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Update on 144 brake problem

My Volvo mechanic threw in the towel after replacing the brake booster with one of his own (not tested) and failed to fix the problem. He is a big disappointment after doing an excellent job of fixing a universal joint problem a few years ago.

We took back the car and I located a brake repair service in Portland Oregon. I removed the unit and shipped it off for repair. They received it last Thursday and in a quick check found it did not hold a vacuum. They will rebuild it and ship it back to me for a reasonable cost.

I am also disappointed in the Volvo company reply to my query about brake boosters on a 144 1969 Volvo. They told me from the N.A. office that this car did not have a repairable brake booster. The people in Portland contradicted that by saying there were some units in that year that were indeed repairable. Evidently, Bendix made the original units and sold it to Volvo through an intermediary company. If I had listened to the official volvo answer, I would have given up on the car. There are a fair number of these Bendix units around, so if my unit had turned out to be unrepairable, they could have replaced it with one that was.

I should be getting the repaired brake booster back next week, and I will report on how workable it turns out.

Sherwin

Reply to
sherwin dubren
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Good to hear. Two comments: first, universal joints aren't hard to fix - I worked on them in high school, so that isn't a good indicator of a mechanic's skill. Second, as a fairly small car manufacturer, Volvo relied a lot on other companies for parts, and probably didn't keep up on all the permutations, or at any rate the people there *now* don't know about them.

Reply to
Leftie

In article , sherwin dubren wrote: [ ... ]

[ ... ]

It would be helpful if you can post some information on how to identify which are repairable and which are not. I may need one for my '72 145 one of these days.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Heston

He did. Something about one locking tab vs two on the shell, and whether or not it has a full metal band around it. Read back in the thread.

Reply to
Leftie

I thought I mentioned it already, but a repairable unit has crimps on one side only. The non-repairable version has crimps circling both sides of the unit. It also has a metal band around it.

These people in Portland say that this is a problem with several cars besides Volvo, like Mercedes and Jaguar. In most cases, they can find an equivalent unit, probably made by Bendix, as were the ones on the Volvos.

My unit arrived this evening from UPS. I will mount it tomorrow and give the results. The people in Portland checked it on their tester, before shipping, so I have confidence it will work.

Sherwin

Reply to
sherwin dubren

It may be a simple repair, but not always easy to recognize the symptoms. In this case it was a shuddering as the car was brought to a stop. Our long time mechanic, who had worked on the Volvo many times, thought it was the brakes, and replaced almost the whole system. His partner was a better mechanic, who was one of those rare individuals that knew how to tune the dual carbs on our Volvo. Unfortunately, he was no longer around when we brought the car in for diagnosis.

This 75 year old Swede must know something as his lot was full of newer Volvos. He just didn't want to be bothered to chase down a replacement unit, and instead threw in an untested replacement lying around his shop that did not work.

I still think Volvo should do a better job of keeping records on their parts installed. Remember, a Volvo is 'For Life', which may work if you die an untimely early death. I'm not bitter, just more cautious about what they tell me.

Sherwin

Reply to
sherwin dubren

I think you're taking that slogan much too literally. When they say Volvo for life, they are suggesting that one buys another Volvo when it comes time to replace their old one, not that one Volvo will last a lifetime!

Reply to
James Sweet

Installed the repaired brake booster on the Volvo today.

It was a complete success. The brakes work as good as ever.

I would recommend the rebuilders to anyone:

Power Brake Booster Exchange, Inc. 4335 S.E. 63rd Ave. Portland OR 97206 503-238-8882

Now that the car is mechanically back in shape, I have to concentrate on the body work. The body needs structural reinforcement and some cosmetic work. I need to find a welder ready to take this on.

Sherwin

Reply to
sherwin dubren

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