Hi everyone! I bought a used Volvo for my teens. I bought it knowing the torque rod mount was cracked. I'm about to order the part and I think I can fix this myself. As long as I don't need to support the transmission or anything (don't think I do), I think I can wing this myself. Mechanic wants over $100 to install. Thanks much!

 

He is ripping you off. Labor time is only .3 hours. So if he charges $100 as an hourly rate, it should be $30.

But you can so it yourself. Remove the screw holding the coolant reservoir in place and lift the reservoir up. Remove the two bolts for the torque rod and remove and replace it. Very easy.

 

Thanks much! You are talking about the coolant reservoir bolt that faces down towards the ground, correct? Unscrew that and then lift up and out to get to the torque rod bolts, correct? I can do this. I have a compressor and impact driver (hopefully that will do it). I'll have my 16 year old help if need be. I'll post back when it's done. .

 

One more quick question. Should I go OEM or aftermarket? I know some aftermarket items are ok and others not. I can buy an aftermarket torque rod mount for $30 or $68 oem.

 

Anything rubber go OEM. Aftermarket rubber products are of variable quality. Have fun, should be able to do yourself.

 

Excellent! Thank you thommykent!

 

Calling him a ripoff isn`t fair. I`m sure like most shops he has a minimum charge of one hour. Otherwise he would have guys coming in for 15 min fixes all day long. Let guys who work on cars make a good living. If we don`t like it then let`s fix it ourselves.

 

I work on cars for a living. If a customer comes in for a job that pays .3, then they pay .3. Plain and simple.
The minimum 1 hour applies to diagnostic work.

 

I defer to you then. I do think that with your skill and knowledge you deserve to be well paid.
Your time is coming, soon enough all these kids will only know how to operate an iphone and not even know what a socket or a wrench is.
People who can fix things will be in high demand and highly paid. About time I say!

 

Glad someone sees it that way. Usually everyone on boards like these thinks we are all out to drain their finances. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of dishonest techs. But there are also dishonest plumbers, electricians, contractors, etc.

You're right, if I just had a bunch of .3 jobs all day on different cars, I'd never make money. But we make money on cars that have multiple jobs or bigger jobs. A car might come in for an oil change, which won't make me much money. But then it might need brakes and a timing belt. Now the whole thing might pay 5.5 hours and I can finish it in 1.5 hours. But then there are still folks who think that is ripping them off.

 

So my quote was from a mobile mechanic in my town (he lives where I live). He also told me that it would be wise to replace all mounts now, so I should go ahead and purchase those parts as well (&#128064. He hasn't even laid eyes on my car yet. I think this one swap out is a bit expensive, so I'm choosing do to myself, but yes, I also have another car needing front and back brakes, and down the road, I may need other jobs on the Volvo. Guess I won't be calling him again. He unfortunately, tried to pull the wool over the wrong gal's eyes lol.

 

Well a mobile mechanic is another story. I'm certainly not driving to someone's house for a job that pays .3 and only charging .3.

No need to randomly replace other mounts. Though the passenger side mount does fail the most often. Its under the torque rod but you would need to support the engine to replace it.

 

No, I get it. However, I would rather him just tell me that instead of trying to throw in other jobs into the mix. That job (three mounts) is $300 plus parts. As for the passenger side mount, obviously I'm not a mechanic, but I did put a flashlight on it and it looks clean and I don't see any leaking oils. The car drives smoothly. I also had a master mechanic look the car over (and test drive it) before I purchased it last week. Of course it's a look over, not taking wheels off etc.. I'm just trying to do the obvious (cracked torque mount) right now so I can breathe from the cost of the car lol.

 

It might be wise but not necessary to replace all the mounts. I would just do the torque rod mount and call it good.