Volvo RWD 200 Forum

Bought my '78 244 with a slight vibration & disconcerting "whuppawhuppa" noise in the front end. Seller said "I dunno, I think the front brakes are gone." I investigated & found the pass. caliper had a blown piston seal. I had recently had the same failure on my '84, so no problem. (OF COURSE they weren't the same caliper...)

Anyway, that wasn't it; it later became obvious the bearing was smoked. I've done outer bearings before, easy enough, but I've heard that inner bearings on these need to be "pressed in". Can I do this in my yard? If so, what tools will I need?

Thanks,
Matt
1978 244 (Katharine)
1984 244 (Gretchen, RIP)

hello there only did it twice. good thing my friend lent me the brass punch. i would have scratched the heck out of the new parts. also when i was done . after about 50 miles i retighten the big nut . and it needed it.good thing i had the book on the car. good luck.

"Can I do this in my yard? If so, what tools will I need?"

Piece of cake.

You need a clean place to work, a good sized hammer, and a hefty brass punch (maybe 3/4" by 10").

All that's pressed in are the inner races (cups) for both the inner and outer bearings.

I'm sure you know how to use the old cup to seat the new cup....
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

I feel a little dumb, but I'm not sure I know what's meant by "races/cups". The outer bearings that I've done, I just removed the castle nut, pulled out the bearing & cleaned out the grease, greased up the new bearing & stuck it in- with a new rubber gasket, of course. Is there more to it?

Thanks for your patience with a Volvo newbie,
Matt

Matt,

If you're simply regreasing the bearings, that's about it. You'd the same for the inner bearing. Usually, you "pack" the grease into the bearing by forcing the grease between the rollers until it pushes the old grease out the other side.

Do you know how to pack a bearing?

In terms of nomenclature.....

A wheel bearing is composed of four major parts:
1) The inner bearing surface, which is generically called a race or raceway, is--on a tapered roller bearing--called the "cone" (because it's cone shaped).
2) The outer bearing surface, that it pressed into the wheel hub, is also generically called a race or raceway. For a tapered roller bearing, this is also called the "cup" (because it's cup or funnel shaped).
3) The litlle round roller things are called tapered bearings, in this case, because of their tapered shape.
4) The small metal gizmo that holds the tapered bearings loosely together around the cone is called the cage.

For wheel bearings, the bearing nearest the nut is the outer bearing; the bearing toward the engine is the inner bearing.

This PDF file has some info, and this engineering website has additional info on tapered bearings.
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

OK, I think I get it- the races are like sleeves? and they can be pushed (pressed) in & out of the hub?

There's a disturbing amount of slop in the wheel, that's why I think it might have gone beyond just replacing & repacking the bearing.

Anyway, thanks again. I'll let you know the next time I have a stupid question- should be any minute now!

Matt

Matt, you can do it, but I'd suggest spending the money you save on labor for a good manual like the Bentley 240 service manual. It covers this job very well.

It deals with '83 thru '93, but most 240 stuff like suspension, brakes and wheel bearings are basically the same all the way back to '76. You'll learn a lot from it, believe me.

P.S. You'll need a solid work surface—to drive those races out and in.

--
Bruce Young,
'93 940-NA (current)
'80 GLE V8 (Now gone)
'83 Turbo 245
'73 142 (98K)
'71 144 (track modified--and still here)
New 144 from '67 to '78
Used '62 122 from '63 to '67

OK, I'll check on that manual. They're not like Chiltons, are they? I can't make heads or tails of those, and I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent. I've had Haynes manuals for most of my cars. They are helpful generally, but sometimes aggravatingly vague. And, if a description or diagram says "typical blah-blah, others similar" you can bet what I've got is totally different.

Thanks everyone!
Matt
1978 244 (Katharine)
1984 244 (Gretchen, RIP)

I agree with Jessie - if you do a substantial amount of work on your car get both Bentley and Haynes. This is the online version of Chilton, I'm not sure if it's the complete book:
http://www.cybrrpartspro.com/Chilton%20Manuals/8786m/8786.HTML

Erling.
--
My 240 Page

"They're not like Chiltons, are they?"

Chilton's?

CHILTON'S??

Chilton's is bathroom reading. Not only is the content worthless, but the pages are soft -- if you get my drift.
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

"OK, I'll check on that manual. They're not like Chiltons, are they?"

Only in that they are both made of paper. You'll be amazed at the difference—well organized, good illustrations, etc. And relatively few goofs.

Don't let the sticker shock stop you (around $40 online I think). That's how much better it is than what you have now.

The earlier Haynes (Green Cover, 1974 thru 1990) was/is decent. But all the other (newer) Haynes are as bad as Chilton, IMO. Including the 700 and 900 (UK) ones. Pure rip-offs.
--
Bruce Young,
'93 940-NA (current)
'80 GLE V8 (Now gone)
'83 Turbo 245
'73 142 (98K)
'71 144 (track modified--and still here)
New 144 from '67 to '78
Used '62 122 from '63 to '67

$40 does seem a little steep. You more affluent Brickheads out there will laugh, but that's more than 20% of what I paid for this "beauty"- with snows!
But what the heck, Japanese cars are junk, GM FWDs are junk, and nobody's beatin down the door to sell me a Dodge Dart for $500, like my first car (1993). If I only knew then, etc. Maybe instead of buying any manual other than the Haynes I already have, I'll just call upon the expertise of all you fine people!

Thanks,
Matt
1978 244 (Katharine)
1984 244 (Gretchen RIP)

Yeah the Bently is great for fuel injection, but I would say the Haynes manual is about on par with everthing else (including wheel bearings), and you can get is for less than half the price of the Bently. If you a 240 nut you will probably want both.