vibration only there during Acceleration
 

I have a 2001 s40 1.9T. New tires and balance but still have vibration only during Acceleration. I am taking it in next week to have the front Axle's looked at. They said it would cost 340.00 per axle USD (parts and Labor). First of all is this the problem and second is this a good price?

RE: vibration only there during Acceleration
 

The check engine light doesn't flash does it?
If not then I would say axles.
That is a pretty good price.

Hi,

Long-time listener, second time caller. I have the same problem on my wife's 2002 S40. Above ~50 MPH there is a strong side-to-side shimmy, on acceleration only. My thought is CV joints, and she swears it's from the passenger side (I can't tell) so I was going to try replacing the right half axle. However, I read that the same problem could be caused on a transverse engine by a worn torque arm. I can't find one on the Volvo, but found the two engine mounts underneath. They look fine, but the engine moves almost an inch in each one (more in the front than the rear) when holding the brake and repeatedly shifting D-R-D-R. Is this a normal amount of travel? Should I start here or with the CVs?

I can't hear the distinctive rum-rum-rum bad CV joint noise I've heard from other cars in the past, and all the boots look intact. I don't see grease thrown anywhere. However, they probably are the originals (motor mounts too) and the car has 134k miles on it.

Last questions, how hard is each of these jobs? I've done CV joints once before on a '94 Mazda Protege and it was a PITA. If I do the CV joints, do I also need the transmission seal? Any other parts I might not think of.

Thanks!

Andy

A little more information--recently it's been a little hard to start. It occasionally stumbles once it seems to catch and she releases the key, sometimes dying. Could this be motor mount related? All I've done on this issue is replace spark plugs. It runs fine otherwise, no missing acceleration, no codes.

I would say axles. The job is not all that bad.

On the starting that might be a bad fuel pressure regulator.

I had the same problem as the OP. Replaced both bottom motor mounts, no fix. Currently replacing right side axle. We will see if it fixes it.

What does the flashing check engine light mean?

Usually means the car is currently misfiring as it is driven or another serious engine issue.

as a best practice, any time you see the CEL come on you should scan for stored fault codes - regardless of whether the light stays on or goes out. If you plan on doing your own work you can clear the codes to see if they return or if you plan on taking to a shop, you should write down the codes but don't clear so the tech can review. In the case of the blinky light, I'd expect to see something like P030x (where the x can be 0 for a generic misfire or the number of the badly behaving cylinder)