o.k. heres the deal: get lots of noise from the front left. rotated the tires,still there. doesn't seem to be any play to indicate a bad wheel bearing. could the bearing still be bad and not have any play when trying to wiggle it? what is a good source for this part?

found this: http://www.1aauto.com/1A/wheel-beari...oogle_base_api

is that the part I need?

1996 850 193,000 miles

 

That is it.
They will not always have play when bad. I have only ever seen like 1 or 2 have play the rest never did.

 

so that is the correct part? ever buy from that website? do I reuse the bolts and nut or buy new ones? seems pretty straightforward to replace.I'm no mechanic,but no dummy either so I'm guessing 1.5 hours or so for me each side. sound about right?

 

Yes, That is the correct part number but I have no experience buying from them. I managed to use the old bolts and nut when I did mine but there is no harm in getting the new bolts if they dont cost a fortune.

 

at $90 each I have to get them. $161 each from IPD and $230 each from the dealer,ouch!! the money Isave on the wheel bearings I can get the new heater core.

bestharry,was it a pretty straightforward job? no special tools needed?

 

It is pretty straight foward. I reuse the hub bolts but put a few drops of loctite on them.

 

I actually just replaced my front left wheel bearing on my '93 850 NA. It really is a straight forward job. I used the link http://volvospeed.com/Repair/FWDbearingHub.php, which helped out a lot lol. I reused the caliper bolts and everything, but I did get new hub bolts, and it's a really good thing I did, because one of the hub bolts stripped a little bit while I was trying to get it loose. Make sure you have a nice breaker bar to use, you won't be able to get those bolts loose otherwise, unless you have air tools.


Good luck!

 

they were out of the bolts,so I will have to reuse the old ones or hope they have them at Knechts or NAPA. they should be here on Friday the 27th. $85 each from IA Auto. he gave me a discount off the $89.95 price for buying the pair. with the money I saved I was able to get the power window regulator (3rd one in less than a year!!) for the kids Jetta. rant on:what a terrible design on that car. 3 of the 4 window regulators have gone out AND the moonroof!!! :rant off I also ordered the heater core from IPD. is there a good link for the removal and install of the new heater core? I bookmarked the wheel bearing one,thanks Chupa.here is the link for the wheel bearings if anyone is interested.

http://www.1aauto.com/1A/wheel-beari...oogle_base_api

 

I was getting a lot of knocking in my front suspension. It turned out to be the top suspension mount. Pop the bonnet (hood as you'd call it) and bounce the suspension. If there is movement in the top of the suspension (or al least more than on the side that isn't making the noise) then it may be these mounts.

It's not that hard a job to do (took me 2 hours) and it's a lot cheaper than new bearings. The mount cost about £18.

 

Sorry for the delay in response Bruse.
ITs a very straight forward job and the only special tool neede for it is the E14 bit to remove the 4 bolts that hold the bearing. I prefer 1/2" socket bit because its more strong and feels more safe to torque them loose.

Tarquin : The part that breaks in the top mount you mentioned is actually 'Spring seat' if I am not wrong? this is a very common failure in old cars and I have ended up changing all four - one by one -on my both cars.

 

Got the wheel bearings today. installed them in about 3 hours. would have been sooner if it wasn't for phone calls,electrician showing up,pizza run etc. was pretty easy actually. the only hard thing was getting the axle nut off. I snapped my breaker bar trying to get the axle nut off! I had to take it to a shop with an impact wrench to loosen it up for me,no charge from Tom to do it either.how many foot lbs do those axle nuts need to be torqued to? I think it said it was 86ft/lbs on the Volvospeed link I used to do the job,but I thought I also heard it could be as high as 250ft/lbs. anyone know?

 

The Haynes Manual says this for the Driveazle nut: 88 then tighten an additional 60 degrees.

 

I saw that in the manual (just got it the other day) right after I posted,sorry. seems like it should be more than that.

 

Must be nice n' smooth and much more fun to drive...
Glad its all done...

 

It also sounds like maybe the caliper mounting bolts are a little loose. Just check all of your bolts, make sure the axle and pinch bolts are tight. It could be wheel bearings, but if they are bad you will be able grab the wheel at the top and bottom, try to twist the wheel and if it has a lot of slack this way the bearings need to be replaced. Hope this helps.That's probably just your floating caliper. Check side to side play for the wheel bearings Bingo.. thumbsup.

 

These bearings go bad all the time and wil never show signs of play in the bearings.

 

Suppose to use grey strip caulk available at most auto parts stores. I use buytl tape for putting in windshields since I always have some around. I use that stuff allot while assembling cars. You can stretch it to a string and use it under the weather strip retainers. I also wrap dash screw threads with it to keeps the skeaks and rattles down. Another thin bead to attach door water shields and to seal any leaks or some small holes