~1998 S70 fwd, automatic, non-turbo, 190K

I have a hellacious, non-rythmic noise in the right front at 20-30 mph. When the throttle or the brakes are applied, the noise immediately disappears. The noise seems to go away at higher speeds but I cannot rule out the possibility that it is masked by road noise.

1) There is a non-damping strut in that location but bouncing the body reveals no unusual sounds. The upper mount does not appear to be falling apart.

2) Rust is coming out the a/c clutch, which is probably a harbinger of future seizure, but listening carefully with a stethoscope reveals nothing remarkable.

3) The right inner axle boot has a small hole that has been throwing grease for a while and there is a bit of play in the joint in some positions. The familiar sound of a bad cv on acceleration and/or turns is absent, however.

 

Man Tom, shounds like you have things somewhat under control. I would fix the CV and see if that fixes it.

 

[update] The CV axle was changed and the noise remains.

 

Have you checked all the suspension parts?
Like spring seat and sway bar links.
Are the front tires good?

 

I have a 98 S70 T-5 auto with a little over 100k with the EXACT same problem. Mine is more of a knocking noise and goes away on acceleration and braking as well. It's coming from the PS side of the vehicle and is more pronounced at lower speeds. I sometimes can hear the knocking right as the engine is firing up for a split second but I can't replicate the sound by pulling or pushing on the suspension parts or wheels, this includes on jack stands or on the ground.

Things I have replaced

Both spring seats and spring seat bearings
Both inner and outer tie rod ends
Both sway bar end links
Both rotors and brakes and calipers
Ball joints or control arms
All engine and tranny mounts

All parts were purchased from IPD except the brakes (Napa)

I have rechecked and retorqued every nut and bolt that I wrenched on but the noise remains. Now one thing that alleviated the noise a little were the new control arms ??? why....I have no clue. And like you my CV joints or bearings show or produce sounds of the normal indicators of going bad. I was thinking a bad strut as well but like I said I can't reproduce the noise from bouncing and there are no visual signs(oil leaking) or performance signs that they are bad. I'll keep an eye on this post and maybe somebody has a solution.

Jimmy Shinyeda
Seattle WA

 

If you happen to remove the strut again and have the spring off you might be able to feel it that way. If it was in the rear I would have said remove the shock and drive it. But you cannot do that with the front.

 

I replaced the always-loose ball joint/control arm and sway bar link in the first round of repairs. I've seen the loose-upper-mount malady before and this one looks OK (at least on the car). I couldn't find a broken coil. I suppose that I might as well pull the strut/spring assembly out, take it apart and inspect it. The shock doesn't have any damping left and needs to be changed anyway. Not this week, though... it's too bloody hot.


Jimmy,

We are both going to feel mighty stooopit when we finally sort this out.

 

Yea I hear you there, it's not my daily driver so I'm not to worried about it now, oh one other thing is the noise almost completly goes away if I have a heavy passenger as well and it is not the subframe mounts. I'm actually waiting for something to break to find out what it is. Here's a pic of my S70 T-5, Bought it new in 1998 and have owned it since.

Stay cool

Jimmy
Seattle WA