I have reason to believe that my ti-rods are about to fail on my driver's side, and are starting to go on my right. When I accelerate between 30 MPH and 45MPH there is this horrific noise coming from the front driver side. I just replaced my front tires by Sears and I only had the tires for a month when it started happening. So I took the car back to Sears and they put it up on a lift and had about 5 or 6 guys looking at it because they were all puzzled about the noise. When they finally figured it out they said that I have moderate movement on the left side and my boot was torn and a slight movement on the right with a little tare in the boot. They said that I would need at least 3 new tie-rods if not all of the ones on the front replaced and that it was going to be $725 - $900. Unfortunately due to Student Loans, car payment, and only working part time, I am / was unable to get this fixed but recently it had gotten worse. It sounds like my tire is flat, but when I get out to check it with a tire gauge it reads at 33 PSI which I normally run on the tires that I have. Then I get back in and it continues and right around 35MPH the noise is so bad that it makes your ears pop, but if I go 50MPH the vibration isn't that bad and the noise is still there but it is not as loud. The weird thing is that there is only a vibration in the floor boards especially when I have my foot hovered above my gas peddle while I am coasting. Oh and I also get a Power Steering error on my instrument panel which comes on when it wants to. I checked my fluid and it is full and had the "green" fluid in it. Then yesterday morning I saw that one of the brand new tires was flat. So I aired it up and drove the car to Sears again. Luckily it was only a 5 minute drive. I told them what was going on and they said that who ever put the tire on did not put it on properly. So they re-mounted the tire on and balanced both sides for free not even mentioning that I needed tie-rods, but the noise is still there. It is a little bit fainter but I think it is going to get worse again. The other weird thing is that the car is in perfect alignment, besides the car's natural movements to the slope of the road. My Boyfriend thinks that there is something else wrong in addition to the tie-rods. I am scared to find out what this could mean but I must know, so I can try and find a solution for this problem. I am starting to wonder if Sears screwed with my tie-rods, e.g. like they bumped it really hard with the wheel or something, but on the other hand Indiana is notorious when it comes to fixing the roads, but I do not ever recall hitting a pot-hole with this car. Anyone have any ideas / advice?

 

Do you or your boyfriend have a floor jack that you can jack the car up with?

The noise you describe almost sounds like a wheel bearing going bad.

But if you want to attempt we can help you figure it out.

 

Yes he does. Yes I would like some help figuring this out before I fix the wrong part(s). I am still a novice when it comes to cars so here goes nothing... What it the difference between a wheel bearing and a tie-rod? Are they the same? Also what can tear a tie-rod boot?[sm=smiley26.gif]

 

3 new tie-rods??? I would not go back there.I doubt atie-rod would make the noise you are describing, anything can tear a boot but most of the time its just age.

A wheel bearing is what lets the tire turn, if the bearing starts to go it makes a roaring sound and maybe a vibration usually the sound will change when you make a turn.

A tie-rod is just a threaded rod it never goes bad but the tie-rod end (it screws onto the rod) has a ball joint that does go bad. It is what changes the direction your wheel is facing. As you turn the steering wheel back and forththe tie-rod moves back and forth moving the tire back and forth. There are only 2 (one on each side of the car).

Do you feel any vibration in the wheel? Does the sound change when you turn? Do you hear it more on a bumpy road?

 

He can jack the front of the car up and grab the wheel at the 3 and 9 clock position and try moving back and forth. If there is any movement and or clunking one of the inner or outer tie rods are bad. But if you get on it hard and it pulls one way I would look at the control arm bushings one might be bad.

 

Thanks for the clarification. To answer your questions...

1. No I do not feel any vibration from the steering wheel.

2. When I slow down the noise subsides but honestly the noise is so loud that I cannot hear the engine so if something goes wrong with it I would not know. I can hear the engine when I take off but when it hits about 20MPH I cannot hear the engine.

3. The noise is there no matter if it is a bumpy road or not.

Actually Sears did that and this is what they said on my Invoice. Luckily it was free. "LF Inner has Movement about 1/4 of an inch. LF Outer Tie-Rod Boot is torn. RF Inner Tie-Rod Marginal Movement as well. " They did not say how much movement was on the right side. However they did not say anything about the control arms or barrings. Just today when I was driving home I took off at a normal rate of speed from a stop light and the steering wheel jerked to the left, but nothing happened after that and it did not do it again. That kind a startled me but I was a block away from my house so I just drove it home and parked it.

 

I found this link http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/steering_recall.shtml. If it does not work let me know. Do you think I should contact Volvo and see if I am affected? Also where can I see what month my car was made?

 

It's rotational so it must be the axle/cv joint. Nothing else would make sense to me by your description. A loose tie rod wouldn't make a roaring type of noise.

Although a cv joint is normally a pretty obvious thing to diagnose from a road test for someone that's seen it before.

Normally not too difficult to change, although the cheapest one I could find for your car was $388 ouch!

 

If you have a 1/4 movement out of a tie rod I WOULD NOT drive it anymore till you get it fixed or make sure that is not the problem.

If it is that bad and you keep driving there is a possibility that it can come apart. And if it does you could be in trouble. You will loose total control of one front wheel.

Generally if it is a wheel bearing the noise will start at about 25 MPH and if you sway the car from side to side one way the noise might get louder the other way it might go away all together.

 

Well my Dad drove it around the block and when he came back to the house he had me try something. With the car running on a flat street, he told me to put a couple of fingers on the center tip of the sidewall near the top of the tire on the driver's side and see what I felt. When he moved the wheel back an forth and I felt the tire pushing in and out against my fingers. There was a noise too that sounds like a soft thump like it is hitting against something. He told me to check the other side and it was the exact same thing. He said that it is possible that it could be the steering arm but my boyfriend is swearing up and down that it is a tie-rod... Next week I am taking it to a shop and see what they say but right now I am just baffled beyond belief.

I did not think about checking it that way for the barrings. Tomorrow I will try that and see what happens.

 

OK Please keep us updated.

 

Well today, I woke up sick with a bad head cold. So Tuesday, my dad and I are going to take it to a shop and see what they say.

 

My vote is for bearings... and possibly drop links... if the car stays true while driving and is responsive on steering, not so sure on the tie rod ends/tie rods. How are the bump stops on the turn radius?

 

Well now that I am over whatever it was that I had, I took it to the shop today to get it looked at. I stood outside the shop and watched the guy take it around their huge parking lot that they had, and I did not hear anything coming from it except the normal sounds that you hear when a car drives by you. I did not even see the wheel wobbling. So the guy put it up on the lift and he started to inspect. He even took both front wheels off so he could get a better view of the tie-rods. He came to the conclusion that I needed two inner tie-rods, and one bearing, but he did voice concern for the other bearing and the outer tie-rods. So naturally my next question was how long would the outer tie-rods and and bearing hold up and he could not give me a definite answer. So I talked with my BF and his Cousin about it and they gave me the better safe than sorry speach, so I decided to replace all 4 tie-rods in the front and both bearings. The good thing is that my BF cousin works at a parts store and can get me OEM Volvo parts for cheep with his discount and the guy that I am going to have fix it does not charge an arm and a leg for labor. So all in all I am looking at a little over $800 for the whole thing. So Friday I am going to take it and get it fixed.

Honestly I was too afraid to try it so I don't know.

 

For 800 I'd do it anddrive laughing all the way home because that's a great deal... good luck!

 

Glad you finally got it looked at good and are fixing it.

I was worrying about you driving it. From the description you gave above I was really worried. But im glad you are getting it fixed!!!

 

I'm still confused a bit on the inner tie rod thing. I thought these cars only had 2 outer tie rod ends. What exactly would be classified as an inner tie rod??

Can someone clarify for me?




[IMG]local://upfiles/17751/7BB7BAF7917E496886B766C4434EC15A.jpg[/IMG]

 

It is not shown in that pic as a number it is what the outer end screws into to. Try clicking on #17 and see if it gives more of a break down.

 

[sm=thanx.gif]for all of the advice everyone! It is driving like new! No noise at all. [sm=happy046.gif]

 

Glad it is all fixed.
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