Does your Volvo's XC90 tailgate feel way heavier than it should? Will it no longer stay open on its own. If so chances are that one of the gas struts has failed. You can replace these in pairs but it is usually just one that fails. Why pay the dealer hundreds of dollars for a 10 minute job you can do yourself for under 30 dollars. You can purchase these for under 30 dollars to your door from here: XC90 Tailgate Struts. Before you start make sure to support the tailgate. A better solution is to have a helper as the tailgate of the XC90 is very heavy. Whatever method you use, be sure to use caution and common sense. This is supposed to cost you 30 dollars not an arm or a leg.

Volvo uses 2 blue plastic sliders to keep their windows on track. Over time these sliders tend to crack causing the window to dive or fall into the door. Volvo charges around around $400 to fix this but you can do it for under $10. This easy to follow guide will whow you all you need to know to save yourself hundreds on this repair.

In the event that the gas filler door becomes jammed or the motor stops don't worry. There is a manual release that you can get to from the trunk. This is something everyone with a Volvo 850 should know. The first step in manually releasing the door is to open the trunk as well as the access panel for the left, passenger side, taillights. With that done you should be able to see the manual release hook circled in red below. Once the hook is located pull it back and the gas filler door will release.

That's the front section of your door, with the hinge cover and the wiring harness clipped onto it. Pop the white cover off and move the harness to the side. To pull the hinge out, you'll have to rotate it 90 degrees, the end section that bolts onto the A-pillar does not clear the hole in its normal position. Below are the two hinges, top one being the $35 replacement from FCP Groton. It's an OEM part, in a Volvo bag.

Install the REPL by connecting it to the white plastic lever outside the latch. Separate the metal and plastic sections of the latch and slide the REPL and the white lever into the latch, this should be no problem. Connect the REPL to the black plastic lever. Make sure the pin of the white plastic lever is in the motor plastic guide, at this point if all the plastic parts are inserted in their correct locations, the hole of the REPL will be correctly lined up with the hole of the metal part. Take the metal pin with the reduced diameter pointing down, hold it with long needle nose pliers and carefully drop it in the hole of the REPL. You may need a second set of hands to keep the plastic and metal sections of the latch separated. This was the hardest part of my operation. I ended up removing and installing the REPL 4 times to make sure everything worked fine.

To remove the door panel, I usually have the window down, start with the cover just aft of the window switches, pry it off with a small screwdriver. Remove the 25 torx screw behind the cover. Next take off the plastic cover up by the mirror, it is held in with three stand off clips, try to get into the center before prying out, don't pry on the edges.Around the door you will find these clips holding the panel in place, to release the clips, push on the center with a small punch or pocket screw driver, they will snap in about ¼ of an inch, once you have all of then snapped in gently pry out on panel, watch it the clip will want to fly out and you'll loose them.

With time the center door hinge, mainly on the front doors can crackle or pop when you open the doors. The worst case is the bracket that the 40mm torx screw fastens to, will need to be re-welded to the A post. The best case is tightening of the 10mm nuts and 40mm torx will get rid of the noise.

To keep the squeaks down and the doors and lids moving smoothly, about every 5K or so you should take the time lubricate your Volvo. Many products are available on the market, white lithium, some use WD 40, what the shop I work in uses is a product called GEL-LUBE. Gel-Lube is made by curtisol, and is clear when sprayed on. www.CurtisIndustries.com is the web site for the gel lube. Another product used in the past is HHS 2000 by Wurth, it comes in a green and black can. What makes the lubrication easier is if the can has the small straw to attach to the nozzle.

If after pulling the hood latch , and then going out to the hood to pull the tab to open the hood, you find that the latch is stuck and you can't get the hood open, the below procedures will show how to get the hood open and replace the latch should it be broke

With years of use your struts may need to be replaced. A sure sign they have failed, is they no longer will hold your trunk open or your trunk tends to slam. A more catastrophic failure involves the struts failing all at once. In this event the trunk will suddenly become very heavy. You will also notice excess hydraulic fluid leaking from the back of the strut.