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Axle Frustrations

12K views 42 replies 17 participants last post by  EngTech 
#1 ·
This all started a few weeks ago. I got a new set of control arms and started what should have been an easy install (I've worked on the suspension before without problems). I got everything back together and as I was backing out of my driveway I heard a bang and lost drive. :facepalm:

I pushed it back up the driveway and found the drive side axle broken. Trying to get it out was impossible without air tools. There was some kind of epoxy or dried grease lining the outer hub. I gave up and had it towed to the mechanic where they replaced the axle, checked everything was tight, and did an alignment. The car ran great that afternoon and this morning.

So I pulled into my parking lot at work this morning, turned a corner, and BANG! :confused: :confused:
I was so happy to have my car back and now this. I figure I'll take it back to the mechanic and have him fix it but something else has to be causing this.
 
#3 ·
Not sure yet, I wiggled the axle and it seems intact. My fear is somethings wrong with the angle gear. I'm having it towed now.
 
#5 ·
I had the same sort of thing, I had replaced LCA and didn't get the axle splines all the way into the hub.
When I went to back up, axle jumped out of splines and I could not move the car.

Where was your axle broken? They are pretty sturdy...
 
#8 ·
Hopefully you (or they) used OEM or something equivalent as I purchased one for my front right at a local parts store and even though they stated that it was the right one it was too short and popped out while driving home.

You can tell if you have the right one by how much you paid for it. :D
 
#11 ·
Yup, lesson learned. I ordered the correct part from Tasca and should be back on the road soon. Apparently there's no such thing as a passenger side aftermarket axle for the R?
 
#9 ·
The angle gear is attached directly to the transmission via the spline coupler. The passenger side axle passes through the angle gear with no meachanical connection into the transmission. Some volvo mechanics use red locktite on the axle splines in the hubs which require heat to remove. PITA.
 
#14 ·
fingers crossed. Still need to set up an appointment :(
 
#15 ·
It is worth the $65 to have it done for you. You have to unbolt the right lower engine mount to swing it out of the way, just to access the LCA bolts in order to remove that. For me it wasn't so bad, because I was also replacing other suspension parts, inspecting and cleaning everything. This wouldn't have been done for the $65 axle replacement service fee.
 
#18 ·
And the plot thickens! :D


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
Works for me, but not you :(
 
#21 ·
Just ordered the inner and outer rebuild kits for the MT axle. ETA 1 week. Thanks FCP!
 
#22 ·
Hope they have a good return policy.

Also, be sure to tell them to have that item differentiated on the website. Wouldn't want others to do the same thing!
 
#24 ·
Still should be bold and up front, if you ask me.
 
#25 ·
No big deal; was my fault for being froggy. They sold me rebuild kits for my MT CV Axle and told me to send them back the GT CV Axle for return credit. I love our vendors.
 
#26 ·
I've been having tons of fun with axles myself lately. I began changing my front wheel bearings 3 weeks ago (because they were making unbearable levels of noise on the freeway). I got the driver's side suspension apart, but while jockying it around I accidentally separated the inner CV joint. I had the axle bolt out, but there was apparently enough friction on the hub end holding the axle in that it didn't matter. It took a retarded amount of force to get the axle out of the transmission, but once I did I tried to take the boot off and reassemble the joint. I wouldn't have tried this normally because I have near-zero confidence with axles, but I could get a boot kit same day and a new axle was going to be over a week away for the MT. I thought I had it all back together, so I put the new boot on and started to wiggle the joint around. It felt like it was kind of hanging up, so I forced the play a bit and it just fell apart in my hands. So, I gave up and just ordered a new axle.

So the next weekend, since I was still waiting on the DS axle, I decided to start on the passenger side. Everything was going swimmingly until I tried to pull the axle out of the hub. My car came from the midwest and has some rust/corrosion. Apparently that means that it's basically impossible to get the axle out of the hub. In the end it took a big ass gear puller, some map gas, and my 650ft-lb impact gun to coerce the damn thing out of the hub. Once out, it was immediately apparent that the axle itself was broken. The outboard CV joint had tons of play. It actually did still turn, but it was clearly not right. I've been having a drivetrain problem on my car for a couple months now that I was thinking was probably a clutch issue or maybe an angle gear problem (my angle gear leaks like a bastard). It basically feels similar to clutch slippage, but a little different, and is noticeable at anything over 50% throttle. So, now I'm really hoping that this axle was the cause of the problem since it was very clearly broken. I'm not sure whether or not I could have broken it with all of the force that it took to get it out of the hub, but I can't really figure how pushing on one end of it would have broken the CV housing. I guess we'll see once I get it back together whether or not the drivetrain issue still exists.

Anyway, after checking around at my local dealership and indy shop, $500+tax was the cheapest I was going to get a replacement. So I ordered one from Tasca ($360 + $40 shipping x 2 = $440 vs $550 local). The part description said "Axle assy w/AWD Right PARTS: Order by transmission type." I put in the comments "Manual transmission 6-spd M66." It took 10 days to get here via the slow ass UPS option and when it showed up yesterday I opened it and low and behold I have an axle for a GT. :( I haven't contacted Tasca about it yet, but I'm sure they'll make it right. Did I do something wrong when ordering? It wasn't obvious I guess. Either way though, I'm out of another probably 3 weeks to ship it back and forth and the headaches continue on this pain in the ass car. Luckily I still have a backup car that I've been meaning to sell, but have had to keep around because the volvo breaks so often. I'm just praying now that this axle failure really was the drivetrain problem that I was experiencing and once it's fixed it will be solid again, but my luck to this point with this car has not been that good.

Oh well, at least this time it didn't take me days to get the wheel bearings off now that I know (from doing the rears) that all it takes is a little PB blaster, a torch, and a few serious hammer blows while still hot. One day this car will be be all sorted out ... then I'll probably decide I'm sick of it and sell it. :p
 
#27 ·
Whenever I order from Tasca I always call them and try and have the part number to give to them. If you don't have the part number ask them for it when they figure it out and check on their website to see if its the correct part. Sometimes then they even get it wrong.

Good luck.
 
#28 ·
Yeah after getting the first order wrong I called Tasca and gave them my vin number. Everything seems to be running well even though I got the axle ping back. Now I know why my wheel hubs had been epoxied over in the first place, waiting for the non-ping axle bolts now.
 
#29 ·
At least your axle doesn't look like mine:

 
#30 ·
At least your axle doesn't look like mine:
That sucks, but at least you have a GT and can get a $75 EMPI axle instead of a $500 OEM axle that apparently fails as soon or sooner than I'd expect an aftermarket one to. While you're in there, might as well change out that front wheel bearing if you haven't already. It's actually really easy once you have the suspension apart and axle out. I've actually used EMPI axles in my racecar (integra) and have had good experiences with them under sustained periods of heavy abuse (2-hour enduro), so I wouldn't hesitate to use that brand.

Btw - follow up on the Tasca thing. The story was that they didn't get my VIN with the order, even though I'm 100% sure that I input it in the order form. I also stated manual transmission in the comments, but I guess for some reason w/o the VIN they just automatically ship the axle for the GT? It sounds like this isn't the first time that's happened, but supposedly they're sending me the MT axle 2nd day and they paid for return shipping on the GT axle, so I'm happy with that. Somewhat irritating, but at least they're accepting responsibility and making it right. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't approximately 1,000,000 miles away from RI in AZ, but what can you do?

Does anyone have thoughts on why Volvo didn't use a fixed half shaft into the transmission bolted to the block and a separate/removable axle/CV shaft from the end of the half shaft to the hub? If they had done that, then MT and GT could have used the same outter axle and it would be way less of a PITA to replace it because you wouldn't have to drop the tranny fluid or worry about things getting into the angle gear fluid, etc. I don't know about other car manufacturers, but Honda has done that on their transversely mounted engines since like 1990, so it's not a new technology.
 
#31 ·
I had this "fun" last month. GT Rs can take any axle out there haha. MT requires the OEM $500 one. Tasca charged me $360 + 75 core charge which costs that much just to ship the original back to them. So I was left with a $435 axle + 100 labor. But any complaints of vibration on highway were gone after the replacement.
 
#33 ·
There's no reason to delay XC90 axle bolts. Only thing you're taking off is the center cap then the axle bolt. Go do it now before hitting reply.
 
#34 ·
They're out of stock, otherwise they wouldv'e been done already. :(
 
#36 · (Edited)
Hey guys, my indy just got back to me and said the axle I supplied him will not fit my car. It's this one from FCPEuro

http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-cv-axle-shaft-front-right-v70-s60-awd-models-80-7830

which matches OE numbers for this one:

http://www.tascaparts.com/parts/200...=VOLVO&model=S60&submodel=R&vehicleid=1443050

Anyone think of a reason why this wouldn't fit? My indy says it looks like it was meant for FWD only models... GRR!!! [and please tell me my indy is not a moron! We've been going to him for years with our S70 and our Vw's/Saabs]

Update: he thinks either FCP or EMPI may have put the wrong part in the box, because the box number is the correct part but the axle itself is definitely not. :mad:

He's trying to source me another axle, but it'll set me back $300. Going to have him write a note for FCP just in case they ask questions. Autoscandia is ASE certified, so I'm not worried about them...

Sigh...breathe in...breathe out...
 
#37 ·
FCP needs to allow VIN entry and storage garage-style so we get these fitment issues announced to us in our shopping carts.
 
#38 ·
Agreed.

Although I don't know whose fault this one would ultimately be. FCP may have received the wrong axle in the correct box.

I have yet to hear back from my indy, so hopefully he was able to find an axle and get it done, or they worked a miracle of some sort ;)
 
#40 ·
Great video MechVids, got me to thinking... I am about to replace my control arms in the next few weeks. With the way the ball joint was unbolted from the knuckle rather than the control arm, do you have enough clearance elsewhere to get the control arm out? Seems easier than disassembling everything and trying to pull the ball joint out of the control arm on the car. Maybe even leave the axle in place? I'll probably replace the ball joints anyways, if not I can swap them into the new arms on my bench.
 
#41 ·
Do not leave the axle in place when doing LCA or ball joint work!!!

I went through this about a year ago, a couple months before the death of my R. The front right was my issue after replacing fron LCAs, Ball Joints and endlinks. The old axle pulled apart when taking it out and then popped when I backed out of the gargae. I was very careful and did pull the axle out of the hub, but the bit of banging I did seperated the joint on the axle. I believe mine was already failing as my mysterious front end noise dissapeared after replacing, but it is very easy to sepearate the joint that is just past the brace next to the motor. If you leave it in the hub and swing/push the hub around you will probably seperate it. Then you are $400 to fix it. My axles were locktited in the splines, but it was blue so a dead blow mallet on a partially removed axle bolt pushed it through nicely.

FCP does not carry the axles for the R ( MT anyway) I emailed and talked to them right after I ordered my parts and confirmed it on the phone, luckily avoided shipping. Great service and love FCP, but no go on the axles. There are no aftermarket sources for the axle (only did the front right/passenger axle). I got my local Volvo shop to basically match the tasca price and just bit the bullet on the price. I thought I saw a disclaimer on the page that tipped me off, but it may have been the FCP euro page I was on.
 
#42 ·
I just realized I never updated the thread with my turnout on the axle ordeal.

I was able to return the axle to FCP for a refund. My indy was also able to repack and reseal the axle and get all the muck cleaned out of the engine bay. Still cost me $300 in the end for the reseal, but that's better than the $400 for a volvo axle plus labor.
 
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