XC90 Brakes False Start

"Aremmes" (aremmes) 07/10/2020 at 15:25 • Filed to: mistakes were made, brake job, volvo xc90

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Last week the brakes on my XC90 started to squeal and grind something awful, which told me that the shop that did the inspection didn’t take a good look at the pads and the dealer who sold me it didn’t put new brakes on it before the sale. No biggie, though, I can get new rotors and pads and learn this new-to-me setup. It’s got disc brakes on all four corners, how much harder than on the Miata can they be? *ominous noises*

First stop, RockAuto. They show three different front rotor sizes for my car, a 3.2 AWD: 316 mm, 328 mm, and 336 mm. Well, shit, how do I know which one I have? Check FCP Euro, IPD, Amazon: same story. More digging, this time in forums, where the consensus says to pull the wheel and measure directly, or pour chicken blood on a Ouija board and hope for an answer. Thanks! So I raised the front passenger corner and measured with my trusty measuring tape 13 inches across, so 330 mm. It’s closer to 328 than 336, right? Right, so muzzle-load the parts cannon and light the fuze. *louder ominous noises*

Most parts arrived on Wednesday but I didn’t have time until today to dick around with it. So I dutifully started to remove the caliper and wonder how to remove the anti-rattle clip, which came off after a little bit of futzing and some edumacations from the interwebtubes. But wait, what’s this in the video I’m watching? Oh. Oh no.

The gods themselves

Coño , did I order the wrong size? I pressed on, pressed the caliper piston in, removed the bracket, pulled the rotor, and sat it on top one of the new ones. It’s larger than the new one. And the pads are completely different too. HIJUEPUTA .

Old pad on top of new pads and anti-rattle clips

Now I get to test RockAuto’s RMA process to return the front rotors, pads, and hardware and order new ones. At least the rear brakes don’t differ, so I can work on those while waiting for the rectification to my mistake to arrive.

Qué mierda.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Aremmes 07/10/2020 at 15:30

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With brakes... it’s the “false stop” that you really worry about...

/s/

Aremmes > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 07/10/2020 at 15:35

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

PartyPooper2012 > Aremmes 07/10/2020 at 15:37

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I like it... education in brakes on a volvo... plus some Spanish as a Second Language

When it was time to replace the mufflers on Mini Cooper, I went with rock auto.

Something something mounting brackets were wrong. Had to heat up the brackets and bend it in the right direction... PITA and yes. I also cursed in spanish...even though yo soy Russian

Aremmes > PartyPooper2012 07/10/2020 at 15:50

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We speak mostly Spanish in my house. Well, mostly not including my son, that huevón prefers English even when speaking with his grandmother.

hillrat > Aremmes 07/10/2020 at 16:00

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I correctly guessed (verified by urbandictionary)  that “ HIJUEPUTA” means “son of a bitch”, what I don’t know is how to pronounce that fun little curse.

Aremmes > hillrat 07/10/2020 at 16:05

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/ee-hwe-POO-ta/.

Sovande > Aremmes 07/10/2020 at 16:24

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Shop for brakes for Volvo at FCP Euro. They will not only tell you what to buy based on your VIN, they will also exchange your old brake parts for new ones once they wear out. They have a lifetime warranty on all their parts.

Also, make sure you don’t have the electronic parking brake as you either need VIDA to retract it to remove the rears, or you need to remove the parking brake motor from the caliper which is not difficult, but it does require a new o-ring and new bolts. I think you need the brake retracting tool to do the older rear brakes - it’s essentially a socket. But maybe you don’t need one for the XC90.

Good luck!

Aremmes > Sovande 07/10/2020 at 16:29

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Thanks for the info! I was hoping that I would not need a special tool, and certainly do not for the fronts. This XC90 has mechanical parking brakes; did any first-gens get the electrics?

Sovande > Aremmes 07/10/2020 at 16:34

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Yeah the fronts should be a breeze. I don’t know about the rears ...I just watched part of a tutorial and it looks like you just need the correct size allen bit (#7 according to the video). My C30 needed the special retractor tool and my current V60 will need the brake motor removed to retract the piston. Feel lucky you don’t have to do that, because two 0-rings and 4 bolts in two small baggies are $52 which very close to the cost of 3.5 grams of weed in one small baggie.

CompactLuxuryFan > Aremmes 07/11/2020 at 00:37

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At least you have the big brakes 

Jayvincent > Aremmes 07/11/2020 at 05:18

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always watch the videos before you buy the parts! in case there are tips about things you should/should not purchase, like seals or slider pins, or a special tool you should rent/buy or totally avoid. Good luck on your second try, you got this!

Urambo Tauro > Aremmes 07/11/2020 at 10:25

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I wish more cars had an easy way to identify the brakes, like those distinct clips.

Gpny > Aremmes 07/11/2020 at 10:26

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Having had 3 xc90's 2004, 2008, 2010, here’s an easy way to do it. 316 and 336 are single piston calipers and 328 is a 2 piston caliper. You can see this by turning to full lock and looking on the inside. Btw, I upgraded my 316 brakes to 336mm on my 2004. Al that is needed is the calipers, rotors and pads from a 336 car. Everything bolts on.

The 328mm brakes have the best feel of the 3 because of the 2 piston calipers.

Astevens4 > Aremmes 07/11/2020 at 15:33

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Both my old 2005 and current 2010 have mechanical rears. Dead easy job. I’d be tempted to do a brake fluid flush while im at it tbh.

WittyB > Aremmes 07/12/2020 at 10:13

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I bought a “certified used” 2019 xc90 with 20k miles on it. It was clear the dealership never did the certified used “170 point” inspection.. the front brake rotors varied almost a millimeter as they turned causing an uncomfortable shake when stopping at anything more than 20 mph. Further, there were 3 unaddressed chips in the windshield they had to send someone to our house to seal. Then when it went in for the brake job (which they luckily covered under warranty) they came back and recommended we get 4 new tires as all 4 had some kind of damage with 2 being structural.. luckily we got them to replace those after some consternation on their part. You’d think they’d look over such a nice  car a little better

brianbrannon > Sovande 07/13/2020 at 17:46

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Done it many times without needing to replace the o-rings or bolts