I Recently purchased a used 2011 s80 T6 AWD. I bought it from a family member who has always serviced it at Volvo from new and the car is in great condition! It’s got 160k on the clock.

After a few weeks of driving I have noticed that I get a vibration under acceleration consistently at 30-40kmh. If I drive slowly it’s worse, at the same time though if I’m giving it a little more and speed up faster I don’t get any vibration?! I don’t get any vibration on deceleration.

I took it to my regular mechanic and he is confused and says it’s potentially the drive shaft or even a brace holding the drive shaft??i read on here that I could potentially switch off the AWD by pulling a fuse, to troubleshoot. Is this an option?

any experience out there on this issue??

 

there are a few possibilities 1) axle shafts - any torn boots or signs of leaking grease? Any clicking noises from the front when doing a slow K turn? 2) drive shaft bushings - most AWD drive cars have a center bushing that can wear 3) wheel bearing - does the sound/vibration change when turning left vs right at 30-40 mph? Note the AWD is not normally engaged - there's an electronically controlled differential lock that turns on when wheel slippage is detected. Most time the power is going to the front wheels. When the the diff lock kicks in, then power goes to the rear. 4) motor mount or transmission mount. Any signs of excessive engine movement when "power braking" (ie car in gear, brake pedal pressed hard, tweak the throttle to see if the engine moves - but do this safely, ie don't have the car pointed at anything and don't stand in front in case your assistant lets the car lurch)

My bet would be on one of the front axle shafts or a motor mount

 

thank you for your reply! I will be sure to try those things as soon as I can. I can give a small update, this morning I removed the AWD fuse and boom, no vibrations at all. Smooth riding.

does this narrow it down? Also, besides obviously now not having AWD drive/dstc is there any other bad implications of running the car around with the fuse removed temporarily?