90, 240 DL Sedan

Girling front calipers (two or four piston calipers?).

I took my car to be inspected this past week, on Friday, Nov 30. The MIDAS Muffler Mechanic showed me that the right side of the right front brake caliper was stuck (he had a channellock pliers on it and was showing me how it would not move in and out, like the left side did). When I did not authorize this mechanic to do the repair, he looked very, very disappointed, and was quick to tell me that THIS Volvo has a three line hose system and cannot be bled by a do-it-yourself mechanic. I asked him how he did it himself and he said he has a helper and special tools. So, as of today, Dec 2, I have eight days left for a second chance to fix or replace the right front-right side, stuck caliper. The only brake work I ever did was many years ago on a Ford Stang's drum brakes. I remember taking the drum all apart. It was a no brainer (I had a manual that I remember being so much easier to follow than my Volvo manuals or the FAQS). I remember easily locating and then pulling the little piston out of the bore and smoothing the bore out with fine steel wool, and then cleaning it all up, and then covering the pistons with brake fluid, putting them back into their cylinders (bores), and reassembling the rest. I never bothered to get the way too expensive and absolutely necessary rebuild kit; and the brakes worked better than ever for a long, long time after that. So, I am of the same mindset now. Take em apart, clean em up, put em back together, and LEARN something in the process. But that was a stang and straight forward without any arcane descriptions of special adjustments.

This is a complicated 240 Volvo, with those arcane descriptions of special adjustments - and with Murphys law on my back everyday with THIS particular car (actually, the former owners ran the car into the ground and were ready to junk it, but offered it to me for free - kinda wish I had said, "thanks, but no thanks!"). My first Volvo. I'm willing to give it a go, if I can get some non-conflicting brake terminology help. First, no matter how many times I read the various manuals and FAQ"s, I fail to picture how to do the critical line ups of the various parts, like the pads, pistons, boots, seals, caps, pins, etc., etc. It may be overkill but then why is it stressed so much? These adjustment descriptions without pictures are just too overwhelming to try to figure out.

Q: What is the step by step procedure for this entire job?

Q: Is it possible for me to learn and do this repair, in eight short days?

Q: If yes, after I jack up the car and remove the wheels, do I then loosen the bleeder screws first and allow all the brake fluid to drain on its own gravity before I do anything else, or do I remove the brake pads first?

Q: Do the pads even have to come off in order to fix the stuck caliper?

Q: If yes, then that means those long horizontal metal spring clips have to come off too, correct?

Q: If yes, that means getting new ones, correct?

Q: Or are they reusable?

Q: Anything else not reusable?

Q: What about those caliper hold down bolts that Bentley says to replace - a local non-Volvo mechanic told me, "Just use some loctite and you won't have to get new bolts.

Q: Is this true? Bentley does not say why these bolts cannot be reused, except that they are not reusable bolts.

Q: Will any special tools be needed to do this entire job from start to finish? Flare nut wrenches or similar for opening and closing the bleeding screws? (I only have regular run of the mill 12 point metric combo wrenches).

Q: Manual bleeding - Is it good enough? (I have no specialized bleeding tank system yet. Not sure what to purchase: (Vacuum [i.e., Mityvac type tool] OR Forced bleed and fill [i.e., pressurized type tools] or just stay with the gravity and manual combo?

Note: One of the major problems I encounter when doing ANY repair for the FIRST time, is that each person and each manual uses different terms for the same parts and/or procedure. For example what I have read at the FAQ here, explains things very different from the manuals, which also differ from each other. In other words, the terminology used is not consistent. What one calls a bolt another may call pin. To the uninitiated in this mysterious art it can get confusing. I need someone with some patience that has done this job to email me privately with a step by step procedure (with very consistent language, i.e., not using different terms for the same thing without mentioning it). Evidently, what one editor explains, another comes along and undoes my understanding of the process with a different approach, or added critical information (so he claims).

CALIPER GUIDE PINS -

My Question: Are these the same thing as the caliper pistons? Some instructions seem to indicate that.

Below is an edited copy (by me) of the FAQ on this subject:

FAQ Response: I simply sanded the rust off the slide pin bore so that the slide pin moved easily and then lubed the slide pin and reassembled the caliper. It might also be a stuck caliper brake piston. Check the pistons, they should move quite easily. Remove the rust from the bores and rebuild the calipers with new gaskets and dust boots. The lower bolt of the front caliper is used to take the brake apart. In this lower end, a bushing is fitted into the caliper. Mostly this bushing shows corrosion and cannot be moved any more in the caliper. If this is so, the brake performance decreases as the two calipers cannot press the disc properly. To inspect the functioning of the brakes: take the brake pads away, and mount the caliper again WITHOUT the brake pads. Fix and tighten the lower bolt. You SHOULD be able to slide the caliper left and right by hand without difficulty! If not, the bushing is sticky.]

My Question: Say what??? My manuals do not mention ANY bushings at all. Q: Where the heck did these bushings come from?

Diagnostic note: I have found that a damaged lower guide pin is easily detected. One may not need to completely reassemble the caliper to perform the check. If the guide pin is badly damaged, as mine was-is, the lower guide will be frozen in place with no in/out play.] Slam the bushing with an appropriate tool (a 13mm socket) out of the caliper. Lots of force may be required if this bushing has not been removed for long time. Clean bushing AND inside caliper with fine sandpaper. Put copper grease on the bushing and slide the bushing inside the caliper. This should be possible without force. Make sure the upper bushing performs well, but mostly this is not a problem. Mount the caliper without the brake pads, and check if the unit slides easily left and right. (Lower bolt to be fixed). Re-mount the brake pads. Mount the wheel and spin it around. Put some Locktite on the thread of the lower bolt and tighten the bolt just before the brake starts 'squeezing', or stopping the wheel from spinning. (I guess about 15..25Nm is required to tighten this bolt). [Assembly note: A common cause of damage to the lower caliper guide pin is over-torquing the guide pin bolt. The correct torquesetting for the bolt is relatively low, on the order of about 25 ft-lb. (Check the manual!), and it is common to over tighten the guide bolt when replacing brake pads.]

MY QUESTION: What Grade of Loctite? Permanent [Red] High Strength or Removable [Blue] Medium grade?

[Assembly note: A common cause of damage to the lower caliper guide pin is over-torquing the guide pin bolt. The correct torque setting for the bolt is relatively low (Check the manual!), and it is common to over tighten the guide bolt when replacing brake pads.]

MY QUESTION: Is this editor saying the same thing twice, i.e., is the "guide pin bolt" the same as the "guide bolt"?

LAST QUESTION (for now): Is the Volvo brake grease mentioned being used in the various manuals, silicone and/or teflon based?

Thank you all,

Bruce