Just picked up an 04 XC90T6 AWD just turned 50k that had wornout Pirellis so naturally the road noise seemed normal. Replaced the tires but still have a road type noise from the rear. It sounds like the car has Mud tires on the rear. The noise increases with speed and is evident from 20mph on up. None of the major systems had any faultsfrom ascan tool runout.Anyonehad any problem with the wheel bearings, diff bearings or rear axles? The vehicle is extra clean otherwise.

 

Hi, Welcome to the forums.

Our XC90 ('05 V-8 AWD) had both rear wheel bearings replaced in the first 20K miles or so... first the right one, then the left onea second trip, and on the third trip the right rear bearing was replaced again. Each was replaced under warranty by Volvo. Check with your Volvo dealer about eligibility to have these replaced under warranty for you too, though your mileage may be out of the warranty window. Never hurts to askthough.

During the third service visit my wife complained to the service managerabout the fact that they didn't replace both bearings during the first service visit.Hetold her that Volvo didn't allow them toreplace the bearings across the board, it was only being doneon customer complaint, and then only one at a time. He suggested we call or write to Volvo in New Jersey to complain. When I called New Jersey they blew me off.

I share this detail with you because even if the dealer honors a warranty for you, you should be aware they may also only replace one, and you would still have the noise (assuming the source is the wheel bearings, of course), and you may need to also make a second trip to get the other side done. We didn't know this and just blindly crabbed about it until it was done right.

In case anyone is wondering why all the trips to the dealer on the near new vehicle, our '05 came with a "first four oil change / service intervals for free" as part of the purchase. They replaced the bearings while the other services were being done.

 

totally sounds like the rear bearings. Just a constant roar type noise. The dealer changed both mine at once and we had 60000 miles on the car at the time.

 

Thanks for the input to lead me in the right direction. The left rear wheel bearing was faulty. It did not have any excess play. When removed you could definately tell that it was bad though.