240GL Estate (F reg) : broken stabiliser ?

Hello all.
Thanks to these speed humps in place all around London I have damaged my 17 years 240.
The matter is that I want to know how financially serious the problem is so that I may then start looking for another vehicle at the earliest. But the local garage is too busy to even spare 2 minutes to look at the fault!.

I have had a look under the vechile and the driver's side stabiliser bar link has snapped , so that when I drive on a straight line it is drives ok but as soon as I turn the support to the wheel is no longer there and there is a terrible noise from underneath.
Don't know how well I have described it. Sorry.
Let me try again: the stabiliser bar extremities seem to rest on what the Haynes manual calls "Upper Housings". and it is that bit the connects the extremite of the stabiliser bar to the housing that has snapped. (see the picture 1.1b at page 10-2 of the Haynes manual; it is the piece of metal between the part numbered 8 and that numbered 10).

Is it economicaly feasable to have the repair done on a 17years car?
Any advise is greatly appreciated.
Regards

[Clifford Pope]

Do you just mean the link rod with a bush at one end and threaded at the other, about 6 inches long? If so it is very easy to replace and I am sure any Volvo breaker would have one. I must have one myself lurking on a shelf somewhere.
For anyone puzzled by your Haynes reference, you mean the red book, not the green?

Best wishes,
Cliff Pope

[Erling]

Hi,
I replaced this very part on the son's '88 240 GL Estate on Thursday! (BTW, it's figure 10.19 on page 227 in the older, green edition of the Haynes manual.)

The repair took two hours, including robbing a parts car for the "new" link rod. At least half of the time was spent filing off the nut on the broken one with a hack saw; the bolt would just spin, and my Dremel just recently had a melt-down.

It is a VERY easy DIY-job. I would advice though, that you raise the whole front of the car (not just jack up the side with the broken link). This makes a proper installation easier. When tightening the nut, do not over-do it, or the new one with break too. Here is an image I once posted to the Brickboard, sorry about the size:
http://www.brickboard.com/GALLERY/images/1588.jpg

Good luck,
Erling.
http://home.no.net/ebrox

>Do you just mean the link rod with a bush at one end and
>threaded at the other, about 6 inches long? If so it is very
>easy to replace and I am sure any Volvo breaker would have
>one. I must have one myself lurking on a shelf somewhere.
>For anyone puzzled by your Haynes reference, you mean the red
>book, not the green?
>
>Best wishes,
>Cliff Pope

Cliff, that's exactly it, the link rod!
It is a relief to read that it is an easy replaceable part and not fixed to something bigger , as I had feared.
Mind you, I still have to see what the London garage will do of this! (can't find the part, must buy it new, part not in stock, takes 2/3 hrs labour etc etc.)
Amyhow, this afternoon I went out to see a 740 that was for sale, tried it and was left rather unimpressed, so I left it. Strangely when I said to the chap that I'd rather wait to see what the repair on my 240 would cost me and explained to him, he too reassured me. Apparently, he said, it is a common fault as even his 740 had suffered with it.
Well, thank you again.
regards

P.S. The Haynes book i looked at is green. Maybe - like the unleaded petrol for sale in UK - it is just one of the many many "green" versions available...

http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL188/...8/23744414.jpg


The link rod is listed by GS&F for £6.50 + VAT, see clickable link below.

http://www.gsfcarparts.com/

Colin.

1990 740SE B200E/M47, remote C/Locking.

I have managed to photograph the part this morning.
I must say it does not look quite like the one you have attached to your reply.
Are we talking about two different components then ?
regards

[Erling]

Hi,
No, these are the same parts! But your photo is by far the better picture; the scan is from Volvo instruction sheet that came with my Turbo model sway bars. You can see the sway bar (stabilizer) to the top left, almost just suggested by two curved lines.

And you will be facing what I found was the biggest problem: Getting the top nut off, with very little to clutch with your vice grip. I ended up hacksawing the nut, but if my Dremel had been working (it is fixed now, just a case of dry bearings!), this part of the job would have been cut by a substantial amount of time.

If you own or can borrow a couple of wrenches and a set of axle stands, and are able to get down on your knees and change wheels when necessary, there is no reason why you shouldn't attack this job yourself. And if you have access to a junked car like I did, you get valuable practice when robbing it from its end link.

Good luck,
Erling.

And if you have access to a junked
>car like I did, you get valuable practice when robbing it from
>its end link.


No doubt!
I stopped doing that some 15 years ago when I rid of my Fiat 127. But I remeber how much fun it was. Oh well!
But thanks for replying.
This forum ( and the new other sites/forum I have been introduced to thanks to this posting) is always of great help.

Great job!

Regards

Job done!
It looks like the garage decided to fit the complete part. The invoice reads: new o/s front antiroll bar link and fittings.
The part was chaged at £ 37.75+vat and the labour must have been for some 20 minutes or so of time spent.
Thanks for putting my mind at rest. I was on the verge of buying the first car that got my fancy but now I am so glad I have my old roller back !
regards

[ravennexus]

wow thats pricey, i got 2 from GSF for £13 and took about 30min to fit. gald i don't live in london