A vibration noise at lower acceleration and an occasional rear end clank prevented my wife from driving the car. "Well, I put the tranny back in right and it won’t fall out!" I knew the vibrations were caused by the heat shield at the Y-pipe that I had been "adjusting". This time I hammered it to back and now it’s binding on the broken weld. It’s easier than drilling and clamping it with a bolt. (The front drive shaft bolts and tranny bolts were all tight. I had to check though.)

Nagging oil leak at the filter. The last oil change showed a burned dribble of oil running along the bottom of the filter. I still have the leak with a new filter. Underneath, it looks like the only place it could be coming from. I hand over-tightened it maybe an extra 1/3 turn. I am still scratching my head over this one.

There was some kind of plastic guard in front of the gas tank hanging by a thread. Patched with it epoxy and found some screws. Good for another 100k

In my quest of reaching 30MPG, I increased the tire pressure to 35 PSI. A dreadfully harsh ride resulted. Knocked it down to 33 and it seems much better. It is well worth a MPG.

The fix big. I had nasty banging from the back of the car when going over bumps. (The other reason my wife wouldn’t drive the car.) I knew the upper muffler strap was gone and a little investigation proved that it was the cause of the noise. Truly, the weak link in the exhaust system. The muffler would jump out of the cradle and bang back in. This is a “baling wire” fix that is guaranteed to last (half) as long as the original strap. Now I know why Volvo put that hole in the bracket.

After I wrapped things I took a trip to the hospital, for some packed red cells because I had fed tooo many mosquitoes.


Tom F. Couple of Volvos Mods, RainX & cup holders.