Is Bevel Gear replacement a do-it-yourself kind of job?

[gibbons]

I lost a rear wheel bearing at about 55K miles, so when I heard a "wah-wah-wah" from the front part of the car, I assumed maybe I lost a front wheel bearing at 75K miles. So I replaced them both. I went for a test drive, and wah-wah-wah still.

My bevel gear has never leaked a drop, so I have never checked it. Probably dumb.... Do these things fail if they still have fluid in them? If it's the angle gear, and I have to get a new one, is it something that can be installed without special tools?

Durning a search, I saw that someone just got one at Erie Volvo, but I forgot to see if that thread was in the 2001-2007 forum. Any current cost guesses before I call the dealer?

[DYZ]

Do the simple check first. Make sure it is not the tire that's making the noise. I also had the wah-wah-wah noise and assumed it's the wheel bearings. Well, after replacing the front two first and then the rear two, the noise is still there. I put on the spare tire on the corner that seems to give out the noise. Wow, noise is gone!!! So, it turned out to be a bad tire for me.

DYZ

[gibbons]

Thanks for the encouragement, but it was doing it with my snow tire set, too :mad:

[javaxc70]

It is possible to replace the angle gear yourself. I accomplished this job on my 2001 and it took about 6 hours on a lift with a few snags along the way. The two hardest parts were getting the exhaust out of the way, and maneuvering the old angle gear out and putting the new one in. I got my angle gear from Erie Vovo and put it in 4 or 5 months ago and it is still running strong! Good Luck! :D The price of the gear will cost you 500-600 if I remember correctly.

[gibbons]

That installation doesn't sound fun. But I have a 4-post lift in my garage so I can take my time.

I told my wife the Volvo needs a little more money. After having had Honda and Subarus, she asked if I thought it was kinda repair intensive. Yeah, I guess so.

[billy780]

I have done several of these and they are not tough, takes 2-4 hours depending on what wants to stick and not come loose.
They are around 500 from erie and around 2k at volvo.
Not tough if you have the tools.

[Chilled Man]

Hardest part will be the top two bolts on the angle gear.

Those are a PIA with the turbo inplace.

[gibbons]

How often do these fail if they have had oil in them? I guessed it was the bearings once for $300, I don't want to make another $500 wrong guess. Does the output yoke move around or something like that? My lift is a 4 post, so it lifts the car by the wheels. I guess a 2 post is needed so that the drivetrain can spin to identify the noise(?)

I just checked with Borton Volvo, where I order my parts from. They said $1450 for a rebuild. How does Erie do $500?

[sjonnie]

I just checked with Borton Volvo, where I order my parts from. They said $1450 for a rebuild. How does Erie do $500?

They sell you a used part from a wrecked volvo (www.car-part.com). Have you also considered that the noise might be the intermediate bearing on the propellor-shaft?

[kamiar]

They sell you a used part from a wrecked volvo (www.car-part.com). Have you also considered that the noise might be the intermediate bearing on the propellor-shaft?

Or the axle carrier bearing!

[gibbons]

Come on, you're not ruining my day yet, how about a differential carrier bearing, that could be worse :D

[shawn_75]

I did it, it isn't too bad. Hardest part for me was getting the driveshaft out, mostly because I didn't have allen wrenches with socket drives. If you do decide to do it, I suggest replacing the splined collar between the tranny and the angle gear. I did not do this and wish that I did. Someone else posted about this after I did mine but they didn't give any part numbers. I've always had sort of a clunk between forward and reverse and I suspect that this is the culprit.

Shawn