okay...i own a 2000 Volvo S40 1.9T. The problem with my car is that whenever i turn, gas, or brake there is a poppin sound coming from the front end of the car...it's kinda hard to explain but i took it over to the dealership and they said that the top mount of my strut bearings were cracked in an egg shape...i also took it to goodyear, where i have a few friends working at, and they said that the sway bar is out of place and is hitting against the floor board...

know my problem is who to trust!?!? my friends at goodyear do have a point because i looked under the car at the dealership and goodyear and the sway bar was in two different spots...one against the floor board and the other at the correct spot.

the dealership wants me to pull the stut bearings out and see if there is any egg damage...but i do and dont believe them....
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

 

The sway bar bushings sound like the noise you explained.
The strut top mount won't make that noise all the time like it does.

They are a pain to change though.

 

We had the same problem, it was the rods on the end of the sway bar, we had it to the mech many times and he said he could find nothing. One day the noise got worse and we discovered the rods had snapped and were banging on the body.
Also the rubbers on the top of the shockers thump on the body, this can be seen from under the hood, just bounce the car andlook forany movement in the top shocker mounts.

 

My 2000 S40 1.9T is doing the exact same thing. I can't find it anywhere. It is going in to Volvo on Monday. I'll update afterward.

 

OK, here we go. It was in fact the stabilizer bar link. Part cost $48.30, labor $49.20. I got out of the dealer's for about $100. I didn't think that was too bad.

 

so front end suspension on the S40 has problems? what should I watch/listen for on mine? a popping sound, and sway bar linkage breaking?

 

The end links wear out.
Sometimes unless they have been done already the sway bar bushing will come apart.
They are a 2 piece aluminum bracket will rubber in the middle. They snap together around the sway bar.
If they have been replaced there is a bracket that stop the lower portion from sliding out of the upper part. That is usually why they come apart the lower slides out of the upper.

 

would upgrading the rubber to polyurethane inprove the life of this particular bushing? I know sometimes things can come apart due to the, for lack of a better word, smooshiness of a rubber bushing.

 

Im not sure anyone even makes them for the S40.