I've had them where I've needed to drive a chisel between those two ears when bearing down on the control arm (the ball joint is stuck in the spindle/knuckle) with a five foot bar made from an old truck center link. You might need to jack it up a little with a second jack under the rotor as the angle of the ball joint might be what's jamming it in. That and or a second person to pry at the ball joint/knuckle joint while also using a long bar on the control arm. If the strut is all the way extended that ball joint is at a sharp angle in the control arm and prying down actually jams it in the knuckle which is why jacking up on the rotor brings the ball joint into more of a 90 degree angle to the control arm and helps it drop out. Needless to say that strut on the jack isn't the most stable so be careful of where you have your hands when it does pop apart.

 

Rick A: I've had luck spreading the "ears" using (beating) any wedge shape metal from chisels to crowbars, starting thin and working up to a larger one. A little heat on the ears to let the oils in doesn't hurt either. Don't give up, you will win this one !!

 

Thanks for responding. I will try both the heat and jacking the suspension after work tomorrow. If you dont hear from me, I failed and kicked the jack stand out while under the car. Never so frustrated from such a small problem.

 

Kiss a frog, Thanks so much for the help. I really appreciate this forum so much and filks like you who give us rookies a hand. Hey you mention "replace the inner seal" on the rotor..,. should I also do that?
Best to you,
MaddMatx

 

There isn't an inner seal on an 850's brakes. I was just making a comparison to how you would install the seal if you had worked on an older vehicle and you were doing the brakes and packing the bearings. Since we have a Hub Assembly the inner seal is part of that assembly and is not serviced separately. If you had done brakes on an older vehicle with tapered bearings the way the seal is replaced would be similar to how that transmission output seal in installed.

It's nice if you can find a driver that covers the seal and drives it in but I've normally just set them in place and lightly gone around the circumference tapping it in with two or three rotations. Smaller hammer, light taps as the seal doesn't have much structural strength and a sharp blow could dent it and render it worthless.
If you have room you can also use a chisel to lay across it (tangent not diameter) where you are going to hit it to spread the striking force over a larger area. Once you've done one or two you get the feel, they really aren't that hard to do.

 

Do we need to send someone over to look under the car

Trust me, been there and felt the same way. Bringing the control arm up to level or close does help. As you are pushing down on the arm the joint is following the control arms arc. When the arm is more level you have more downward motion and less sideways. When you have the car on jackstands the arm is down and your downward prying is actually jamming sideways as the arc is more pronounced.

 

Buttoned up the Volvo after CV axel replacement and everything works as advertised. Thanks for the help!! Jacking the suspension made a marked difference but those %&$# ball joints were a serious pain. Car is now completely ready for my second child to abuse it with her new license. First child used it to the tune of 233k miles, so repairs were in order. Cant say enough about the way the car runs. Thanks again to those who gave me some well needed advise (and encouragement).

 

Glad to know you didn't curse the car one last time and kick the jackstands out !!