly improved over what it was with the bad bushings. The Bilstein Touring shocks I also installed at the same time may have something to do with this, but I suppose in the end a "hard" ride is whatever you think it is. I used to drive a 5.0 Mustang GT with the stock suspension which rode a lot harder than my 240 does now with the poly bushings.

 

harsh and stiff are not directly related. in general, bushings that rotate (track rod, torque arms, and so forth) do well with poly, while bushings who's primary function is buffering shock (such as the subframe mounting bushings on a 740/940) may end up harsh and noisy with poly.

in fact, what you did to your 240 is very similar what I'm going to do to my 745... Bilstein TC (Touring) shocks on all 4, but I'm only putting a few poly bushings on it. I'm putting overload springs on back and leaving the front springs stock.