240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Sending the wrong D-shackles was a genuine mistake, and the company was first rate at correcting it. It isn’t worth sending the wrong ones back, so as you say it might be a boon to have two different lengths. I quite like the way this solution has come together - nowhere near standard (and neither is the boot spoiler) but this is not a renovation problem so that is fine by me.

Bob and I have been out and got wet three times, but that is it for the day. He is having a kip and the place smells of wet dog - lovely.

I have just left a note on Bob’s thread (Dublin Bob) about when he changed the prop shaft centre bearing. I noticed a few noises whilst out in the RB the other day, I haven’t had a look yet (because of the rain) but the centre bearing is the prime suspect. I’ve ordered a new one (only £17 complete and delivery) - so that will give me something to do.

Alan

I'm not sure if the 2xx propshaft bearing is the same arrangement as the 7xx but i suspect it is. Normally the characteristic fault is a speed related humming that gets louder from a certain speed onwards.

They are wearing parts though so probably wouldn't harm to change it.

Assuming that is the fault and you change it and that the 2xx is the same design as the 7xx, if you get vibration from the new one, note the speed it starts to happen and return home.

Crawl under the car (without jacking it up) and loosen the four bolts that hold the prop bearing carrier (i hope you bought a complete assembly and not just the bearing?) to the floorpan by half a turn.
Jump back in and accelerate gently to the speed the vibration happened then go back home as smoothly and gently as possible, avoiding harsh turns, braking etc.
Crawl under again and tighten each bolt a little at a time until they're all tight again.

Road test and confirm the vibration has gone. If not, repeat from the first "Crawl under".

Don't jack the car up to do this as you alter the cars shape and hence the centreline - also the engine and box will shift on their mounts causing more misalignment.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I'm not sure if the 2xx propshaft bearing is the same arrangement as the 7xx but i suspect it is. Normally the characteristic fault is a speed related humming that gets louder from a certain speed onwards.

They are wearing parts though so probably wouldn't harm to change it.

Assuming that is the fault and you change it and that the 2xx is the same design as the 7xx, if you get vibration from the new one, note the speed it starts to happen and return home.

Crawl under the car (without jacking it up) and loosen the four bolts that hold the prop bearing carrier (i hope you bought a complete assembly and not just the bearing?) to the floorpan by half a turn.
Jump back in and accelerate gently to the speed the vibration happened then go back home as smoothly and gently as possible, avoiding harsh turns, braking etc.
Crawl under again and tighten each bolt a little at a time until they're all tight again.

Road test and confirm the vibration has gone. If not, repeat from the first "Crawl under".

Don't jack the car up to do this as you alter the cars shape and hence the centreline - also the engine and box will shift on their mounts causing more misalignment.

Many thanks Dave. I’m thinking it won’t do any harm to change a 40 year old bearing, rather than it desperately needs doing. As you will know, that is my way with the RB project: it is cheap and looks quite easy, and will almost certainly improve the RB a bit.

Many thanks for the adjustment tips- I think it is the same bearing and mount for 200s and 700s.

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I'm not sure if the 2xx propshaft bearing is the same arrangement as the 7xx but i suspect it is. Normally the characteristic fault is a speed related humming that gets louder from a certain speed onwards.

They are wearing parts though so probably wouldn't harm to change it.

Assuming that is the fault and you change it and that the 2xx is the same design as the 7xx, if you get vibration from the new one, note the speed it starts to happen and return home.

Crawl under the car (without jacking it up) and loosen the four bolts that hold the prop bearing carrier (i hope you bought a complete assembly and not just the bearing?) to the floorpan by half a turn.
Jump back in and accelerate gently to the speed the vibration happened then go back home as smoothly and gently as possible, avoiding harsh turns, braking etc.
Crawl under again and tighten each bolt a little at a time until they're all tight again.

Road test and confirm the vibration has gone. If not, repeat from the first "Crawl under".

Don't jack the car up to do this as you alter the cars shape and hence the centreline - also the engine and box will shift on their mounts causing more misalignment.

The monsoon season continues Dave, but I thought I'd better have a reconnaissance under the RB, so I put it up on some ramps and got a torch and a pry bar out.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how sound and solid everything is underneath. Since I fixed those two oil leaks (you may remember the cam cover and the fuel pump drive) there is no oil underneath the car, it is all pretty clean and tidy.

Starting at the front: I cracked all the 13mm bolts on the front flange of the prop very easily, indeed I'd say there is no way they have been on the car for 40 years - they came undone quite easily. I marked the position of the flange with paint for later.

I couldn't discern any play in the front UV, which is good news. I couldn't discern any rotational play in the centre bearing, but it seemed to me that the rubber doughnut that supports it had more play than I expected (although I don't have the new one to compare it with yet). I could move it perhaps 5-10mm from side to side and up and down with a pry bar, and it seemed that the top part of the rubber was not continuous - so maybe it has failed there? Again, I don't have the new one to compare it with yet. Do you have any idea how tight that rubber doughnut should be? To an extent it is immaterial in that I'm going to replace it and the bearing anyway.

The back part of the prop shaft looked in similarly good condition - I could not discern any play in the two UVs and the flange bolts should come out easily if I need to remove them.

A question on that if I may. Bob (Dublin Bob) thought I might get away with removing just the front section of the prop in order to change the support bearing, but was not absolutely sure, do you know whether that might be the case? I suppose it would save just a little time if I left the back on the car.

I had a general poke around at the rear suspension while I was there and couldn't find any play in the bushes, which is nice. Also the shock absorbers are shiny yellow new - I'd say not more than a couple of years old, the coils look pretty new as well.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I couldn't discern any play in the front UV, which is good news. I couldn't discern any rotational play in the centre bearing, but it seemed to me that the rubber doughnut that supports it had more play than I expected (although I don't have the new one to compare it with yet). I could move it perhaps 5-10mm from side to side and up and down with a pry bar, and it seemed that the top part of the rubber was not continuous - so maybe it has failed there? Again, I don't have the new one to compare it with yet. Do you have any idea how tight that rubber doughnut should be? To an extent it is immaterial in that I'm going to replace it and the bearing anyway.


A question on that if I may. Bob (Dublin Bob) thought I might get away with removing just the front section of the prop in order to change the support bearing, but was not absolutely sure, do you know whether that might be the case? I suppose it would save just a little time if I left the back on the car.

Alan

You've found the problem Alan. If the rubber doughnut is compromised the centre bearing has no support so is free to flap about in the wind and it doesn't take much on the propshaft to create an imbalance. The rubber dust cap on the back of my centre bearing shredded itself and caused a lot of nasty and noisy vibration so i simply sliced the length of it and peeled it off. The bearing was double-shileded anyway so the dust cover was a "belt'n'braces" thing.

You may get away with undoing the front flange, the four centre bearing assembly bolts and pulling the front half of the prop off separately. Be advised though, it only refits in one position and that isn't always easy to see! I'd advise marking the relative positions with something like Tipp-Ex in the fully fitted position and at stages as you slide the front half off.
Once it's off, put the front piece of the prop in the vice, clean all round the shaft so the bearing can slide off easily and check for any circlips that may be fitted to retain the bearing. Remove them and lightly oil the shaft then drift the old bearing off.
Degrease the shaft, use some emery tape to polish it up around where the bearing actually sits to remove any burrs, check the rest of the shaft and then again lightly oil the shaft so the new bearing goes on easily.

If you have a piece of tube just large enough to fit over the prop but not so large as it exceeds the diameter of the inner race on the new bearing, you can use that to drift the new bearing on. Alternatively use a piece of brass or aluminium flat bar or rod to drift the centre race along the shaft, alternating which side you drift so it slides up squarely.

Refit any circlips etc then "Haynes it". Take it for a test drive, adjusting the position of the centre bearing as previously described if necessary.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You've found the problem Alan. If the rubber doughnut is compromised the centre bearing has no support so is free to flap about in the wind and it doesn't take much on the propshaft to create an imbalance. The rubber dust cap on the back of my centre bearing shredded itself and caused a lot of nasty and noisy vibration so i simply sliced the length of it and peeled it off. The bearing was double-shileded anyway so the dust cover was a "belt'n'braces" thing.

You may get away with undoing the front flange, the four centre bearing assembly bolts and pulling the front half of the prop off separately. Be advised though, it only refits in one position and that isn't always easy to see! I'd advise marking the relative positions with something like Tipp-Ex in the fully fitted position and at stages as you slide the front half off.
Once it's off, put the front piece of the prop in the vice, clean all round the shaft so the bearing can slide off easily and check for any circlips that may be fitted to retain the bearing. Remove them and lightly oil the shaft then drift the old bearing off.
Degrease the shaft, use some emery tape to polish it up around where the bearing actually sits to remove any burrs, check the rest of the shaft and then again lightly oil the shaft so the new bearing goes on easily.

If you have a piece of tube just large enough to fit over the prop but not so large as it exceeds the diameter of the inner race on the new bearing, you can use that to drift the new bearing on. Alternatively use a piece of brass or aluminium flat bar or rod to drift the centre race along the shaft, alternating which side you drift so it slides up squarely.

Refit any circlips etc then "Haynes it". Take it for a test drive, adjusting the position of the centre bearing as previously described if necessary.

As always Dave, many thanks, you are an excellent source of knowledge.

I think you may be right about that rubber doughnut, I have not taken it off and I don't have the new one to compare it with yet, but if that turns out to be the only issue I'll be happy.

I'll have a go at sliding the front prop forward, carefully marking the splines first of course. If it comes off that way the rest looks fairly straightforward. I'll have a look around the garage for something like a short piece of scaffold tube to drift the new bearing back on with.

I'm hoping we get a fairly dry day sometime this week, the RB is under the car port, but that is far from dry during this monsoon season.

Time for Bob's second walk - coat and boots on :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

As always Dave, many thanks, you are an excellent source of knowledge.

I think you may be right about that rubber doughnut, I have not taken it off and I don't have the new one to compare it with yet, but if that turns out to be the only issue I'll be happy.

I'll have a go at sliding the front prop forward, carefully marking the splines first of course. If it comes off that way the rest looks fairly straightforward. I'll have a look around the garage for something like a short piece of scaffold tube to drift the new bearing back on with.

I'm hoping we get a fairly dry day sometime this week, the RB is under the car port, but that is far from dry during this monsoon season.

Time for Bob's second walk - coat and boots on :-)

Alan

You're welcome Alan, your observations about the tightness of the bolts etc suggest it's been changed previously so hopefully it should be a fairly easy operation.

I suppose if you hard some tarps the right size you could enclose your carp port and let it dry out?

Poor Sasha is still waiting for saturdays walk and we won't talk about sunday!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You're welcome Alan, your observations about the tightness of the bolts etc suggest it's been changed previously so hopefully it should be a fairly easy operation.

I suppose if you hard some tarps the right size you could enclose your carp port and let it dry out?

Poor Sasha is still waiting for saturdays walk and we won't talk about sunday!

Yes, I think this has been apart previously - certainly in the past 10 years, maybe a lot less. For how long do the centre bearings normally last?

The problem with the car port is that there is a cross fall on the double width drive beneath it, so the rain falls on the exposed 3 metres width and then runs sideways to the drain on the inside of the car port. The good thing is the water doesn't pool because the cross fall is sufficient. It does dry out quickly, particularly if there is a breeze, so I'll just wait for a not-too-wet day.

Bob and I have just got back, and it didn't rain all that much :-)

Alan

PS. You can see the car port issue here:



... if it was urgent I'd clear out one side of the garage and do it there, but it isn't so the RB can stay up on the ramps until it stops raining (or I might have to build an ark for myself Bob and Millicent).

[Bob Meadows]

The only thing that is being missed in all this correspondence is a picture of Bob!
How about making him known to all?
Regards.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Bob Meadows

The only thing that is being missed in all this correspondence is a picture of Bob!
How about making him known to all?
Regards.

Of course Bob,

Here is one of him modelling his smart new collar;



... and another of him with best friend Bella:



:-)

[Bob Meadows]

Brilliant! he looks very content.
Thanks Bob.