I've had nothing but good luck with my S60 (except for being rear ended but that wasn't the cars fault!) Until now... it seems!

I drove to Denver and back over the holiday (1920 miles round trip!) and on the way back I started to hear a growl in the drivetrain. I dropped my baby (04 S60 2.5T) off at the local dealership (Powell Volvo in Scottsdale - I love these guys!) Here is what they said.

1. Right hand motor mount is bad - being replaced under certified preowned warranty
2. Right and Left axels are bad - being replaced under cpo warranty.
3. Heater/AC Blower motor and dampener motor need to be replaced (unrelated to the drivetrain but they found this while driving it) - being replaced under cpo warranty.

Here is the BUMMER part!

1.I need a new lower torque mount - they charge $249 for this installed. (can I do this myself?)
2. I need 2 new tires - even though mine are only 4k old and when I bought them I was told by Discount Tire that I didn't need an alignment... hmmmmm I'll be talking to them.
3. I need new rear rotors and brake pads. I was told they were at 15%. They want $463.00 to replace these. Is this a fair price? Can I do this myself or elsewhere for less?
4. The big one.... I was told my "subframe" is bent. This is the one in the front of the car. I was told it was probably due to a collission of some kind. I don't remember a collission in the front. Is there any way this could be bent when I was rear ended? They did have to replace a front motor mount after I was rear ended so maybe the shock went as far as to bend the motor mount? I was told this being bent is what caused the lower torque mount to go. They want $1620.00 to replace this! Ouch! Is there any way I can get this done cheaper???

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Daniel

 

1. Yes you can do yourself.

3. You should be able to handle the rear rotors and pads if there is 15% left you should have a little bit of time left.

4. Here is what I would do have someone put it up where you can look at it and see how bad it is. If the engine looks pretty straight and the car holds an Alignment good then you can put it off for a while.

The engine mounts and torque mount goes bad all the time.(Common)

 

Tech - thank you for the reply! I'll be able to take a look at the subframe tomorrow when they have it up on a lift again to replace the axles and right hand motor mount. I'll take some pictures and post them here.

What source would you recommend for the rear rotors and pads? Do the rotors have to be replaced with the pads or can you just get new pads? My breaks don't make any noise, vibrate or anything like that. (in fact I seem to have great stopping power)

As for the torque mount - where would I go to make sure I get the right parts and instruction for installing? I was thinking about buying the Vaids DVD set off of ebay - would that tell me what I need to know?

Thanks again for your reply. This was NOT the time of year to be learning about $$$$ in car repairs!

Daniel

 

FCP groton is a great place to buy the parts.

If the rotors are at Min. thickness I would replace them. If you want when it is back in the shop have them measure the rotors and give the measurements to you and we can see if they are low enough to replace or not.

The Vadis DVD is an AWESOME tool. I have been using it for about 10 years and love it.

It will tell you have to repair things on the car and it will also show you the part numbers for parts.

 

I had a chance to go by the shop and snap some pictures. The dealer found more problems with the hvac system so the car will be in there about another week. I snapped some pictures of the bent subframe and spoke with the tech who was really cool. He basically said that this kind of bend in the subframe would "stop the car at 20mph." I know that I've never been in a front end collission or hit anything tall enough to bend the subframe like this.

I asked if they would have seen this during an oil change (as all my oil changes are done at the dealer) and he said that they probably would if they were looking for damage but that oil changes are done so fast that there isn't a great chance of that being spotted. This makes me wonder if this damage happened before I bought the car - is there any way to get that kind of information?

Overall I don't think the damage is too bad and the tech gave me some good options - what do you think of these:

1. Get a used subframe off of a car which was totaled with a rear-end or side impact. The Volvo tech said they could make sure it was 100% before putting it on.

2. Get a body shop to heat it up and bend it back into place. The tech said since the real issue is only that the torque mount is pushed into the engine a bit and is worn out. I'd have to replace the torque mount (which I can easily do now that I've seen it) after the subframe is bent back. Honestly I'm leaning toward this option. Thoughts?

Thanks again for all of your help. The brakes turned out to be in spec (rotors) so I'm going to replace the rear pads only. The rotors had pretty good wear (even) so I don't see any reason to replace them.

Thanks!

Daniel



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Me I would try to find a used one. You should be able to find one.

As far as finding it I would have been able to see that easily doing an oil change. That is pretty bad.

I don't think the heating and straightening will work very well. I would just try to find a used one and go from there.

 

Tech - Thanks for the reply. I'm quite upset about this because everything I know tells me I didn't cause this and it was there before I bought the car. Since it's been two years there is nothing I can do. I've asked the dealer for a copy of my 130 point "certified pre-owned" inspection report. I doubt that will help but we'll see. Are they obligated to give this to me?

Do you know of any sources for these parts? Is there a popular Volvo junkyard everyone uses?

Daniel

 

I would think they would hand it over easy.

I know there is a used place people here use but I forget what it is at the moment.