My old Volvo S40’s been acting crazy since that thunderstorm last week. Started making this awful grinding noise every time I braked, so I parked it in the garage thinking “here we go again”. Decided to tackle five big headaches today based on forum chatter about 2007 models.
First nightmare: the screaming brakes
Pulled the front wheels off with my rusty socket set – pads looked totally chewed up. Rust chunks were welded to the rotor, nasty stuff. Went down to AutoZone for budget pads and rotors. Had to whack the old rotors with a sledgehammer for 20 sweaty minutes before they gave up. Pro tip: slather the new rotor hubs with anti-seize so they don’t freeze solid next winter.
Next up: that freaky power window
Driver’s window dropped with a thunk two days ago. Popped the door panel off, fingers all greasy. Saw the regulator cable snapped clean in half. Ordered a cheap Amazon replacement part, which showed up with stripped bolts! Ended up drilling them out, cussing at the stripped threads. Took three hours total fighting with those damn aluminum regulators.
Then came the check engine light circus
Code reader showed P0171 – lean condition. Checked all vacuum lines with starter fluid spray. No dice. Almost gave up til I wiggled the air intake hose behind the engine. Found a thumb-sized crack sucking in extra air! Patched it with duct tape and electrical tape (yeah, ghetto fix) til the new hose arrives.
Surprise AC failure
Forgot this was common! Turned on AC and heard zero compressor click. Tested relays – nothing. Went full caveman mode: smacked the compressor clutch with a wrench while the wife turned the key. Click! Hiss! Freed up the stuck clutch. Will need a real fix come summer but blows cold for now.
Final headache: flickering dash
Instruments went dark randomly. Pulled the dimmer switch under the headlight knob – brittle plastic fell apart in my hands! Found an identical junkyard switch from an ’04 S60. Had to re-solder two tiny wires that tore during install. Works perfectly now.
Total damage: $170 in parts plus two busted knuckles. Garage looks like a tornado hit it. But hey – no weird noises anymore!
