OK, so recently I've been experiencing some odd things which I'm sure can be easily explained but I just need to know if they will be easy fixes.

So first the most recent problem I've seen: I'm getting a weird vibration in the front end. My steering wheel is not shimming but it vibrates when I accelerate and the vibrating starts after 30 mph and its horrible when I'm at a 55 - 60 mph cruising speed, but it completely stops after I take my foot off the gas pedal. I don't hear and clicking noise when I turn, but..its hard to hear that when I'm in the car, but my guess is still the CV joint, I don't know....

Second and third problem has to do with my a\c. I've owned my 02 v70 t5 since last December and on a couple of occasions, I have came out to the car with the a\c running while the car was off. Its not cold, but its running none the less. I can even hear it out side of the car which it seems its coming from the cowl area, kinda odd right? Anyone else experience that? Another problem is that when my a\c runs, it has gone slightly warm on me. This has happened a couple of times also. But, when I turn it off and leave it off for awhile.....the a\c is cold again. I always run my a\c on the auto mode since the output is best in this selection.

I'm at my wits end with this car, I like it a lot, it has 111,000 miles on it, but this is my first Volvo, so I'm on a bit of a learning curve here lol any advice about any of this is greatly appreciated!

 

The front end shake is probably an axle. The good news is that it's not at all hard to change axles in a V70, and not that expensive unless you buy Volvo axles. I'm trying out a set of el cheapo Chinese axles - 6,000 miles in they're still working OK but I've heard a couple pops from them that make me think they might not last the 220,000 the original axles did. I'd buy Empi (Empire) axles and swap them out if I had it to do over.

The fan will run after driving the car sometimes... probably normal operation. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're hearing it hours after driving the car.

The third A/C problem sounds a LOT like an A/C compressor clutch issue (the clutch material wears until the A/C compressor clutch can't pull in - the symptoms sound exactly like yours... turn the car off and it works fine for another X number of miles). Here was my fix: https://volvoforums.com/forum/2001-2...-option-78578/
You might want to consider pulling the compressor down where you can more properly re-shim it (or more accurately, "de-shim" it) but my fix seems to be working perfectly well 6,000+ miles on.

Good luck with your Volvo - that's really not many miles, and those aren't big problems - just regular "maintenance items" that you could solve for peanuts (especially the fan, which you can probably just ignore).

 

Ah a CV joint is not bad, that's easy to fix for sure. Where did you buy yours from? I see that rockauto.com has great prices on parts usually.

Well with the fan issues, I cant tell you if it runs for a long time or not, but I know the last time the fan turned on without the car running was when I drove it for a few miles to meet up with some friends to get something to eat and I came back about an hour or so later and the fan was running, so I'm not sure how long it was running. If it does it again.....will it top running after awhile? Just don't want it draining the battery or anything. I mean I probably shouldn't worry about it since just yesterday I left my parking lights on for a few hours and the car started perfectly fine surprisingly.

I really appreciate the speedy response !!

 

I bought my axles from an ebay vendor. I thought I was getting Empi axles but had mis-read the ad (my fault). Rockauto.com does have about as consistently good pricing as anyone out there, and a better selection than almost anyone.

I haven't ever really worked out how long the fan might run after the car is shut off - I've seen mine running up to about an hour later, but it's REALLY hot here, so I would imagine it's a worst case scenario (110 degrees ambient, plus the sun shining on the hood to the point you can't stand to open it).

Good luck getting your car fixed... sounds like you should be at 100% pretty easy.

 

Oh yea, I really appreciate the helpful info. I was at my wits end with this car like I said, but im glad its nothing terrible. My volvo is my daily driver so thats why I was a little extra worried, but im good now. Ive changed cv joints on a mitsubishi a few times so im definitely capable fo do it. Thanks again!!!

 

How's the tire wear? At that mileage, it's getting about time to change the bushings in the lower control arms (which can also cause shake during acceleration). Many folks opt to replace the LCA's rather than change the bushings. I'll be replacing the bushings in about a week (at about 128k miles) and will post my experience. I'd gone in to have an alignment after my old tires had worn very quickly on the insides and was informed the bushings were shot so they couldn't do the alignment until it was resolved.

As long as the A/C compressor isn't making a bunch of loud noises while running, then habbyguy is right about the likely culprit of your a/c troubles being too much clutch gap on the compressor. See his recent thread about it that presents 2 ways to go about resolving the issue.

 

Webbch, I'm going to save you a lot of trouble and suggest swapping out the control arms. I finally managed to press in the front bushing on one CA, but destroyed the other CA trying to press that one in. The rear bushings are dead easy, but even with a 12-ton press, that rear one just doesn't want to go in, plus the shape makes it nearly impossible to press it in straight. If you had a fixture to hold the CA in place while pressing, it would help, but I suspect it would still be a bear.

 

Yeah, so I've heard about the front bushing. I've fabbed up some fixtures to help hold it straight, and another one for the pusher. I have to cut a notch out of one side of the "holder" in order to hold it straight yet, but I think I'm reasonably well prepared to do the job. Also have a 20 ton press, although I'll admit I start getting worried at anything beyond about 5 tons of pressure (I installed a pressure gauge on the press to monitor the applied force). Maybe in a week or so, I'll come skulking back here, and let you say "I told you so", LOL.

The one thing I've gathered is that you MUST support from the backside of the the front bushing (as opposed to setting the CA on the press, and likely bending the front bushing tab...if that makes any sense). Due to the angles on the CA, that's why the "holding" tool needs a notch cut out of one side.

 

My tire wear is fine, when I bought the car, the tires were brand new. I do hear a very slight clicking noise (atleast i think its that) when I pull into a parking space or what not, so im kinda sure its the cv joint, but oddly enough, as of late the shaking has subsided a lot, even at highway speeds its actually comfortable to drive my car again. My a/c compressor isnt making any bad noises at all, but I did save the link where the guy used wire to space the clutch to where it doesnt five me a problem anymore. Thats a good cheap fix for right now. When I get time next weekend ill take a look at the front end a little bit closer.