Volvo Repair: Grinding noise in 1991 240 brick, hacksaw blade, volvo specialist

Question
My 1991 240 SW has developed a grinding noise coming from the rear end. It's intermittent but here's some of the symptoms. It goes away when I turn left or right. It tends to go away when I drive uphill. On warm days it is less noticible than on cold days. It will happen most often when I am going down hill. At slow speeds it seems to go away when I pull up the parking brake. I just took it to the mechanic (not a Volvo Specialist) and he couldn't find anything. Wheel bearings were ok - Differential/rear axle have  plenty of lubricant. So? Ball joints, differential, caliper hang up, parking brake hang up? I thought that your experience might have brought up the same thing.  Thanks

Answer
Hello Roger,
            If I were to take a guess as to what your problem is....I'd say e-brake hardware is rusted and binding causing noise...2nd choice....caliper sticking and cooks disc and causes pads to wear quickly....
3rd choice...Drain oil from diff....look at quality of lube...acertain if metal in oil....
Some times as the 240 gets over 130,000 stuff needs to be cleaned and inspected...especially if you drive thru lots of puddles live in harsh environment...Alaska,on ocean edge or dirt roads... the underneath parts get much abuse...especially e-brake cable and all the parts within the e-brake drum...
I have repaired drillions of e-brake problems....most often caused by rusted parts...that will work fine...but you must go in and clean and lube the hardware..also check that pads move freely in caliper...if not...remove pads clean areas touching pads...I use hacksaw blade to remove rust that accumulates on the flat surfaces...add water soluable lube in caliper flat areas...clean metal edges of pads..

Again,my choice is....E-BRAKE related parts.

Let me know....what you find.
Bilbo