Update time, what have I been up to?
Well I've been putting this off as I expected it to be hard, but its time try and replace the front engine mounts and see if the engine being more firmly mounted makes the rhythmic knocking sound on the over-run go away.
This did prove to be another fiddly job.
There is an engine mount each side of the block, at the front. Each is underneath a bracket that fixes to the block.
Here is the passenger side one:
I hoped that by loosening all the mounts, the radiator and the engine steadies, that I'd be able to lift the engine enough to slide in new mounts without disturbing the brackets.
I was a bit concerned about the engine dropping onto my fingers unexpectedly, so as well as a block and jack underneath, I also supported it from the garage roof beams (I lined it up underneath where 2 beams are doubled up)
This did not work, it was not possible to lift the engine enough to get the mount out.
So the bracket had to come out:
Here is the old and new engine mount:
New one on the right, you can see it does not look the same as the old one, but its what everyone seems to sell, and does fit. (its actually labled Volvo, so at least its from the right country!)
and here it is fitted:
I also noticed whilst undoing the old one, that whilst the nuts were fully done up, they were not pulling the mount itself tight to the body- there was still movement, so again, good reason to relace.
I did wonder if the domed cap from the old one should be re-used somehow, so had a look to see if it separated, but that was only possible by chopping it off with a saw:
I then had a deeper chop to see what the condition of the old one was like:
Whilst outwardly it looked fine, inside it was very corroded and the metal parts were separating from the rubber, so replacement was definitely a good idea
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People do sell second hand mounts, but based on this, the condition cannot be judged from the outside, so would be a complete gamble.
Anyway, despite looking different, the new one fitted fine.
On to the driver side, and this is why I did not want to remove the bracket, on the passenger side its easy to access, but on the driver's side its completely hidden behind a junction of cooling pipes- the bracket has 3 bolts, and one of them can't even be seen.
I could just get a really short socket onto it, red arrow below
But there was no room left to connect the ratchet handle.
I got it out with spanner slid in, held in place by one finger following the red arrow and 2 fingers where the green arrow shows to turn it.
It just about came out.
Red arrow in this pic shows where the mount was, the bracket went up and to the left behind those pipes
Getting it back in was a nightmare, specifically holding that third bolt, getting the bracket and block aligned and then getting the thread started successfully.
Managed it in the end after buying a stumpy ratchet spanner with a pivoting head, that I could just about work into place with my finger tips. Phew.
Here you can see a the offending bolt, reflected in the little mirror- the only way to see it
One slight mess up, whilst lifting the engine up and down and shoving it around to get bolts aligned, I've now got a leak in the radiator top hose connector.
Very tiny, but a persistent dribble.
I've applied JB Weld to where it looks like the crack is, so lets see, eventually I will need a new radiator I think.
While I was in this area, a couple of other jobs: having previously found grease nipples for the ball joints hiding under all the dirt, they got a grease.
I also decided to change the anti-roll bar bushes
These are at least super easy to access (hurray!)
There's discussion earlier in this thread with
melle as to where to buy these from as the only place to get rubber bushes (rather than poly) seems to be a supplier in Germany.
A slightly unusual buying process as the German site has not got a credit card function, so you have to message, get a price for the delivery and then make a bank transfer.
I was a bit nervous about this with no credit card protection, but the seller responded quickly with postage options that were reasonable (with or without tracking) and the bushes arrived pretty quickly.
Only time will tell on the quality, but they seem well made, accurate in size, feel very solid and even have the correct part number cast into them.
These are the drivers side old and new:
I cleaned up the brackets these fit to and with a bit if "grunt and groan" and a little washing up liquid was able to push in the bushes by hand.
Then the passenger side, same process, the bushes on this side were really past it!
Then it all went back together smoothly, in fact so smoothly that the car was off the stands and back on its wheels and forgot to take any more photos, but all done.
So has this solved my annoying knocking sound?
I don't know :-(
Firstly the good, no leaks from the radiator repair, no immediate new odd clunks from where I have had things apart.
But I could not go far enough or fast enough to listen for the over-run knocking sound because I have now lost 3rd and 4th gear.
Not good but I am pretty sure I know why.
With the column gear selector the gear change linkage is quite convoluted and with my moving the engine about quite a lot, I think the gear selector mechanism needs adjusting- there is the facility on the steering column to adjust how much the leaver itself moves, I am hoping I'll be able to sort the issue from there.
That will have to wait a few weeks as I am off on hols, but fingers crossed that will resolve the issue.
Cheers
Nigel
