I have 1998 S70 T5 with 211K miles on it.
Bought it about ten years ago with 60K on it.

My mechanic went out of business two years ago and I am trying to do some repairs myself.

Left front wheel bearing was going bad, so I rebuilt the front end.
Bearings, struts, CV Shafts and seals, changed transmission fluid, replaced front 02 sensor and brought it in for an alignment.

I still have a noise that I cannot find. On releasing the clutch in first or 2nd gear, is sounds like what I used to get with a bad motor mount. A rattle under harder acceleration, goes away when not accelerating. Almost sounds like an exhaust pipe hitting something.

Mounts look fine - top one is new (well, close to it - certainly not damaged).

In replacing the CV shafts, the dealer talked me in to the lower priced Chinese version. These shafts have just a touch of play both in the axial and radial directions.

The original Volvo shafts with much mileage on them do not seem to have any play at all.

I cannot find any spec for how much they should move.

The right one seems to make a bit of noise (when turning left), but it does not seem to have any more play than the left one (US Car - drivers side on left).

No clicking around turns.

New bearing was rough on right side - replaced it again.

Does anybody know how much play the CV shafts should have?

Or - am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

Given the age and mileage of the car I would change all of the motor mounts (there are three on the botom plus one torsion mount) and all of the exhaust rubber mounts. Just because they look good does not mean they are still working correctly. The rubber gets hard and brittle after about ten years. I just did mine on my S70 and it's very easy and only cost about $130. Also did you replace the lower front control arms? Given the mileage I would guess the ball joints are now worn out. If the boots on the CV joints are still intact and you cannot turn the axles but a small amount then they are probably fine.

 

Sorry about that - I started a new thread when I couldn't find the motor mount behind the wheel.
The other motor mounts were changed within the past three years.
The LH control arm was last year, RH this year.

Real issue was the bearing, frustrated by the fact that i got a defective one from the dealer. They stood behind it, though.

And then the RF Caliper locked up from sitting.

Pretty frustrating - I put almost $2000 worth of parts in to a car that is probably not worth that much on the open market.

However, for $2000 there is no way I could buy a ride as sweet as this one!

 

I have about $1300 in my car this last year but there are still some more issues that need to be addressed. Good to hear you are able to resolve the problems.