Hello,
I have a Volvo 850 turbo 1995. I live in Bangkok and recently I took this car to to an authorized Volvo garage to have the rubber engine mounts replaced. When I picked up the car I noticed a whirring sound when I drove away, and after going back and questioning this with the mechanic he drove the car and told me there was nothing wrong. Yesterday the noise became so loud (from the front left-hand wheel area) that I took the car back. Now the mechanic says that my 'bullet plates' have worn out on the hubs and that it would be dangerous to drive the car until both sides are replaced. I have searched for 'bullet plates' for a Volvo 850 on the net and cannot find anything related. The garage has quoted me 750 US$. I find it strange that the noise started after I picked up the car from the last garage visit, and also that the part the garage says needs replacing does not seem to exist? Does anyone have any advice they could give me? Any help would be much appreciated.
Martin.

 

Ask the mechanic to put the car up on a lift and SHOW you the part that is failing. also ask to see what a good part looks like. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt here, but it IS possible that the timing is a conicidence....and it's also possible that he may have a different term for the part than you do. See how the mechanic reacts to the request and go from there. I have a mechanic I trust that does the things I can't do, and if i had a problem that he found, he'd be GLAD to educate me on whats wrong, why it failed, what the fix is, etc.

 

Thank you for your post and your advice. I will go to the garage on Monday and see how he reacts. I used to work on my old car in England — a 1957 Morris Cowley... but with that car I could take the whole car apart and put it back together with two spanners and a screwdriver! Volvo's look a lot more complicated:-)