As anyone who knows about Volvos can guess - this is not a good day here 
Just had a call to say mates early-90's AWD (4wd?) Volvo V70 has been diagnosed with a dead / dying viscous coupling bearing.
As I'm the nearest thing they have to a mechanic, time for me to read-up on Volvos.
A few minutes on Google and I now know :
A - the bearing is part of the shaft, so you need a new or refurb shaft to fix it
B - the part alone costs £1500 new
... then you add labour
* Prices may be old, but you get the idea
I also found ... www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20836
Which has a link part-way down the page to a complete strip & replace photo guide - very useful
Also possibly some good news ;D "From reading this and other forums, lots of people are running former AWD cars w/o the driveshaft." (so the AWD with dodgy bearing becomes nice and happy FWD-only)
Full-price new is not an option, refurb (50% cheaper?) is still way out of reach.
Pre-loved (don't you love that phrase - why not just say used & abused??) is a scary gamble and still not cheap.
Does anyone have any advice or know if we are fine to just remove the rear prop and run it as FWD ?
(I've got a feeling 4WD Cavaliers used to get the same treatment if/when their 4WD parts started acting up)
Many thanks, as always !
Google-Fu is weak tonite but there is still hope
Edit to fix link
Just had a call to say mates early-90's AWD (4wd?) Volvo V70 has been diagnosed with a dead / dying viscous coupling bearing.
As I'm the nearest thing they have to a mechanic, time for me to read-up on Volvos.
A few minutes on Google and I now know :
A - the bearing is part of the shaft, so you need a new or refurb shaft to fix it
B - the part alone costs £1500 new
... then you add labour * Prices may be old, but you get the idea
I also found ... www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20836
Which has a link part-way down the page to a complete strip & replace photo guide - very useful
Also possibly some good news ;D "From reading this and other forums, lots of people are running former AWD cars w/o the driveshaft." (so the AWD with dodgy bearing becomes nice and happy FWD-only)
Full-price new is not an option, refurb (50% cheaper?) is still way out of reach.
Pre-loved (don't you love that phrase - why not just say used & abused??) is a scary gamble and still not cheap.
Does anyone have any advice or know if we are fine to just remove the rear prop and run it as FWD ?
(I've got a feeling 4WD Cavaliers used to get the same treatment if/when their 4WD parts started acting up)
Many thanks, as always !
Google-Fu is weak tonite but there is still hope
Edit to fix link
