Another MOT passed...still broken though!

[Foeux]

Dear Chums,

Continued thanks for keeping this resource alive. Had a bit of welding for the MOT but it continues to go. My volvo is 235k miles and counting; often I come here to check I am doing something right... Thank you.

I'd like confirmation that I am about to buy the right thing...

PROP BEARING

Despite the fresh MOT, the prop centre bearing is goosed (noisy and feels rough to rotate by hand when you drop the plate and detach the carrier from it and twirl it manually - no vibration driving though).

The car is specified as follows:

1995 N/A 2.3 petrol, manual gearbox (M47). It has a 1031 diff with a 3.54 ratio (no LSD tag anywhere on the diff P1216448 T102035). The prop is numbered 1340372 P10 DX95 1. VIN YV19455833S1######. YV1 - CARS, 945 - Vehicle Type, 83 - B230FD (+Pulsair and EGR), 3 - M47, S - 1995, 1 - Torslanda Plant built, ###### - chassis number

Female bit of prop going into the front bit where the support bearing is measures 29.72mm. The main chunks of prop I was able to measure were 50.95mm and 50.87mm. It looked to get a bit thinner where the bearing is pressed on but was unable to get vernier right in there.

I assume my prop is the thinner of the two, is this correct?

Here is the bearing eBay recommends. £38.99 inc. shipping and VAT.

Is there a better alternative?

SHOCKS

In cleaning the car for MOT (wheels off and 10lb+ of mud removed from inside arches) I noticed that

1) The rear shocks are very fat on top (maybe 2.5" dia), very tired looking and leaky.
2) The gaiters that run from the middle of the shock to the bottom have degraded away to a few casual rings of grubby rubber in the vicinity of the bottom of the shock shaft...
3) The shock mounts into the lower arm by a single bolt through a circular rubber bushing at the bottom of the shock. It then bolts up into a covered hole in the wheel arch.
4) the shocks seem to have been a pale blue colour at the bottom once upon a time...

Using Parts for Volvos, their Bilstein B4 kit, the HD rear springs, the standard front springs and then top mounts and bearings, the price comes to £432 inc. shipping and VAT.

Is this a good price?
Are these decent shocks?
Would you go another route for a similar price?

Thanks,

F.

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Foeux

Dear Chums,

Continued thanks for keeping this resource alive. Had a bit of welding for the MOT but it continues to go. My volvo is 235k miles and counting; often I come here to check I am doing something right... Thank you.

I'd like confirmation that I am about to buy the right thing...

PROP BEARING

Despite the fresh MOT, the prop centre bearing is goosed (noisy and feels rough to rotate by hand when you drop the plate and detach the carrier from it and twirl it manually - no vibration driving though).

The car is specified as follows:



















































1995 N/A 2.3 petrol, manual gearbox (M47). It has a 1031 diff with a 3.54 ratio (no LSD tag anywhere on the diff P1216448 T102035). The prop is numbered 1340372 P10 DX95 1. VIN YV19455833S1######. YV1 - CARS, 945 - Vehicle Type, 83 - B230FD (+Pulsair and EGR), 3 - M47, S - 1995, 1 - Torslanda Plant built, ###### - chassis number

Female bit of prop going into the front bit where the support bearing is measures 29.72mm. The main chunks of prop I was able to measure were 50.95mm and 50.87mm. It looked to get a bit thinner where the bearing is pressed on but was unable to get vernier right in there.

I assume my prop is the thinner of the two, is this correct?

Here is the bearing eBay recommends. £38.99 inc. shipping and VAT.

Is there a better alternative?

SHOCKS

In cleaning the car for MOT (wheels off and 10lb+ of mud removed from inside arches) I noticed that

1) The rear shocks are very fat on top (maybe 2.5" dia), very tired looking and leaky.
2) The gaiters that run from the middle of the shock to the bottom have degraded away to a few casual rings of grubby rubber in the vicinity of the bottom of the shock shaft...
3) The shock mounts into the lower arm by a single bolt through a circular rubber bushing at the bottom of the shock. It then bolts up into a covered hole in the wheel arch.
4) the shocks seem to have been a pale blue colour at the bottom once upon a time...

Using Parts for Volvos, their Bilstein B4 kit, the HD rear springs, the standard front springs and then top mounts and bearings, the price comes to £432 inc. shipping and VAT.

Is this a good price?
Are these decent shocks?
Would you go another route for a similar price?

Thanks,

F.

I got my shocks from Demon Tweeks https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/perf.../59171ce8cb57e

I've been happy with the B4's

[J liddy]

Hi if your old shocks have rubber gatertors they are nivomats self leveing if you put standard shocks on the springs will need up gradin too .that's what I did .Parts for volvo do the kit ! I got fed up of the nivomats and the prices are eye-watering. You can buy a standard set up for half the price of 1 nivomat ! Correct me if I'm wrong .
All good so far with my set up .o Brookhouse volvo do the kit too . And worth getting a price of F.R.F . Main dealers .let us know how you get on r

[RollingThunder]

Originally Posted by Foeux

SHOCKS

In cleaning the car for MOT (wheels off and 10lb+ of mud removed from inside arches) I noticed that

1) The rear shocks are very fat on top (maybe 2.5" dia), very tired looking and leaky.
2) The gaiters that run from the middle of the shock to the bottom have degraded away to a few casual rings of grubby rubber in the vicinity of the bottom of the shock shaft...
3) The shock mounts into the lower arm by a single bolt through a circular rubber bushing at the bottom of the shock. It then bolts up into a covered hole in the wheel arch.
4) the shocks seem to have been a pale blue colour at the bottom once upon a time...

These sound very much like the Nivomat self levelling suspension units. I have these in my 850R and when it came to replacement time, I fitted new Nivomats rather than fit 'std' suspension. Its an expensive option (mine cost £700+ 2 years ago) but works well if your use of the car varies from empty to fully (over)loaded If you want to go down this route, get a quote from FRF Volvo in Swansea quoting the club discount code.

If you want to remove these and fit standard suspension, you'll need the standard dampers and standard springs. This is because the Nivomat spec springs are much softer, so if you just fit standard dampers the back end will drop - a lot

Brand wise, Lesjofors were the OEM for springs, but Kilen are also very good (same manufacturing group). The OEM dampers were made by Sachs, but stick to a decent brand and you'll be ok. I have previously fitted Bilstein touring dampers which were good, but a fair bit firmer than standard.

Just for info, I'm about to fit a set of Lesjofors springs and KYB dampers to my 940 saloon.

Let us know how you get on

[Foeux]

Ahoy!

I went the PFS parts route

For roughly the cost of one nivomat delivered, I bought:

1 × 940 '91-'98 Bilstein B4 Front and Rear Damper KIT (not nivomat)£175.01 (EU €204.34)

1 × 740, 760, 940 Series Estate, Heavy Duty Rear Spring (pair)£82.25 (EU €96.03)

2 × 740/940 Series Standard Front Spring Petrol (see applications)(single)£78.96 (EU €92.19)

2 × 740, 940 Series Rear Torque Rod Rear Bush£16.18 (EU €18.89)

2 × 740, 940 Series Rear Torque Rod Front Bush£9.55 (EU €11.15)

1 × 700, 900, 850, V70 Tailgate Panel Repair Kit With New Clips£7.20 (EU €8.41)

1 × 240, 740, 940 Series, 89' onwards, Petrol Engines w/o Turbo, Breather Kit£4.19 (EU €4.89)

1 × 700/900 Series, Propshaft Bearing Carrier and Bearing Kit£29.38 (EU €34.30)

1 × 740, 940 Series (Panhard Rod) Bush£6.07 (EU €7.09)

1 × 740, 940 Series (Panhard Rod) Bush£6.07 (EU €7.09)

2 × 700, 900, S/V90 Series Front Strut Top Mount£52.58 (EU €61.39)

2 × 700, 900, S/V90 Series Front Strut Top Mount Bearing£33.60 (EU €39.23)

Boot repair kit and pcv took it over the magical £500 (to £501) and free delivery.

The way I see it, £500 is a particularly bad 2nd hand car with who knows what issues. This Volvo has a fresh MOT, does a lot of what we want and should keep on trucking.

Not fitted anything yet as we keep having gales and 6mm hail, breaking up the usual menu of interminable rain.

F

[J liddy]

That's a big shopping list hopefully you can tackle all those jobs yourself. I think the nivomat system is way too expensive for these cars now .you can buy so much for the price of the nivomats .my personal opinion only .when you remove the rear springs .pay attention to the condition of the large cup washers and the metal/and rubber spacers too please take photos of the cup washers and dimensions incase you need new washers I think they are NO LONGER AVAILABLE from volvo let us know of your progress

[Foeux]

Originally Posted by J liddy

That's a big shopping list hopefully you can tackle all those jobs yourself. I think the nivomat system is way too expensive for these cars now .you can buy so much for the price of the nivomats .my personal opinion only .when you remove the rear springs .pay attention to the condition of the large cup washers and the metal/and rubber spacers too please take photos of the cup washers and dimensions incase you need new washers I think they are NO LONGER AVAILABLE from volvo let us know of your progress

Thanks for the tip ref rear washers. I will be vigilant.

Will be doing jobs myself Die like a man - do your own work, then there is nobody to blame when your work fails and sends you into low orbit.

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Foeux

Thanks for the tip ref rear washers. I will be vigilant.

Will be doing jobs myself Die like a man - do your own work, then there is nobody to blame when your work fails and sends you into low orbit.

You might want to order a new stud and nut, as that will be welded together with rust. Big steel cup ( No 17 ) is NLA

[Foeux]

Originally Posted by griston64

You might want to order a new stud and nut, as that will be welded together with rust. Big steel cup ( No 17 ) is NLA

Thanks for the hint on the stud and nut. If I can save it, I will. Not had a properly close look at the infamous 'cup 17' but I am lucky in that if it comes to it, I can have a couple turned up...

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Foeux

Thanks for the hint on the stud and nut. If I can save it, I will. Not had a properly close look at the infamous 'cup 17' but I am lucky in that if it comes to it, I can have a couple turned up...

If you can do that you should make a batch up and sell to your forum fwends