btw, assuming the car is up on jack stands, take the $#@ wheels off for better access to all that stuff.

 

Yeah still soaking the lug nuts so that I can get that access.

No stands as such. Was working on one wheel at a time using emergency jack. I take it I shouldn't be cheap about this?

Also are you saying that some of what I'm looking at here will remain even after all brake parts are replaced? (Embarrassed to say haven't watched even a basic tutorial yet, but I will; been cooking for "second Thanksgiving"...)

My rust-terror having now been aggravated I’m going to bomb you with pics of the rear stuff in case I should just declare victory and depart the field here...

 

what are you using as a rust penetrant? me, I'm big on AeroKroil, but PB Blaster works good too. everything else is an also-ran.

um, a brake job normally only replaces the pads and the rotors. its not so much the calibers that scare me on your car as the REST of the steering/suspension bits, the control arms and so forth.

 

Hey. B'Laster is what they have at my AutoZone, I've been fairly pleased.
So I'm gathering calipers are what squeeze pads to rotors via those springs I think I'm seeing? (I am in fact going to watch a tutorial on all this before trying to take anything apart...)
Yeah there is indeed a f*ck-ton of rust under there. That said, I'm poor, can't bear to let a possible asset go to waste, it's why I've been doing all this. I guess I'll get it to a point where I can get it inspected before I settle for calling it an education...

 

The rear pads look good, may be you can leave those alone. The pins look frozen solid anyway, and the front is what's important so keep soaking the front, hopefully you'll be able to break them loose without stripping them.

 

ANXIOUS UPDATE:

OK so I watched some vids about changing brake pads on a Volvo 740. Seems straightforward enough, assuming I can get all the relevant nuts loose. Was excited about restoring front braking power, which further tests have established is pretty much gone. Even considering daring the rear brakes in view of the groan from right rear brake at full stop.

Until my latest jaunt (I actually dared 40MPH on my country highway) revealed that the "grinding/groaning" I had previously been assigning to the brakes was coming from my transmission/drivetrain. Which I would say was clearly indicated by the changing pitch of the moaning as I moved up the gears while acquiring speed. And the vibrations I was feeling between the seats with my hand which matched every change in sound.

Checked transmission fluid after doing the "move slowly through all gears then wait two minutes" thing. Never mind trying to read the low vs. the high temp marks on dipstick, the entire head of the dipstick was drowning in fluid. Fluid also seemed watery compared to fluid in the bottle I had on standby (but didn't use). I would say OH NO IT'S ALL THE WATER THAT GOT IN DURING THE CORE FLUSH WHILE DIPSTICK STILL WAS OUT OF THE WAY FROM THE HEATER VALVE CHANGE-OUT (yes, I would say it just like that, screaming in agonized all-caps) except I remember it was making this same sound when I first had it up and running/driving (for the first time in months) after fixing my IAC wiring problem (this is before I began posting on here, before I began chasing down my fuel pump wiring problems with help from you guys).

Do I just need to change the transmission fluid? Italian tune-up after new pads? Or am I done here? Or do I just need to put in a new transmission haha RIP DIY?

In any event, thanks.

 

Water in the trans would give you foam, not watery fluid!
"Drowning" in fluid, yes, but wipe the stick clean with a rag, stick it in again, then read the level.
Also your rotors are rusty for sure so you'll hear some scraping when you first drive the car after long time of not using it. I would drive the car around a bit to see how the brakes behave, again, after much unuse things may loosen up. What do the front pads look like? The pictures don't show them.
Never heard of Italian tune up for a tranny. What's the fluid's color?
I am skeptical of putting a lot of $ into this car, and since I'm the king of shoestring car operations, I get it...
"Just putting another transmission in it" is not easy and is pricey, probably more this car is worth...

 

re: brake pads, sure, just changing the pads is easy enough, but you really really should change and flush the brake fluid at the same time, as its likely been YEARS since that was done, and old brake fluid is hydroscopic, it sucks in water, then causes corrision in the brake cylinders, leading to sudden brake failure when you least expect it.

 

Yes, I did, comes up covered in fluid right to the top every time (car is running while dipping)...do I need to drain some fluid out?

Again, what I have discovered is that the loud complaints are not coming from the brakes (only the right rear makes a creak at full stop, no noise from front brakes, I just have to smash pedal to get full stop going forward, much better brake action in reverse), but rather from the tranny; I know I don't know much, but the moaning definitely changes pitch with the gears shifting and with matching vibrations between the seats.

I will send pics of front pads tomorrow.

Yeah, again, I don't know nothin, just wishing for a solution that does not involve changing out the tranny. The color looks just like the fluid in the bottle I didn't use, maybe a tiny bit darker.

I am skeptical also. Feeling myself reaching the limits of Give-a-F*cktown. I was going to ask something about looking for/evaluating parts in junkyards but got too tired...

 

How did the tranny get overfilled? I'd drain some fluid out of it, it's a bit of a pain to do it, better to siphon it out if you have the gadget, it's just messy draining just so much out... Doubt it will make any difference in the noise though...

How many miles are on this car? Never really had a noisy Volvo tranny experience, may be it will get better with use? The fluid looks like it might have been changed, probably in search of a solution by the PO?

I am a big fan of junkyard parts. If you know what to look for, parts there are better than aftermarket ones and even cheaper. Problem is that 740/940 are getting scarce--used to be here on the West Coast there were 10-20 to choose from, now lucky if you find one... But, there are a lot of people out there with tons of parts they will never use or sell, I'm one of them, sad to throw good stuff away but that's the way it is.

 

Hey. "Get better with use" is what I meant by "Italian tune-up"... though of course one can't "burn the gunk out" of a tranny by going high-speed.

Maybe non-use really is the problem; don't think it made this sound when my son was using it before it was immobilized by the IAC wiring breaking. I'll have to confirm.

So.... can you tell from the pics (right front brake pictured) what pads (and rotors) I need? Can't see a manufacturer name on the calipers. (Plus you made it sound like it's not that straightforward finding the right brake parts for these cars from the catalogs...?)

RE: tranny hunting... craigslist? (RE: West Coast, puts me in mind of my half-formed plan to rust-proof this car by driving it to Cali...)

PS. Odometer reads 159072.

 

First, congrats on being able to take off these pads, the rust had me scared!
Those pads are bad, they have been there a long time, change them. As far as what kind of pad you need, go to the IPD web site and look at the different pictures of the available pads, you'll get the idea, compare them to what you have. The rotors don't look scarred but I can't tell if they are out of round. Just do the pads.

 

the rotor shown looks deeply worn over about 2/3rds of its surface. they definitely should be measured with a brake caliber, and replaced if any part of them is below the minimum thickness spec.

absolutely for sure, you should do a brake fluid change and flush. I assume this car has ABS, that means you need a pump to flush it, the old pumping the brake pedals method is inadequate.

 

Hey guys

The snow that fell today will melt tomorrow if the forecast is right; planning on sending better pics of rotors tomorrow, for what that's worth. Thinking now I just have to get the car to the point where I can actually brake to a stop so I can drive it to someone else to do all the other stuff. (Ordering the pads from IPD was in fact pretty straightforward; the style of the pads I'm replacing is fairly distinctive.)

Speaking of the other stuff, I had a sudden burst of recall regarding that moaning sound from the transmission/drivetrain. When I first got the car (from that guy who lived in the woods), he said that in cold weather the U-joint at the transmission will "make the car sound haunted" and that "lubrication helps that." So, as long as I'm more or less under the car doing these pads, any tips on giving the proverbial grease to my squeaky joint?

 

most likely, thats the drive shaft center bearing. its just forward of the middle U-joint in the driveshaft there's a rather large ball bearing, surrounded by a rubber carrier/bushings, in a metal bracket.

this is one on a driveshaft thats out of the car.



oh, BIG NOTE! if you take the driveshaft apart, and have to separate the front and rear shafts, MARK THEM at the splines so you reassemble it aligned EXACTLY the same way. this is VERY important, as the driveshaft was balanced as a whole assembly. if you assemble it misaligned, you'll have significant and nasty vibrations at speed.

 

so the center bearing is 3, the rubber cups and seats are 4-5-6, the bearing carrier is 2. the rubber bits should be replaced with the bearing, the carrier bracket is fine unless its physically damaged.

the top row shows the front shaft 13 for an automatic (the one just below it with the flexdisk 17 is for a manual stick shift), then the center bearing stack is slid on the back end of that front shaft, the back half of the front shaft 14 has the spline I talk about above that has to be indexed correctly, then the middle (8) and rear (10) U joint are on the rear shaft 15.

 

For the time being you can squirt some lubricant on the driveshaft bearing, U joints, etc, to quiet it and verify that that is the problem--I think it is since bad transmissions rarely if ever make the noise you described.
I wouldn't worry too much about the rotor thickness, and you can change the brake fluid just fine without flushing it with a special machine, etc. Running to a shop for every little thing is not the answer, the idea is to DIY and improvise. Looks like you won't need a transmission... Once this car is running and used many of these kinks will disappear, hopefully the rust we don't see won't be a problem.
BTW, the rusty piece that fell off might be part of the parking brake assembly...
What is the cut hose on the photo of the rotor, right upper corner, an A/C line?

 

Hey pierce, cool info on the bearing, thank you. Lev, when you say "squirt some lubricant" do you mean something like white lithium grease?

UPDATE: I know this post is on a 200 forum but in case it's applicable what does it mean that the bearing is "sealed" and "does not require any lubrication whatsoever"? (Is the noise more due to the rubber bushing wearing out?)

And yeah, parking brake sounds right... I think I recall hearing a k-THUNGggg when I first freed the car from its frozen/immobile state by putting it in "D" and rolling forward... I thought it was just the brakes breaking their rusty bonds but maybe what really broke was the parking brake (though pretty sure parking brake was not on at the time?). I'll have to look (where exactly?)... and test it after I have new pads in...

And yes, that's an A/C line. Was broken when I bought it.

Pads shipped same day, looking forward to it.

 

the parking brake is a small drum brake inside each rear rotor, which is cable actuated.

 

Hey (sorry in advance for bombing you with more gigantic pics than usual):

I think I'm in it for the rotors. See the lead pic which shows what seems to be brake-pad-shaped scarring on the left front rotor... almost like that's where the brake-pad was formerly fused to the rotor. Guess that the brakes "breaking free" was my kTHUNGgggg after all. (Parking brake appears, including from under the car, to be functioning normally.) Looks like I have to get that caliper mount off to get the rotor off... what kind/size of tool is needed to take off the bolts circled in blue? (Also, is it a problem that the receptacles circled in red are, on the right hand brake, spinning freely, whereas the left-hand receptacles seem fixed/fused in place? The screws that came from the receptacles on the right-hand side, which screws of course hold the calipers in the mount, are lying on the cloth to the right of the screws that came from the left-hand side.) Also are these rotors OK or do you recommend going genuine Volvo (for twice the price, sigh)? The pads I ordered are Bosch also.









Pictured also is the center/carrier support bearing/housing (pictured looking toward rear of car and then looking toward front). I probably wasn't supposed to spray B'Laster on all that but jfc you can't blame me for freaking out a little here, can you? (I can almost hear pierce thinking, upon seeing this mess, "wtf are you even doing here bro"...)





On another note, do you think maybe that hunk of metal that looks like it was salvaged from the Titanic was part of a clamp holding the muffler to the (yes, leaking) exhaust pipe? It seems to fit in that groove I've drawn the red dotted line next to in these pics...