Do you have clunking you can feel under your brake foot at low speeds and in turns? Do you hear an undesirable noise coming from the front end area? You can add two large “o-rings” to take up any slack in the bushing of the subframe and eliminate the clunking. You will need two o-rings and two new bolts. Part numbers for the parts to fix this are listed in the thread.
ohmfab »
This is an excellent site with great info and hopefully my first post can also help someone out.
My 1999 S80 is sufferring from a front end clunking noise. The noise is most prominent at low speeds (20-30mph) while on the brakes and turning sharply, for instance at an intersection. Since I live in the city and have quite a few of those to navigate daily the noise has been wearing thin on me!
I am a fairly experienced wrencher and between my father and I a few Volvos have graced the garage and all of them have had clunking noises at one time or another. I’ve gotten pretty good at diagnosing these unfortunately and have already inspected the Control arm bushings, ball joints, sway bar endlinks, tie rod ends, spring isolators and upper spring mounts — they were all in excellent shape. I was a bit confused at this point.
I drove the car some more and could feel the clunk in driver floor just under the brake pedal and now I am 99% sure it is the rear subframe bushings. While the car is turning and braking the chassis of the car is shifting a bit forward on the bushing while the subframe is staying put which is resulting in the clunking noise.
I then found this site and some good information in the this thread.
After reading the thread I am sure that the O-Ring kit for the bushings is exactly what I need so I went to my dealer to order it and the parts guy looked at me like I was crazy. So I went back home and looked it up in Vadis. Found it in 2 minutes! It is RIGHT there listed as a TSB under Engine (in this section since the subframe is the engine’s mounting point to the car).
Basically as the thread above also states these large “o-rings” take up any slack in the bushing and keep it from shifting in the subframe. You will need two o-rings and two new bolts. I will be ordering these from the dealer tomorrow and should have them in this weekend and will report back.
Here are the part numbers:
Description Quantity Part No.
- O-ring 2 8638585
- Screw 2 981062
I also created a pdf of the issue with part numbers and instructions from VADIS for anyone else who has this issue and they can take them straight to the dealer.
For the record my 1999 has been quite reliable with the only major issue being the cylinder 6 injector getting stuck open resulting in huge white plumes of smoke coming from the tailpipe. The car looked like a rolling factory! This clunking noise is the second issue for me. I bought the car a year ago for my wife with 101k on the odo and paid $8000. I consider it a great value and since I can do all the maintenance myself I can actually afford to KEEP it. 
Fix that volvo front end noise.
A knocking noise that may occur when driving
at low speeds on uneven road or at sharp turns,
can be caused by one of the the rear sub frame
bushings moving in the sub-frame. The
knocking can sometimes also be felt in the
floorboard under the drivers feet.
Install an O-ring between the sub-frame and the
bodywork on the rear bushings on both left and
right side as a service solution.
Affected vehicle
Model Factory Chassis No.
S 80 1 000580 –
137346
Materials
Description Quantity Part No.
O-ring 2 8638585
Screw 2 981062
Subframe bushing, knocking noise
“VCC-130664 US 2003-03-20”
1
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
Knocking noise from subframe bushing
Removing the splash guard
Raise the car.
Remove
the screws (2)
the splash guard (1) under the engine.
–
Removing nuts and screws
Install a jack under the sub-frame and one jack
under the transmission/engine as a support.
Remove
the four nuts (1)
a screw (2) for the steering gear.
–
Removing the sub-frame
Remove
the screws holding the sub-frame brackets to
the bodywork on both sides
the 2 rear screws for the sub-frame.
Carefully lower the sub-frame no more than 50
mm (2 “) using the jack.
–
Installing O-rings
Install the O rings (1) around the bushings on
both the left and the right side. Ensure that the
O-rings are positioned firmly against the subframe.
“VCC-130663 US 2003-03-20”
1
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
Installing the sub-frame
Lift the sub-frame using the jack.
Install the 2 screws in the sub-frame together
with the sub-frame brackets.
Install the screws for the bracket.
Tighten
the screw on the left-hand side of the subframe. Tighten to 105 Nm (77 lb.ft) . Angletighten to 120°
the screw on the right-hand side. Tighten to
the same values
the screws for the bracket on both sides.
Tighten to 50 Nm ( 37 lb.ft).
–
Installing nuts and screws
Install
the 4 nuts (1) for the steering gear. Tighten to
50 Nm(37 lb ft)
the screw (2) for the steering gear. Tighten to
50 Nm (37 lb ft)
Remove the jacks.
–
Installing the splash guard
Install
the splash guard (1) under the engine
the screws (2).
–
“VCC-130663 US 2003-03-20”
2
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
“VCC-130663 US 2003-03-20”
3
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
