I have a 1999V S80 which occasionally makes rather ominous clonking noises from the N/S suspension when going over irregular road surfaces or over undulations on a smooth road surface. Sometimes it sounds like the front suspension; sometimes the rear.
The ball joint was replaced in a recall; both steering stops have been replaced as well as both anti-roll bar links.
Any ideas?
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Suspension joints and bushes (especially front) unfortunately wear out with great regularity on the S60/V70/S80 to the degree that they can almost be classified as bi-annual service items! Take a trip round some Volvo web sites - not to mention HJ's car by car breakdown - and you'll get a flavour for what I mean. This is certainly the weakest design aspect of the entire P2 platform range of otherwise extremely well designed cars.
As it happens, my father's 1998 S80 (one of the first in the UK, owned from new) goes in for rectification of exactly this problem, tomorrow!
Oh yes, with one exception; the second weakest physical design aspect is the upper engine ('torque') mount'. If you look under the bonnet, you'll find a black transverse bar that looks like a suspension strut brace but isn't. Hanging from this bar and connecting to the upper offside end of the cylinder head is an aluminium assembly designed to stop the engine moving under load beyond certain limits. Unfortunately the rubber bushing in this assembly is too weak for the loads applied, and I'd be amazed if yours isn't torn (easy to see by squinting at the doughnut like bush from the offside). My 2003 V70 2.4T is on its second in 27k miles. Powerflex do a stronger bush(www.powerflex.co.uk/products.asp?cat=0038&catalog=...8) but the downside is a little more vibration through the bulkhead. You pays yer money, etc. Replacement is easy, and Volvo sometimes agree to absorb the cost even outside warranty (they did for me, outside the two year warranty given that I personally imported from the Netherlands). Model Year 2006 cars finally have a new bush design. Hurrah. Looks from photos like it will retrofit older P2 cars, too.
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No sooner do I write about the torque mount bush when I find this on my next visit to Swedespeed, complete with photo of the new bush assembly: forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=42986
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Thanks a lot SjB! You were spot on and the bush is just shredded. My local Volvo independent - Country Cars of Brockenhurst, New Forest - will be fixing it this week. By the way, some time ago I had a strange twanging noise coming from the F/N/S suspension which this garage found was due to a piece of tough New Forest gravel getting stuck in the suspension strut assembly - just shows that not all noises are expensive!
Thanks again.
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My pleasure to help, and thanks for the feedback.
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