Hi all,
I've had a look around and cant find the information that I'm looking for - and volvo WILL rebuild my entire car if I ask them.

I have a 2004, V70 it's the 2.4 AWD - it has about 120k miles on the clock.

so I think I have 2 problems - although it might just be one.

When I drive over a rough surface my right side suspension sounds like it's creaking away quite nicely - Ironically enough this only started after the volvo dealership changed my cam belt.

The second problem I have is that no matter which wheel I put on the front right hub the wheel catched the brake calliper.
I've tried reseating the brake pads a couple of times and it's made no difference and everything looks ok (which doesnt mean it is - it just means I've missed something).

the only thing I could think of myself is change the pads for new ones - I did try comparing them against the old ones and they look identical.

incidentally, I climbed under the car today with a crowbar. I could get things with rubber bushes to move but noting is torn and I couldn't move them without the crowbar.
The track rod ends I could move the ball join end with my hand but there was some force required (again nothing appeared to be broken).

when the car was off the floor and the suspension at it's full length I did try playing monkey on the struts top and bottom - again no movement.

any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Paul.

 

Not a mechanic. But after 100k plus. If the ball joints and the control arm bushing look ok.

I would check the Engine Mount under the hood it connects to the stabilizer bar the rubber bushings in these begin to wear out at this mileage. Also the the transmission mount on the bottom of the car the rubber bushings can begin to wear out.

The most uncommonly identified problem is the sub-frame bushings. Like all these other suspension related issues. They can cause the engine to shift when going over bumps, taking turns, etc. I would check all the other first. Personally my s60 which has 175k on it now. I just rebuilt the front end suspension. Control arms, bushings, struts, mounts. I am waiting on polyurethane sub-frame bushing inserts from IPD USA. They have video's on these. But basically when I get them I can install them without having to go through the nasty process of replacing the sub-frame bushings. I can just put in the inserts and all the front suspension should be done. The only other thing I will say I did replace recently was the Sway Bar end links on both sides. They have rubber components that were quite well worn down considering the mileage on my car.

 

Squeaks like this one can be difficult to find, at least until they get bad enough to replicate while you're laying under the car looking for them. It's almost certainly a bushing, so there's always the option of just replacing bushings (which aren't all that expensive) until the squeak stops. The "inexpensive" thing assumes you don't have the dealer do it... But look at the lower control arm bushings, particularly the rear one - they can get pretty bad before you feel much effect.

A trick I use sometimes is to spray individual bushings with silicone lubricant. Then I just drive over the kind of bumps that induces the squeak, and if it changes, I have identified the culprit.

As for the brake rubbing... ???? Something sounds wrong about this. There is NO way that there should be contact between the brake caliper and the wheel, so something HAS to be bent or mis-assembled. See how much clearance you have on the other front caliper, and then figure out why the two are different. Maybe the dealership removed the caliper when they changed your timing belt and reassembled it wrong (in fact, I'd bet money this is the case). And FWIW, this is a pretty good candidate for the source of the odd noises coming from the right side of the car.

 

Ok guys here's an update and one that might be useful to others:

The brakes clipping the wheels - here's a good one.
When you take the calipers off to change the pads there are two slugs (with a 7mm allen fitting in the inside end).
These things slide inside the caliper.
When you change the pads you should also take these things out and clean them.
On mine for some reason dirt had built up on one side and so when the caliper was pushing out it was pushing out at about 30 degrees instead of flat - this meant that it was pushing in such a way as to clip the wheel weights.

To get around this I simply took out the slugs, cleaned them and added some grease. New pads went in and everything was fine.

for the suspension - I still haven't found out what's making the noise although I did find that the engine mount at the front, underneath the engine was wrecked (it only took about 10 minutes to fix - including getting the kids to pass me the tools).

When I have time I'll strip the strut out.

Hope this helps someone.
Paul.

 

I forgot to update this thread.
I corrected the issue.

The problem was the strut top bearing - if was holding up but badly worn (so when you rotate it by hand you could feel the bearing growling) and it was deformed.

Changed it and also the rubber underneath it and everything was fine again.

Hope that helps someone.
Paul.