Hi,
My two front struts are physically broken, judging by the shaft and nut in the engine compartment. If I push the car down, that part stays up..does not travel down with the car. I can also turn it by hand. The car makes a clunk sound when going in or out of driveways. I'm thinking of taking it to a mechanic for this. The Haynes manual is scaring me. Anyone out there attempt replacing these? I don't see it at Bay 13. Thanks!
Ps. I finally moved off of the dirt road, so hopefully these problems will lessen....right...

The R&R procedure for 850 struts is not that bad. You will need a strut compressor which you can rent from the local auto parts store (make sure it's for struts), a hyraulic lift and jack stand to be on the safe side. Helpful to have an impact wrench, but it isn't required.

You'll have to remove the sway bar end link and 1 or 2 other things attached to the strut. I would loosen the 2 large bolts holding the strut to the control arm and then undo the 3 nuts above the strut tower to release it. Completely remove the 2 large bolts and remove the strut. Secure the strut compressors 180deg apart on the springs (this is where an impact wrench can save some time) and go until it moves freely within the strut housing. Remove the large nut on top (impact wrench also helpful here). Be careful as there is a lot of potential energy stored up in the spring at this point.

When putting everything back together, you have the opportunity to adjust the camber of the front end. On 850's there is a little for the bolts to move around and you can add 1-1.5deg of negative camber to the front end of your car which can increase handling. All you have to do is push in while tightening the bolts. You'll see what I mean when you look at the setup.

-Good luck
Jeong
jlee@spokanecounty.org

Hi,
Thank you all for responding to my post. I still don't know if I want to tackle this job myself. And yes, the top of the struts do seem as if they will hit the hood if I hit a large enough bump. I think I'll call sround and get prices on the replacement. Anyone know what a job like this should cost? Thanks!! Joe

I'm not clear on what you mean when you say that the shaft of the strut does not travel up and down with the car. If this was the case, you would have a broken strut mount. I've never heard of this, but I suppose it is not impossible. If the strut shaft does not move up and down with the car, the shaft would hit the hood of the car when you went over a bump. You would also have no shock absorber effect whatsoever, and the car would bounce up and down freely. Is this in fact the case? A picture would help. Perhaps the nut is loose or lost? You shouldn't be able to turn it by hand.

Strut replacement is fairly involved. You will need a spring compressor. My local Auto Zone loans these out for no charge, a great service. The Haynes manual calls for a couple of special Volvo tools, but I made do without. You can hold the strut shaft with an adjustable wrench on the flattened portion at the top to loosen the two top nuts. I removed the cross shaped nut underneath with a 12-inch adjustable wrench. Otherwise, pretty much as described in the manual. You will probably need to replace your upper spring mounts and dust boots. Normally, you wouldn't need to replace your strut mounts, but from your description it sounds as though they could be broken as well. If they are, they are close to $100 each. Figure on half a day if you've never done this before.

Phantom

Your problem is the strut spring retainer cups ( a $26 dealer part for each side). This is fairly common problem for the 850 series.

But since the struts will have to come out to fix this - depending on the mileage, you may want to go ahead and replace the struts as well.

Found out that the problem is my "strut seats"... A rubber bushing that is just under the engine compartment. I now think I want to tackle this myself. The mechanic wants $386 to do it or $740 including the struts (which do not seem to be bad). I'm going for the seats...anyone know the price on these? Thanks!!
Joe