Well folks, looks like this car is turning out to be the nightmare I was afraid it was going to be. I replaced all the plugs a little over a week ago because it was making an awful noise when cold and pulling out of the driveway. It seemed to get quieter after it got warm. I thought maybe it was just skipping when cold. I changed all of the plugs which had never been done before. That didn't help anything.

I had a friend ride with me afterwards and he said he could feel it from the passenger side. It's especially bad when cold and turning right when leaving the driveway. I remembered seeing some grease from the right inner CV boot when I first got it and was taking the shims out of the A/C compressor clutch. So I figured that it must be the CV joint. I ordered a reman axle and it showed up yesterday.

The first thing I noticed after I jacked the car up and crawled up under it was oil underneath it. It was bone dry when we got it a few months ago. After I got that aggravating cover off the bottom to get started on the axle I noticed it was the oil plug leaking. I changed it several weeks ago and it's tight. It looks like there's a crush washer on it though. I've got them on both of my VW's but I've never replaced them that I can recall and never had a problem.

So I went ahead and put the new axle in. I don't know if that's going to cure the noise problem because the car was still a little warm from when my wife returned home from her doctors visit. But I'm definitely going to have to do something with the oil plug. Was wondering if anyone else has had this problem.

 

Is it a turbo? If so it might be a leak coming from the turbo oil return which is located above the drain plug (at least it is on the older x40). I'm told you are supposed to replace the crush washer each time. If it has been re-used a few times that might be the source of the leak....

 

He has the 2.4i so no turbo.

When my drain plug started leaking I tried several different washers until I found a metal one that worked. The plastic ones and rubber ones only worked for a short time. The PITA comes from draining the oil into a clean pan and then pouring it back into the engine every time you try a new washer.

 

That's right, no turbo. Anything I've owned that uses those crush washers on the drain plugs usually comes with the new filter. I don't think I've ever changed them though. I don't remember seeing one in the filter we bought for this car. Only the o-ring for the plastic housing. I might have to start another thread about this awful noise it makes when its cold. Definitely wasn't the CV joint since I just took it for a drive.

 

Did you go back with the OEM style aluminum crush washer?

 

I would check out the passenger side top motor mount. Its hydraulic and when those start to leak and get low on fluid they cause alot of noise, especially at idle or in gear with the brakes applied. Once they warm up the noise and vibration can completely disapear.

 

That makes sense. It sounds like something vibrating and it's definitely coming from the right side. I thought it was skipping so I changed the plugs and that didn't change anything. So the only other thing I could think of was a CV joint. Boy I hope that's what it is. I've been thinking about worst case scenario stuff like the tranny. Thanks for all of the advice guys!

 

I couldn't tell a whole lot about the right mount when I went back outside to check it out. It doesn't look hydraulic to me without taking it off although it looks worn. Here is the best picture of it I can find.

SIDE MOUNT, RIGHT for 2006 Volvo S40|31262676

When I had it up on the ramps and had the wife shifting between R and D. This is the one I see that looks like all of the rubber has completely broken loose. It's supposedly called the torque strut.

Febi 29747 Engine Torque Strut Mount

But I don't see any of the other mounts shown in this diagram other than those 2 that are holding that motor and tranny in there.

ENGINE & TRANS MOUNTING for 2006 Volvo S40

 

I could be off on the hydraulic part. My s40 is a 2003 and has one, but after 2004.5 they updated everything so maybe its not hydraulic anymore. But it still sounds like a motor mount issue to me.

 

Here is what the upper mount has been known to do:


Check the aluminum bracket that the lower mount connects to. Mine was cracked. The car was in an accident before I bought it and that could be the reason for failing. I welded the crack shut as that was easier than replacement.

 

Is this the part you're calling the lower mount?

TORQUE ARM for 2006 Volvo S40|31277998

This place is calling it the torque arm which is connected to the torque strut on the left side of the car. The arm is fine, the other piece is broken loose on the inside where all the rubber is. It also looks like the one on the right side. The one you show in your picture has been hitting against it's bracket that's above it since I saw some shiny metal and a little rubber there.

 

There's a fluid in the center. When they rupture, it can get messy.

 

It makes perfect sense because it goes away when it warms up good. I just don't see how they got any fluid inside that mount although I haven't taken it off yet. I'm going to replace them both I guess when I do the timing belt.

 

So it is hydraulic, or sort of anyway. The hyd mount on my Ford Focus, which is very similar in setup to an S40, went bad a few months ago. Vibrated and made alot of racket until it warmed up then was fine. Replaced it and everything was smooth as butter

 

Well folks, I got it all done I think. Last week I ordered replacement oem style crush washers for the oil plug. I did something I don't believe I've ever done before when changing oil. I actually got my torque wrench out after all the oil drained and torqued the drain plug to its spec. That seems to have cured that. I just cant ever remember having that problem before.

Yesterday, I got the timing belt kit and the new right motor mount. I finished it up late yesterday afternoon. I've attached a pic of what the old mount looked like off the car. What a PITA! I must've jacked that motor up and down 100 times it seems trying to get to everything. I did have trouble with the cams moving when trying to stretch the new belt over them. I finally got a small piece of wood and wedged in between them to keep them still. Rolled it over by hand 3 complete revolutions. Put it all back together and fired it up. It started right up but had some noise. I was almost 100 percent sure it was a bearing from one of the timing belt pulleys.

Come to find out, I did have the belt over tightened thanks to VIDA. Is it just me or does it seem like it's a waste of time and money. I'm not a member of the geek squad or anything. But I'm fairly computer saavy. I find VIDA incredibly hard to navigate. The only way I was able to find the timing belt procedure was look under heating and cooling and then on the water pump section. From there I was able to access it from a link on the water pump page. On the other image attached you'll see a picture of part of the procedure on the tensioner. It's a different kind of tensioner than the one I have once I looked closely. It showed the indicator in about the 3 o clock postition. Of course this would be made MUCH easier if there were directions instead of just pictures./rant over

So I came here last night and scoured the board. I found a pic in a thread that Hudini posted showing the tensioner and its proper setting. I went back out this morning and took it all back apart. I reset the tensioner and put it all back together. VOILA, problem solved, runs like a champ and no noise from the pulleys. Buttoned everything up and got it off the jackstands and took it down the road. No more of that awful noise when its cold either. So the new mount must've cured that too. So for right now it looks like all is well. On a side note. Does anyone know where you can get a good repair manual for this car that has some directions in it? I find illustrations helpful as well. But I like to be able to read about the procedure that I'm about to perform.

 

VIDA can take some getting used to. But after using it enough, you remember where things are. Of course, it helps that I use it daily. I have some of the function group codes for procedures memorized.

For the 2006, they started referring to the belt drive as "Transmission". Not "Power Transmission", which is for the drive train. So under Engine you have to click Transmission to find the timing belt (Function Group 215). Not that it helps you now!

As for the repair illustrations without text, I don't know a single tech who likes that they started doing that. I hate it.

 

Yeah, I found that out once I finally got to it. I still don't understand it. The timing belt doesn't have a damn thing to do with the transmission as far as I know. Why would they even put it under that section? Or am I just missing something?

 

That's why they differentiate between that and Power Transmission. Technically, the belt is transmitting motion from the crank to the cams and water pump... But I agree it would have been simpler to call it Timing Belt or similar.

We are about to get an all new VIDA, which will communicate with the current platforms as well as the new SPA cars. I can't wait to see what kind of weird stuff I have to get used to.

 

Um, yeah, that motor mount needed to get replaced...

Also, you said

Yeah, that's for sure! As to manuals, the Swedespeed forum for s40's has some good "howto" threads about service procedures. Haynes also has a S40 manual. Props on digging into the real thing though - there are some points that no other reference will cover.

(Pointer: try using the "search" function. It will turn up results when you are flummoxed by Volvo's naming choices.)

 

No way man, that mount was only broke about halfway around. I pulled it the rest of the way apart. That thing should've been good for another 200K Thanks to everyone for all of the advice. One last question. Is it normal for these engines to use some oil in between changes? I could've sworn that I got it full when I drained and refilled it last week. I checked it yesterday and it looks about half a quart low.