Please help me diagnose my '87 240 DL wagon, automatic, so assuming 1030 differential, about 250k miles.

It's recently begun making an unpleasant noise from the rear. No, it hasn't been eating Taco Bell. Sort of a grating / whirring noise. Not quiet, but not so bad it's especially embarrassing. It begins when the car starts moving. It seems to vary with revs, not necessarily speed, but hard to tell for sure because it gets indistinct under road and engine noise as speed picks up to maybe 30, though it seems like it's still in the mix at that point. The sound started suddenly and doesn't seem to have changed.

The car was jacked all around today to replace the cat (the 31-year-old one turned out to be empty; at least this work went all right and the exhaust now smells like roses) which provided an opportunity to hunt for this noise. There wasn't any observable play or other unpleasantness in the driveshaft, U-joints, or center bearing. Putting the car in gear, the driveshaft seems to spin appropriately and without discernible vibration.

However, the rear passenger side wheel just isn't turning at all by itself, on jacks at least. Even with some coaxing by hand it didn't seem to be trying. The wheel turns by hand with mild resistance and light clucking (maybe 100 clucks per full rotation) whether the car is on and in gear, or in neutral. It stops turning on its own within a few degrees of release.

It's had new differential fluid twice over the last eight months or so because I figured it probably hadn't been changed in a while (and because the first time I didn't realize there was a drain hole at the bottom). Right now it has maybe five hundred miles on AMS oil severegear 75-90 (claims general compatibility, may require additive for limited-slip). Pulling a little off the top today to inspect, it has mild to moderate brown discoloration and a light champagne sparkle.

Fuel economy has not changed. No matter what I do this car gets 20-21 mpg.

What do we think? Does it sound like a bad wheel bearing making the other axle do all the work? Stuck brake caliper, ditto? Blown pumpkin? Should I head out to the yard for a rear axle? Trade it in for a PT Cruiser and a Neon? Ignore the problem and +T it? Call the crushers? Stop feeding the Mogwai after midnight?

Thanks in advance.

p.s. if the car survives this maybe someone will have some tips for loosening the *&@#^$ strut gland nut.

After the better part of last weekend, the moose has new parking brake shoes and hardware, new rebuilt calipers, new centric rotors, and new ATE pads. I didn't have new spacers so I reused the old ones. Moving parts are now coated with blue brake anti-seize. The brakes are bled with the Motive in the right order using the Bosch fluid from IPD. The axles came out. The bearings and races looked ok to the untrained eye. The splines looked good. The blue seals looked good and not leaky. The nasty old bearing grease, what little was left of it, is cleaned out and the bearings are repacked with Lucas red & sticky, which had the most wonderful things to say about itself. The differential fluid is still at a good level and only a bit dripped out as the axle shafts came out. The champagne sparkle seen before was from little bit of anti-seize from the threads of the fill bolt. The lug nuts are all carefully tightened progressively to 82 ft-lbs using the star sequence.

And still .... there is progress but the same problems persist. The wheel seems to be trying to turn now. It's slightly better - off the ground it'll go a bit with a little encouragement. The noise seems diminished but remains. It's kind of a scratchy, scraping sound. I think there might be two similar sounds, one that is there anytime the axles are turning and one that chimes in when the throttle is applied.

Engine off, in neutral, the wheel will turn by hand with a small scrape sound about once per revolution.

The parking brake seems to work appropriately now. Way better grip. One thing - if I pull it up after not having it applied it for a while, it gives a little twang like plucking a banjo string as it's on its way to engaging. CB, is this what you were talking about with a stripped sheath and rusted cable? I'm not seeing it but maybe it's somewhere I didn't look at.

The rear flex brake lines looked fine so they stayed. Further reading suggests they may fail on the inside without showing it on the outside, causing the caliper to stick engaged. The brakes are a bit fad-ey. There is no squealing, at least. In turning the hub & rotor by hand, it doesn't feel like the caliper is sticking.

Next steps are changing out the rear flex lines, hiking up the rear and roughing up the rear pressure regulators to get the bubbles off, bleeding again, removing the panhard and inspecting the differential internals.

Any other ideas? And any hints on getting the screw-on retaining ring for the speed sensor off in order to remove the differential inspection cover? or is it better to work the electrical connector loose?

Thanks as always for wise advice and appropriate mockery of rookie errors.

May be an obvious question, but what is the condition of the disc splash shields? They can make nasty sounds if they rust or bend.

Good question, thanks. The shields weren't perfect or awful. I straightened 'em a little. Either way it didn't look like they were contacting anything that moves.

For what it's worth, the noise has lessened a bit in the interim and both wheels turn on jacks now. After breaking out the stethoscope and crawling around under a running car, my best guess is I was too sanguine about the condition of the bearings and/or races and the fresh grease helped a little as it worked its way in. I don't have the toolage to deal with that so it may necessitate a visit to a real-life mechanic, sadly breaking what so far is about an 11-month streak of half-assed amateur DIY repairs.

Also, tightening up the parking brake to spec seemed to get rid of the clank on activation. All in all, not so bad for now.

"
Engine off, in neutral, the wheel will turn by hand with a small scrape sound about once per revolution.
"

so you've got the thing up on jack stands and you can't isolate where that scraping sound is coming from?????
Get an assistant to turn the wheel(s) get under there with a small funnel or piece or radiator hose stuck in your ear and find the source. (The mechanic's Stethascope...or go out an buy a Mechanic's StethScope, yes they cheap)

A scraping sound wud Not be coming from inside the rear. any sound eminatiing from an Internal fault wud be muffled. Rear End problem sounds are usually RumbleLike and heard at speed. The sound will vary under load.

Re: the hand brake. It's odd that you took the rear brakes apart (the hard part) and didn't check the cable operation while you had the end unhooked from the brake shoes.

Did you have the rear brake drums turned? Did you inspect then to see if they were scored by the old shoes - IF the old shoes were worn down to the rivets(metal). That scraping that you hear may just be the new shoes rubbing on the drum. If there is no Drag, then Not a problem. The shoes will soon seat themselves.

If the thing drives just fine with no rumble and no screatching at speed, then stop knocking yourself out.

As for Volvo From Heck's idea about the UJoints...Yes if they are gone they cud make a scraping sound. The rear most UJoint, attached to the flange at the Rear is usually the first to go.

Get Under there and give a closer listen.

You want one---I can feel it.
cheers

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Mechanic%27s+StethaScope&t=ffnt&ia=images&iax=images

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. It's hard to express how much it means to have a community of folks who are so generous with their expertise to a complete stranger who's figuring all this out for the first time. I am embarrassed to say I have a stethoscope somewhere and haven't used it. Sounds like that's the first order of business.

Kitty's - I'm sort of homeless, but in a relatively pleasant, bourgeois way - staying with family. I don't have my own garage but get to borrow one when I need it. And grateful for that too.

The car's really my dog's, by the way. I'm just the chauffeur.

Volvo's for Life baby, for life.

My 87 wagon 5SPD which I bought in 1997, from a lawyer in Bethesda MD, who had given it to his daughter while she attended Johns Hopkins and didn't want to take The Old car to grad school...103K

So it goes, so it keeps running. That's why this board is here.
Cheers

kindofhandy wrote--"And still .... there is progress but the same problems persist. The wheel seems to be trying to turn now. It's slightly better - off the ground it'll go a bit with a little encouragement. The noise seems diminished but remains. It's kind of a scratchy, scraping sound. I think there might be two similar sounds, one that is there anytime the axles are turning and one that chimes in when the throttle is applied."
I can't really help identify your noise but I do think you should relax regarding the reluctance of the none spinning wheel to turn smoothly--it's behaving perfectly normal in an open diff. As I've mentioned previously -- if you block up the wheel that will spin (block it up while the transmission is out of gear) you will find the none spinning wheel spinning now and the formally spinning wheel will now be reluctant to turn.
This thread is long and this may have been suggested already -- have you dropped the driveshaft to hand test each U-joint through its complete motion (with no "hitch") and popped a seal off the carrier bearing to check for grease? -- Dave

"The axles came out. The bearings and races looked ok to the untrained eye. The splines looked good. The blue seals looked good and not leaky. The nasty old bearing grease, what little was left of it, is cleaned out and the bearings are repacked with Lucas red & sticky, which had the most wonderful things to say about itself. The differential fluid is still at a good level and only a bit dripped out as the axle shafts came out. The champagne sparkle seen before was from little bit of anti-seize from the threads of the fill bolt. The lug nuts are all carefully tightened progressively to 82 ft-lbs using the star sequence."




Excellent! If a worthy cause! Treat them rear hub works!

Bet you have a garage though!!!

--
Give your brickboard.com a big thumbs up! Way up! - Roger Ebert.

As suggested by Derek, check the hand/drum brakes. You need to rule that out first. It requires unbolting the rear calipers and removal of the rotors to check the hand brake mechanism.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.

While in there, before removing the caliper, it makes sense to check for a stuck caliper too.
--
Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

In case you're wondering--you do not have to undo the brake line to get the rotor off. Squeeze the pistons back and remove the pads--undo the clamp holding the brake line to the axle tube--undo the caliper bolts--hang the caliper from the spring with mechanics wire or a bent coat hanger. -- Dave

Thanks everyone.

The current problem is in fact with the parking brake gear. The right side just won't stay in place and the top half was clunking around in there. I disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. It's lessened a little but still very much there. It's all probably original and needs to be replaced. The shoes are pitted and worn. There is also a stuck piston on the same-side caliper. The differential is the source of the clucky sounds but appears to work fine with the brake disengaged. I'm old and cranky too so I can't criticize.

A few new questions:
I'm planning to get new p-brake shoes and hardware.
Any particular sources recommended for these? IPD seems reasonably priced.
How would one diagnose whether new cables are in order? It'd be better to save the extra $40-50 if its not necessary. But if it is, a functional parking brake is worth it, of course.
I rebuilt the front calipers a while back and it was a pain even with no stuck pistons. Who knows what's in there, if the stuck piston will come free, and if the piston and chamber will be salvageable. Any recommendations on a replacement caliper? Any reason not to grab a junkyard one if the pistons work? Also there are some A-1 cardones on rockauto that end up being about $25 after core refund and I don't have to yank off another car. Any good?

Oh, yeah, should L and R calipers be replaced together?

The problem with having to send a core is the cost of shipping. I found NAPA to be a good source for reasonably priced rebuilts. I can't remember ever having to replace a handbrake cable on a 240 but yours should be easy to check by pulling up the handle--either the ends at the wheels retract--or they don't. -- Dave

FWIW
the only handbrake cable I ever had to replace: the PO or someone who drove it, hit something and put a tear in that last bit of sheathing. Water/Salt---Equals Rusted cable

after you get to the brake drum/shoes --- it's not that big a deal.

The handbrake wud only release-on that side- if I backed and forwarded and heard a Pop.

When was the last time you checked the handbrake mechanism? May well have rusted out and fallen to pieces. If you habitually use "Park" rather than the handbrake it's liable to seize up. Sometimes the linings drop off the shoes and it all gets nasty in there.

derek uk made a good suggestion regarding the parking brake parts. As for the wheel bearings -- one wheel spinning is how the differential works (with what is called an "open diff" as opposed to a limited slip or "locker" type). To listen to the bearings compared left to right you'll need a long screwdriver or socket extension bar (20 inches should do it). From under the car with the wheel spinning place the bar against the end of the axle tube and place one ear against the other end (homemade stethoscope). Take note of the "roar".
NOW TO MAKE THE OTHER WHEEL SPIN - You'll need a length of 2x4 (6 feet should do it) and a concrete block or milk crate. Wedge the length of wood under the wheel that does spin (do it from the front of the wheel so the wood doesn't get launched out) and lock it in place with the block or crate. With that wheel "locked" the other will now spin in gear. Listen to that side's bearing and compare the noise. A bad wheel bearing will be distinctly louder than a good one. -- Dave

Thanks guys. Great ideas all. Looks like my day is spoken for.

instead of trying to block a spinning wheel, pull on the ebrake cable to the wheel you want to stop. might answer your question about that, too. good luck, chuck.