Dear Tom and Ray:

Your column is great! I need a little help with a big noise. My teen-age daughters have been driving a '79 Volvo 242 DL for several years. Anyway, my youngest just informed me that the car was making a strange sound. When I took it out for a test spin, all of a sudden as I was accelerating, it sounded as if someone were under the car between the front seats, banging for all they were worth to be let go. I looked under the car, and no one was there! Any ideas? -- Judy

Tom: Well, it was smart of you to look under the car, Judy, because the first thing I'd check for under these circumstances would be teen-age boys!

Ray: But since there were none there (or they gave up and let go before you got back home), I'd have to suspect a bad center bearing. This is a rear-wheel-drive car with a two-piece drive shaft. And where the two halves of the drive shaft meet (right about between the front seats), there's a stainless-steel bearing.

Tom: That bearing is caged in rubber and attached to the bottom of the car with a bracket. And when that whole thing wears out, the drive shaft can move around enough to actually start banging against the underside of the car.

Ray: A new center bearing and rubber cage will cost you about a hundred bucks, installed, Judy. And that should take care of it.

Auto repairs can be costly! Save money by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1998 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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