Rear axle issue on 93 240

I have an automatic 1993 240 (non turbo) with 120K miles and the
bearing(s) need to be changed inside the rear axle.

You can hear some VERY small 'rolling' noise and feel a very small
vibration.

I went to my garage and they first changed the bearing of the drive
shaft and it reduced noise/vibration by about 80%. But with the car
on the hoist and with the rear wheel spinning at 50 mph, using a
screwdriver to listen to each wheel and read axle, I could clearly
hear noise. And when driving teh car after, I could hear and feel it.
But like I said, it is only 20% of what it was prior to changing the
bearing of the drive shaft.

It seems to me pretty clear that this is the problem. The garage
wants $800 to change teh bearings inside the rear axle.

My question is, can I wait? I mean, if I don't get the repair done,
will I most likely be fine for another 25K miles? Also, is $800 on
the high side?

I would appreciate your input on this situation.

Thank you.

 

Odd, I've never heard of that happening on a 240, and yours has
exceptionally low mileage.

$800 seems like a lot, it might be cheaper to change the whole axle
assembly with one from a salvage yard.

 

i'm beginning to think i have an evil twin. almost verbatim what i
would have written. but i'm much more of a risque taker than my actual
twin. 25k? monitor but don't worry. it sounds like you have a good
skill set. where i live , if it's a private sale you willllll need to
disclose -- a pro, like a dealer, buyer be ware. i bought my r (or she
bought me -- don't know) from a toyota dealer. i got 48 hours before
the sale was final. we threw an immediate 2k @ her, but the toyota
dealer didn't get half what she is worth (1/3.685 actually). it's alll
good. did i mention she hit 322 this weekend?

 

....um, what they said (I think?)
Put fresh gear lube in it then run it until it gets loud enough to be
irritating to the neighbors and farm animals.
10 years from now, swap it out for a junkyard one.
They'll run a long time, and make a *lot* of noise, before they fail.

 

Only in Volvo-land can a statement like "your 17 year old car has
exceptionally low mileage" when it's got 120,000 on it. Most other cars
are scrap by then.

 

A lot of them are, although most 17 year old cars if they are still on
the road have more than that.

Still it's nice to have almost 300,000 on my car and still be able to
count on it to get me where I'm going.

 

kinda a new thread now, i would never have let my new V buy me if i
hadn't lusted after her for the last 15 years. my previous V is w/ a
friend & still hits 170. crazy, i know, but sanity isn't everything.
my V before that almost hit 1,000,000. he got very ill & "you shoot
your own dog, don't ya?"

 

Thanks to all for your answers and comments. Sorry for the delay in
replying, I was out of town.

I'll keep the car as is, unless the garage agrees to do it for $500.
I'll let you know if work is done on the rear axle and the outcome.
On the bright side, the owner has 40 years of experience with Volvo
cars. He is just slightly dishonest on pricing and enjoy installing
NEW parts.

 

Most mechanic shops won't install junkyard or used parts IME. They'll
install new or remanufactured parts. That's not dishonest, it's
realistic in litigious times. I have had mechanics who were happy to
install parts I bought elsewhere and charged me shop rate; they had all
the parts at the outset, didn't have to wait for delivery of parts and
got that repair turned over quicker than usual. They didn't get to make
profits on the parts, of course, but the other benefits seemed to
outweigh that.