Looked through the forum but couldn't find any info on my problem. I have an 04 AWD 2.5 XC90 with 60K. Both rear bearings are making a hell of a roar. Anyway, looked around the web and sure enough there is a technical service bulletin on this common problem. Apparently there is a rubber plug that can let water into the wheel hub unit and causes premature failure. It also says in the same TS bulletin that the wheel hubs can be difficulty to remove.

Well they aren't kidding! Tried last night to pull one off and take a look. No problem getting the caliper and 4 hub bolts off. Brake rotor was a bit of a PITA but eventually muscled it off as well. The only thing I really couldn’t get off was the wheel hub assembly itself. The splined shaft pushes in easy enough and can be totally disengaged by pushing it into the CV joint. Is there any other connection that I'm missing?

My two new wheel hub assemblies come in on Friday ($132.20 each @ volvopartsdirect.com) and I really don't want to fight with this all weekend. If anyone has some experience on how to get these suckers off, I would really appreciate the help.

Thanks,

orb

 

Havent done any yet but is there screws from the Backside?

 

Yep, 4 big ones. Took a really good look back there and did not see anything else that is obviously holding it together. There is some kind of seal gasket material and I think it has some factory sticky stuff holding it in place but I'm not sure. Don't really want to get the pry bar out just yet. I'll wait until I get the new assembly and can see all the bolt holes before I go that route.

Do you have access to the service manual? Maybe you could do me a favor and look it up before I go to town on it?


Thanks

orb

 

My Vadis program only shows the 4 screws.
Once the Axle is out and the screws are removed it should come out.

 

Thanks tech! It really does look that simple to me too, but you know how that goes! I'll try again this weekend and this time I'll use the bigger hammer (bigger tools are better tools, right?) and I'll post how it goes.

orb

 

YES BIGGER IS BETTER LOL

 

Yep, the bigger hammer did the trick... just some rust holding it together. Anyone with the bearing roar and expired warranty should think about doing this job themselves. Nothing more than 8 bolts to remove:

two caliper bolts to remove the disk brake assembly
four wheel hub bolts to remove from the back of the wheel assembly (only one tricky one that requires you to remove the outside lower sway bar bolt that allows you to swing the bar out of the way).

and lastly there is one tiney bolt, that that I can only imagine is an allignment bolt, that is on the brake rotor and taps into the hub.

$264 an hour and a half and a beer or two and you'll be back driving the highways in peace and quiet....

 

Congrats glad it was that easy for you.

 

well this is a very common problem on the xc90s i work as a technician at a dealer and some weeks we replace 20-25 rear wheel bearings just for the xc90 it is very commone for the hub to be frozen on the axle splines and at work we have to use a heavy duty puller, big hammer and sometimes a torch. if that fails we pull the whole axle and hub out and use a press but not all the axles fit throught the spindle. i have seen a couple where we had to to replace the spindle axle and hub tried everything and couldn't remove the hub. there is a special lubricant and a updated axle bolt to use when u replace the hub make sure u do that.

 

Bought my 04 Xc90 from my fathernlaw. 36k miles and roars like an airplane. the mech told me BOTH rear hubs. Even from a Ford I wouldn't have believed it.
Your site is xclnt.

Any suggestions to get the factory repair manuals?

 

Factory repair manuals run in the neighborhood of 1400 bucks.Volvo doesnt want to sell alot of those.
The R&R procedure isnt to involved for replacing the rear hubs.But soak the hell out of them where the bolt runs into the end of the axle.Most of the time those are froze in there.And depending on if its a 5-6 cylinder,you would have to pull the axle/hub out as one unit.Then it gets pricey.

 

Thanks blownby. $1400 ouch.
Found a Motor Manual at the library. looks simple but Murphy's Law. That's why I like the practical advice.
Will try (maybe) come spring.
If blacks60 is replacing 20/wk, how come no RECALL? This ain't cheap.

 

I'm going to be doing both rear wheel bearing hub assemblies on my 04 XC90 but am having some trouble deciding what I need to order. I've seen National Hub Assembly parts for $109 per side and SKF Hub Assemblies for $185. The SKF's also say "w/Bearing" but I thought the bearing was set into the hub assembly to begin with? If I go with the Nationals, is it possible that part of the cost difference is because they don't have the bearings? Or, does anyone know if I should stay away from them for quality concerns?

 

Am a first time Volvo owner, having gotten a used '04 XC90 (T5) back in May

DW uses it on a daily basis, but I love driving it when I can.

Recently noticed a hum/roar above 30-35. Gets louder with rolling speed, but it quiets momentarily when the vehicle weight is shifted sharply to the left....even slight steering twists to the left disappears the sound for a fraction of a second.

Two questions:
1) Is that enough information to make a determination that its a bearing/hub, and then to narrow it down to one particular wheel?

2) how to tell the difference between hub noise and diff noise? does noise silencing with sharp left turn indicate that its NOT a diff?

I want to make sure first its a hub issue, and then to go ahead and replace the correct hub to take care of this. Need to drive daughter to college end of Aug and would rather do it in a noise-free (safe?) vehicle.

Thanks much,

 

Doing the hub replacement too. Got the hubs off ebay. 2-for $107. Also my air compressor went out. Got a quote to repair for $1100! I think I will buy a refurbished compressor off Ebau for $249 and have the Freon removed and do it myself. Wish me luck.

 

Sometimes, you get what you pay for. I've seen cheap hubs throw ABS lights or fail within a year.

 

My daughters 2005 XC90 AWD V8 180k has locked up when trying reverse. This morning I put in reverse and the car acted like it was locked up or I had the brake applied. I put in drive and moved forward a couple of feet and then went to reverse and still nothing. On the 3rd attempt it was free and it hasn't done it again. It has been making a popping sound/noisy for several weeks but when I get to a shop it doesn't do it. Same right now- it won't replicate the problem. It has done this 3 or 4 times in the last few days. Could this be the rear wheel bearing, or the differential or possibly the cv joint?

 

Probably just parking brake shoes.

 

Ok. Thanks. I'll start there.

 

The parking brake shoes are pushed out against the rotor and it won't allow the rotor to come off. Is there a way to back these brakes off so that I can pull the rotors? Thanks