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For those short on time my question is this: Is there a way to confirm/test a strut mount is bad without pulling the entire thing out?
For those with a bit of time, read on…
First I should say that I have a bit of skepticism that my strut mount is even bad. I went to have my alignment done a few weeks back at the local firestone tire. After they had it for a bit, they told me that they couldn't align the tires because the belt was separated from the tire. Fair enough. They were near the end of the tread anyway, so I sprung for 2 new front tires. I picked it up, and about a mile from the shop I get on a straight-away and realize the steering is mis-aligned in the opposite direction it was when I dropped it off. I called and let them know that I'd be coming back the following week and they said no problem.
I took it back today, and after they have the car on the lift for a while they call me up to the counter and tell me that the actual reason why they couldn't align the steering was because I have a bad strut mount. Which is where I get skeptical, because I replaced them, along with the struts, ball joints, and tie-rod ends with genuine Volvo purple parts not more than 8 months/5,000 miles ago. When I told the guy as much he looked like he'd been busted. So again, I'm skeptical. But, the shop came highly recommended and I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt. But you know the old saying: trust, but verify. So how do I verify that the genuine Volvo rubber I put in there has failed so soon without taking the whole thing out? Would I be better to take it to another tire shop, pony up for another alignment and see if they say the same thing? I have to say, I'm not thrilled about having to take out the struts again, so I might be persuaded to do that depending on alternative.
As always, thanks for reading and thanks for the advice!
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An OEM Volvo strut mount I purchased from TASCA is PN 1272455.
Volvo 240 New OEM Strut Mount PN 1272455; Made by BOGE GERMANY.
Defective strut mounts may form one or more concentric circular cracks in the bushing matter. Also, cheap, made in chiney (china) junk like Meyle or KYB or the other brand names I cannot recall will crown upward like a very old factory installed Volvo OEM strut mount.
Note the PN on the bushing material PN 1359110. That number may be a subassembly consisting of merely the bushing material itself.
A real, AUTHENTIC Volvo 240 OEM strut mount uses an open at the top ball bearing race assembly. You grease this with synthetic silicon grease like the SuperLube NLGI type grease. Do NOT use hydrocarbon dino grease as it more readily gets absorbed into the rubber bushing material causing premature demise of the bushing. ALWAYS keep the black dust cap on the top of the strut mount to keep the bearing interior clean, dry, and nice.
If you look at the obverse side of the Volvo OEM Strut Mount PN 1272455, you will see the name BOGE again. You'll see Made in Sweden blue text on white paper labels.
NEVER install after market strut mount bushings.
The only exception may be Made in Germany or Europa BOGE or perhaps SKF brand. Why bother, when TASCA sells these Volvo OEM strut mounts for your 240 for about 70$ each.
Same goes for ALL Volvo with McPherson suspensions; RWD, FRW, AND AWD.
You can also get the Volvo OEM GT reinforcing plates (PN 1247816) that came with the 242 GT, some 260s, and some Volvo 240 turbos.
These install under the strut tower (inner fender and on top of the strut mount).
From where did you purchase these Volvo OEM strut mounts?
Volvo has nearly excellent QA/QC/QM when it comes to made in Europa parts. However, a failed OEM part could be a cause, or, wild speculation may suggest you have an after market strut made in china strut mount in that blue Volvo part box.
Volvo did use sealed bearings like that you see in crappy Meyle strut mounts in the 1980s or so, yet went back to the Europa BOGE made strut mounts will beef roller bearings
Could you record and post images of the strut mount in question? When you remove the dust cap, if not covered with a washer under the strut cartridge piston retainer (top) nut, you should see open ball bearings.
Sorry, I got screwed on after market strut mounts. So I get testy when questionable strut mounts come up.
Questions? Post some photos?
I don't trust such places anymore.
Thanks,
MacDuff.
--
Jarrod Stenberg, your CloudFlare messaging flagging nonsense really sucks.
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Embarrassingly enough, they're Meyle. I tried to order OEM from Tasca, but they weren't there by the time I needed to do the job (I scheduled the job at a buddy's shop a day's drive away so we could use his tools) and I rush shipped two from FCP.
But, not all is lost. I popped the caps off, and the rubber looks great; even smells new. I figured that 8 months and 3,500 miles hadn't destroyed even the weakest of mounts, so I took them into another shop in town. 45 minutes later I had a perfectly aligned 240. I asked the shop guys if they noticed anything, and all they said was that they were surprised at how rust-free it was. When I asked specifically about the suspension parts they said everything looked new to them.
So that settles that. I've learned a couple of things: 1) I need to stop trusting everything mechanics tell me and 2) my memory is starting to slip.
As always, thanks for all the advice and opinions fellas.
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Thanks for the info –– I'll take a peak under there tomorrow when I get done with work. I'll report back with photos and see if I can see anything.
––Brian
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(My)Firestone is not the best place for repairs.
I had a lifetime alignment on my 91 240 done at Firestone.
After leaving shop I realized that the car was pulling to
one side. I took it back to a different shop and they said
they aligned it but that I needed my whole front-end redone:
ball joints, sway bars, bushings, struts, etc. at $1,500.00. I drove
her home and did the work myself for 3-400.00. Took the car
back for an alignment and they could not get it aligned right.
But they did mention that the front-end had been worked on. I called
another Firestone and explained the problem and they agreed to
take the car in and did a better alignment for me. It comes
down to management at each store, some stores are better than
others and it is because of the team of workers there. Six
years later and I continue to get use of my lifetime alignment
all for 120.00. But they always look for work to do on the car
and I look at it as professional advise.
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I'm blessed with a couple of absolutely straight shooter shops here in my area, both of which are independent 1 or 2 man shops.(Must come from spending a little over a year on my tool truck, figuring out who I would dare take my car to, and who was even more ham-fisted and clueless than I was..) If you put in new strut mounts, and they were indeed Volvo OEM, it would be really unusual to have them fail at that mileage mark. How is the sheet metal tower that all of this fits in to? No cracks, bad rust, etc.?
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Nope, the car is an Oregon car originally; no rust to speak of. It's only been in the midwest for a short time, so the strut tower is great. I'm going to take it to a different place. If they say the same thing, then I'll pull them and check them out. If not, I'll go back to Firestone and ask for a refund.
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I had a strut mount fail on our 1990 245, it was original to the car. In my case the steering wheel tried to lock up on very tight, slow turns as in driving in circles with the steering wheel at its limit.
To troubleshoot this I made sharp slow turns to the left and to the right on an incline where the "pivot point" was on the downhill side.When the steering wheel began to fight coming out of the turn I just stopped the car, popped the bonnet and looked at both top strut mounts with the rubber caps removed. Then I saw the incomplete separation. Parked it until the ones from Tasca arrived.
FWIW: a fellow on TB is selling strut mount reinforcement plates.
Good Luck,
Fred
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posted by
someone claiming to be CB
on
Mon Apr 28 19:27 CST 2014 [ RELATED]
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"they told me that they couldn't align the tires because the belt was separated from the tire"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++==
1st clue.
if you were driving the car and had no vibration or rumble at any speed from the front then this is prob bogus...the belt separation. You would notice it.
You can align a car with almost bald tires or even totally bald tires.
That they actually gave it back to you "aligned" with the steering wheel off center ****and did not tell you that they could not get the wheel to center*****
2nd Clue.
When you came back, I'm supprised they didn't tell you your steering rack was shot. I've had that happen... I guess the guy didn't pay attention in Class: Old car comes in for alignment----try to sell a steering rack.
The way the strut mount fails is that the rubber tears away from the metal bearing holder and/or the surounding plate and there is no dampening on the shock tower from the rubber mount. It would be obvious and make a bit of noise going over bumps... like if your shocks were shot.
Run Away
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Strut mounts on 2 and 7/9 series Volvo's last a long time, like 200K miles. so if you really put Volvo OEM mounts on your rig (Tasca shows 'em at ~70 bucks each), I seriously doubt they are dead.
Although I avoid chain auto repair shops, maybe your shop is good. Ask them to explain and/or show you how the strut mount is bad.
If you really have new oem Volvo parts here, I'd find another shop. Good luck.
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