360 MOT
 

Hi,
I had an MOT done on my 360 today and have a couple of queries. It passed but:-

1) There was a aluminium cover around the 'vibration damper' on the steering where the steering column in the engine bay meets the rack. This was removed as it was damaged, but my question is should it be replaced? My guess is that it is a heat shield to protect the joint from the heat of the exhaust or is this Volvo being Volvo-ish and adding extra protection where it might not be needed?

2) A track control arm was said to have play in it on the rack end - not sufficient to fail - but apparently I'm told by the garage, that I might like to consider replacing it in the future. Should I replace the whole rack or just the arm? What do people think? Pehaps it is false economy to replace an arm - which is about £60 fitted.

3) The car needed some welding to a 'chassis rail'. I haven't crawled under yet as it's raining here, but I can't find any reference in my Haynes manual to it. Is there something common that goes - could anyone give any views on what it might be? The car is 14 years old

Thanks


Nigel

RE: 360 MOT
 

Hi Nigel

thought i would drop a few pearls your way

personal opionion first

if the car passes its mot dont question it!!


right, onto the pearls

not sure about the ally plate

but if its worth it there is a rubber thing higher up the steering column right near the exhaust manifold, and it has no shielding

draw your own conclusions..

track control arm

its a standard fault on just about every car on the road..

i would suspect that the pkay is in the track controll arm (also known as a track rod end)

it would be just this part you replace mind you the cost quoted by you is steep i would say 20 notes ish for the part removal and fitting 15 mins retrack 15mins or do it yourself, all you have to do is undo the lock nut on the track rod break the track rod end joint with a splitter unscrew the end

replace with new part tighten up track rod end and the lock nut

then whip it into your local tyre place and have the tracking reset.

if whatbyour mot man had detected was play in the steering rack, he would have stated that on the mot..

chassis rails.. if you look under your car, you will see two box type stuctures running from front to rear

thses are your chassis rails

i believe that volvo run the fuel lines from the tank in the l/hand one

basically they are two longditudinal stiffners that the floorpan and other bits are welded to this gives you your chassis..

but as they are technically the lowest part of the underside of your car,

they are prone to damage and posibly rust

because they are an integral part of your cars chassis that is why they are not mentioned by haines

hope this ,lot helps

regs

Matt

RE: 360 MOT
 

Hi Nigel,
1.the alloy plate is a heatshield for the engine mount and you could make one easily and its held on by only one screw
2. Hanve you checked there is grease in the rack as mine was empty on one side and cloncked.I refilled the empty side and the clonck disappeared!
3. The chassis rails are the longitudal boxes hanging under the floor and rot internally at the joins to cross boxes esp at the rear over the back axle. Get some rustproofing liquid and squirrt inside all boxes and sills. I used 3 tins of "Supertrol" as used on oil rigs and cost £4 a tin from "rustbusters" (see their website).Well worth doing if you want to stop further rust.

regards, Steve

RE: 360 MOT
 

Nigel,

I've nothing new for one and two but

3) If you have a hole in your chassis rails GET THEM CHECKED. These things provide the strength in your car and are not worth skipping just because it passed the MOT now, in a few months they may be worse. Get them checked by a professional garage that you trust with a welding torch (doesn't have to be Volvo).

Good luck

Stu