Hello.

This is my first question to the forum. I have my car serviced at a Cech Bros in Orlando, Florida, who are certified volvo mechanics. I was told my Motor Mounts have collasped. What are they, and what do they do? I haven't noticed anything too different while I'm driving, but I don't know what I should be watching for. It will cost close to $400 to repair. Also the outer door handle driver side just stopped working. It will cost $156 to fix. I just recently replaced a flat tire (front passenger side) and now when I brake the car shakes, it didn't before. I was told it is probably my brakes or the rotor. I thought it was because they did not rotate the new tire to the back. Also, my driver side mirror just fell off, this is the second time in four years. It will cost $125 to replace. First, do you think these costs are reasonable; is there anything I can fix myself, if so how. Lastly, I only have 88K miles even though I've owned the car since December 1996. I want to get it serviced, but my the mechanic says to wait until I have 90K. Because I've had the car for so long I think I should get the 120K service, any advice. I have read many of the postings to this forum and have learned, why my sunroof leaks, why my seats are crooked, how to turn off the service light, and how to program the remote. Thanks in advance for your help.

Silvergal

These can be remedied by you:

The tire issue is probably the lug nuts are over torqued, the brake disk is very supceptable to warping from improperly tightened bolts. Try getting it torqued to specs, I believe it is 63 ft lbs. that may make it go away.

The door lock, while it may be a broken spring internally, usually the grease in handle on the out side and within the door mechanism gets dried out and there then is too much force need to work, the springs are not able to over come that resistance to work properly. Clean are relubrication sometimes is all that is needed.

The engine mounts would take a little shade tree experience.

The mounts may be more of a comfort thing though. They isolate vibration from the engine to the frame of the car. It is the only area where the engine is held to the car. There are two, one on each side of the engine down low, near the frame's side rails. I personally would change them if they are sagging, the car usually makes a slight stutter coming from a full stop, cause by the drive shaft not being at the right angle to the differential, the gear shift indicator may not be accurate (getting into L may not be possible). And since it is a six cylinder it naturally does not idle as smooth as an 8 cylinder, so with the mounts bottomed out you might feel more of that vibration in the cabin. You can visually see if the mounts are bad, if the wire safety cables are slack then it is time for replacement. It's not like the engine is going to fall out, so there is no rush on this one.

DanR '94 964 339,000 miles (105,000 on the new engine)

Thank you DanR. I think the door handle may be a broken spring. There is no resistance when I squeeze the handle, but I'll try to lubricate first.

Silvergal