A while ago I reported a clunking sound when I braked after changing from drive to reverse or vice versa. Everyone suggested the strut rod bushings but I didn't think that was it because I think they were recently replaced. I always had a sinking feeling that it was the brake pads shifting but most people dismissed that possibility.

Well, the clunking hasn't gone away and I still think it's the brake pads and here's why: I used silicone grease on the backs of the pads as an anti-squeal remedy. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly because the silicone was what I used on my Volvo 850 brake pads but the Volvo caliper design is completely different.

So, I want to know what you guys use as an anti-squeal paste for the brake pads. This weekend I think I'll remove the pads, clean off the grease and try something new and maybe that'll correct my problem. Thanks

Alex

Use the MB brake pad greese. About $1 per pack from the dealer. Green in color. I think that is the only thing works. One pack is enough for four pads. Actaully I used for 8 pads and still got some left. You apply where the pad makes contacts with the holders, along the edges and a few spots (or the whole back) on the back.

If the brake pads are the correct size for the calipers then I cant imagine them to be the problem. If the pads are too small and don't fit snuggly in the holders, then maybe. Taking the grease off won't help!

Have you looked at the flex disks between the transmission and the drive shaft and the drive shaft and the differential? That seems a more likely cause of the clunking.

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Tom Savage
Vienna, WV
1984 300D Euro
1995 S320

But the clunking happens only when I apply the brake. For example, I could back out of my driveway, stop, shift into drive, drive for a while (it's maybe 45 seconds to the stop sign) and then when I brake, it clunks (not loudly). Are there are two distinct clunks. I can hear them, and I can feel them, but only really through the brake pedal. It doesn't transmit throughout the chassis.

What are good brake pads? Maybe mine are indeed too small. Can you see that I'm trying to tell myself it's something simple? I might be in that denial phase. So, I don't think it's the flex discs, and I don't think it's the strut rod bushings. This clunking has been there for four months. Doesn't seem to get any worse or any better and I'm not sure if I'm doing harm to the car. I just want to get rid of it because it's embarassing and no noise is good noise right?

Alex

I had a similar clunking noise in my 80 300D and it was my upper ball joints.Jack a wheel up and try to feel any play when you rock the wheel at the bottom and top or side to side . just make sure that you jack under the control arm to keep the suspension loaded.Any play should be easy to isolate ,either the ball joint or wheel bearing will clunk , a bushing will move but usually not clunk.Hope this helps.

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Democracy dies in darkness, you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

You say you "think" the strut rods were done....you should verify...remember there are two ends to each strut rod...there is a bushing where the strut rod connects to the lower control arm (you need to compress spring to replace this...because of this, these are often left in). On the other end, the strut rod connects to the chassis at the foot wells to a rubber bumper (strut rod mounts)...these are the usual culprit for the symptoms you describe...verify for sure that they were changed.

I agree with Kyle....could very well be the upper ball joints (upper control arms)..these are cheap parts and very easy to replace...the whole upper control arm comes as an assembly with the ball joints and bushings ...you dont need to compress main springs....jack up car...the shock absorber acts as a stop for main spring...support lower control arm with bottle jack...you need pickle fork to pull appart compression fitting on upper ball joint...otherwise very easy disassembly and reassembly.

If your brake calipers are very old, the surfaces where ends of brake pads slid may be severely rusted resulting in a lot of "wiggle room" brake pad...but buy the time this happens, the caliper piston would probably be frozen so I dont think this is the problem, but worth checking.

It is concievable that your brake pads are wrong size...could happen if the pads are cheap aftermarket. Also (?????) could you possibly have wrong pads in??? very unlikely, but check it out. There should be no more than a very tiny space between sliding side surfaces of pads and caliper...just enough to allow pad to slide in.

Check to make sure the caliper bolts are secure...the two bolts that mount the caliper to the steering knuckle..unlikely, but should be checked.

If you are approaching 200,000 miles on the car and have never replace upper control arms, then I would bet that would solve the problem....very likely that bushings/ball joints in both arms will fail at some point, resulting in two clunks.

Good luck, keep up posted.

Mark

(ps. Alex, I also have a Volvo 850...97 wagon...just bought three months ago..currently having problems with persistent check engine light!!!)

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1984 300TD Wagon, 407,800 mi (current daily driver)
1985 300DT Sedan, 330,000 mi (gone to that great autobahn in the sky)

The brake pads I used in my car were purchased at the dealer. They charged me something like $60. What a rip off. Anyway, I don't know what brand they are. I haven't looking at the caliper housing recently, but if I recall correctly there was maybe 4mm on each side of the pad.

Mark,
When the front end work was done to my car, the mechanic disassembled everything in the front end, springs, control arms, strut rods and all. Since he removed the springs I'm assuming that he changed the bushings on the control arm that you were talking about. He usually prefers to do more than less. I'll have to go ask him for a print out of the bill for that repair.

I will check about the upper control arms that you mentioned as soon as it gets a little dryer out. I'm pretty sure he changed these too though because last time I poked around in there, I think I saw new metal. The calipers are functioning ok and the caliper bolts are secure (first thing I checked). Oh, and the car has 127,000 miles.

This whole thing has me really frustrated because I really want to get rid of this clunking noise. I'm really tempted to just buy new pads (ATE?) through fastlane and see if there's ANY change.

Volvos are all very frustrating. Parts are expensive, and a lot of things seem to go wrong. Chances are, your car is fine, but with the 850s from 1996, you need a special diagnostic tool to tell you what's wrong. With the ones 1995 and earlier, there is an LED light that flashes to represent problem codes. Try going to www.brickboard.com
They are a tech help website similar to mercedesshop.com and they might be able to help you. good luck

Alex

When I bought the volvo 850 wagon, what I really wanted was a Mercedes 300TE wagon with third seat...much nicer car, but I was scared away by horror stories of head gasket problems. I did my research on the 850 and heard very positive things, but now I find that, as you said, my 1997 requires the special OBDII diagnostic tool to read fault codes, so I cant even pull codes myself. Already I have had "check engine" problem. As i said, what I really wanted was a mercedes ..... does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on the mercedes six cylinder gas engines (300E) or later models??? Ive heard that head is long and aluminum and has problems at mating surface (twisting, moving) resulting in persistent head gasket problems. Ive also heard about transmission problems. I would also stay away from the 4-matic. I may just sell the volvo and get a mercedes, but not sure at this point.

Thanks

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1984 300TD Wagon, 407,800 mi (current daily driver)
1985 300DT Sedan, 330,000 mi (gone to that great autobahn in the sky)

My gradparents have an 89 300SE and it's been great for them. It's got plenty of power too. I don't think they've had any engine trouble at all or anything mechanical that has gone wrong for that matter. But I don't know about the 123 gas models.

I have an 84 300SD and my grandpa's got a 82 240D and the brake pads squeek on reverse. I think the reason is because the pads never really leave the disc on reverse. They lightly touch the disc which gives of a nice squeek if your pads aren't greased. It won't hurt your brakes not to get your pads greased, but you'll have to put up with the squeek.