How do you replace a wheel bearing on a Volvo 240?

Answer 1

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/FWDbearingHub.php has the full walk through.

he front wheel bearings on the FWD Volvo are refered to as a bearing hub. To replace a bad unit you can't do just the wheel bearing, the replacement part comes with the hub and the sealed bearing. Some clues that you might have a bad front wheel bearing include, a noise that increases with speed and is related to tire/vechicle speed. Usually when the bearing starts to go bad, the noise starts at 35-40 MPH, however you could hear it at slower speeds. It is often hard to tell which side the noise is from. You help to narrow down which side by loading the bearing, to do this turn the steering wheel left or right while the noise is heard, it doesn't have to be a hard right or left. Say you turn or lightly jerk the wheel to the right and the noise gets weaker, but when turning left the noise gets louder, then the right side bearing would be the source of the noise. By turning left you put more load on the right front wheel. When replacing the bearing hub you will need a bearing hub "Kit".

The front bearing hub kit comes with the items shown in the above picture. The actual hub that you are replacing is center of the picture. The kit also comes with 4 new E 14 torx bolts to secure the hub to the spindle, two new 15mm bolts for the brake caliper, and a replacement 36mm nut for the drive shaft. I've heard you can buy just the bearing hub not in a kit but then you would have to re-use old bolts, and I wouldn't recommend that.

To start the repair you will need to have the wheel for the side you are changing off the car, this will require the use of jack stands on the front to be safe. Start by removing the wheel. The next step is to remove the 15mm bolts that hold the entire caliper to the front spindle. After removing the 15mm bolts, if you use large channel locks to move the pads in just a bit it will be easier to take the front caliper assembly off the rotor.

Take the brake caliper assembly and use a bungie cord or something to hang it from the strut spring like shown in the picture. This gets the caliper out of the way and ensures you are not putting stress on the brake lines. Notice that the large 36mm axle nut is off. To get the nut off you might want to break it loose while the car is still on the ground with the wheel on it. I use an impact wrench so it doesn't matter to me, but if you don't have air tools leave the tire on, take the center hub cap off and with a 36mm socket and large breaker bar you can break the nut loose. Once the nut is loose you can get it off without much trouble. The next hardest part is getting the axle to break free of the splines so you can take it out. Try putting some liquid wrench on there the night before. The kit has a new 36mm nuts, so what I do is take the old nut and screw it down so it's almost starting to show threads but not quite, and then with a large hammer I smack the nut until the axle breaks loose from the splines and starts to go in. Now would also be a good time to take the rotor off. There is one 10mm pin holding it to the hub. Once the 10mm pin is off you will have to use a hammer to loose up the rotor so it will come off the hub.

The next step is to remove the control arm where it attaches to the sub frame. The bolt head is 15mm and the nut on the other side is 18mm. Again I have air tools but this can be done with hand tools, half inch would be best. The picture shows the front bolt, there is one more in the rear you need to take out also. Once the bolts are out, you can pry the control arm out of the brackets on the sub frame and it will hang down, allowing the strut and wheel assembly to be moved around so you have access to the hub bolts.

Once the control arm is free from the sub frame you can push the axle out of the splines on the spindle. The picture shows the axle just hanging kind of in the way, take a bungie cord or something and you can lift it up out of the way as well.

At this point you can maneuver the spindle so you can see the 14 torx bolts that have to be removed, the white arrows are pointing to the bolts. Make sure your E 14 torx socket is on the bolt head good, you might even have to top it on a bit to get it on good so you don't strip it while trying to remove it.

Once you have the four E 14 torx bolts out of the bearing hub, it will usually fall out of the spindle, but if it doesn't a few light taps with a hammer will free it up. Before you put the new bearing hub in make sure you sand all the old rust off the spindle. A drill with a wire wheel will work great. The top center inboard of the opening has the ABS wheel sensor there, either take it out of the way (10mm bolt) or make sure you are careful not to damage it while cleaning off the rust.

Above is a picture of the new hub and E 14 torx bolts in place. As with any repair on your Volvo, go slow, take note of items that are attached to other items so you can get things back together correctly. One item of note is there is a rubber dust shield that is on the axles shaft that mates up with the bearing hub once the shaft is inserted into the splines, often it falls off when you take the shaft out, or it falls off as you are moving the shaft around. The torque specs for putting things back together are: 1) The E 14 torx bolts to 65nm (48LbFt) then 60 degrees 2) Brake caliper bolts 100nm (74LbFt) 3) Axle nut 120nm (89LbFt) then 60 degrees.

Answer 2

it depends it it's the front or rear