Volvo V70 AWD - 'Clanking' noise when driving

PaulV70 · Post by **PaulV70** » 24 Jan 2010, 16:30

Hi Guys,

I need some advice please.

The car is a 1998 V70 AWD, 20V engine automatic car. It has about 110,000 miles and a full volvo service history.

There is a noise which has just appeared, which sounds like it is comeing from around the gearbox area. The car is my Dad's, and he sent me the following to describe it:

So far the noise happens once the car is warm, in as much that it happened first when the car was already warm, and today it only started once the car had been driven for about 20 minutes. It is a clacking noise, as though a piece of metal was hitting another piece of metal. The sound is as if the prop shaft was sometimes touching the body, but no vibration is felt in the cabin. The frequency is proportional to the car speed. It seems to start with a vibration noise as though something is rattling, then it can become quite loud, so that a pedestrian might turn to look at the noise. The noise is not constant, and comes and goes for no apparent reason. It happens at low speeds (but I have not driven it fast since the noise started), including from walking speed upwards. I get the impression it is coming from outside of a compartment, rather than from e.g. inside the gearbox – the sound is not muffled. Started yesterday, and returned today after driving for 20 mins. I have the impression it is related to road speed rather than engine speed.

I would be very grateful for any help or suggestions as to what this is.

Thanks,

Paul

Post by **holler1** » 24 Jan 2010, 19:13

With the AWDs, this seems to happen a lot with propshaft joints (the driveshaft that couples from the transaxle to the rear differential). There are two CV joints, one front and one back, and a universal joint in the middle with a bearing. In my AWD, I repaired the front CV joint once and it is making noise again. Suggest you check those for looseness. You can remove the propshaft/driveshaft for a temporary fix and to check to see if that is where the noise is, and drive it as an FWD.

PaulV70 · Post by **PaulV70** » 25 Jan 2010, 04:13

Hi,

Thanks very much for the response, I have passed it on to my Dad. I will check the driveshaft and CV joints when im at his house next. I am also guessing that is is drive shaft related.

Thanks

WeAre06 · Post by **WeAre06** » 25 Jan 2010, 10:20

The heat shields that line the exhaust/drive shaft tunnel often come loose and rest on the drive shaft causing a small speed related noise.

The drive shaft more likely the problem, but maybe you'll get lucky with a loose heat shield

PaulV70 · Post by **PaulV70** » 03 Feb 2010, 14:15

Thanks for the response.

Well after looking it over and seeing nothing superficially wrong, my dad took it to a garage, who couldn't find any problem, but did suggest it was a tyre (absolute madness) so swapped around some tyres and surprise surprise it made no difference (as I say, absolute madness!).

He then took it to Volvo who say it "might" be the prop shaft bearings, but they have never heard this noise before (I find this so hard to believe, the V70 is probably THE most common volvo in the UK!). They are quoting £450 to fix this, but arn't sure it will fix it.

I will let you know what it is in the end!

Thanks

PaulV70 · Post by **PaulV70** » 03 Feb 2010, 14:19

Oh, is the drive shaft on these cars boxed in? The Volvo 'engineer' (mechanic) said that he could not see the shaft on this car, and would have to take it appart to see what the diameter of it is. He then said that if it was a certain size then Volvo would not be able to get the parts. All seems very odd to me.

Oh, he also said (when my dad suggested the prop bearings, based on what has been said on here) that 'a Volvo engineer knows a lot more than anybody on a forum', except how to fix a Volvo it should seem!

Thanks again

WeAre06 · Post by **WeAre06** » 03 Feb 2010, 15:22

On the US version of the V70 the drive shaft (propshaft) is not "boxed in". It is however tucked into the belly of the car with the exhaust. It is easily visible with the car jacked up or on a lift.

The 1998-2000 awd v70 use 3 different drive shafts.
1. early 1998
2. late 1998 - 1999
3. 2000
You need the VIN to figure out which drive shaft you have . Or you can measure the flange size.

Post by **holler1** » 04 Feb 2010, 19:02

WeAre06 is right, the driveshaft is easily seen and reached either on a rack or ramps. Here's a picture of the rear section of it.

: v70 awd driveshaft.jpg (18.02 KiB) Viewed 15720 times

altadenavolvo · Post by **altadenavolvo** » 08 May 2010, 01:03

Thanks for all of the posts. I am having a similar if not identical problem. I just purchased a 2000 Volvo V70 Cross Country AWD Wagon with about 85,000 miles. It has a 30 day engine and transmission warranty. Upon driving it for about 30 minutes up some steep, curvy hills I started to hear the sound of a lawnmower outside my window until I realized that it was the car producing the clacking noise from what seems like the left back end. The noise could be compared to that of a playing card attached to moving bicycle spokes, or a plastic bottle stuck in the wheel well, or as said before, a lawn mower. It doesn’t do it all the time. It only does it after the car has heated up for a while and it won’t do it for the mechanic we took it to today. It doesn't sound boxed in. The mechanic looked at the car and couldn’t see any visible problems and drove it without it producing the sound. We ending up replacing the rear brakes. It is mysterious and unpredictable and worrisome. I have read the previous posts and am looking to see if there are any more conclusive answers and how serious is this (esp. financially).

Post by **holler1** » 08 May 2010, 08:43

I started to hear the sound of a lawnmower outside my window until I realized that it was the car producing the clacking noise from what seems like the left back end. The noise could be compared to that of a playing card attached to moving bicycle spokes, or a plastic bottle stuck in the wheel well, or as said before, a lawn mower.

That is exactly what a bad CV joint on the driveshaft sounds like, except for the front joint the noise comes from the console area. If the rear CV joint is bad, it might seem to come from the rear. However, the front joint fails more often. I would check it first, and then go on from there. Twist the driveshaft and see if there is play at the front joint; there should be none. If this doesn't work, simply remove the driveshaft and drive the car as an FWD, and see if the noise goes away. You can drive it as FWD with no problems at all as long as you want. Removing it is about a 20 minute job for a skilled mechanic. If that doesn't remove the noise, then the problem is somewhere else. If it does, you can either continue to drive FWD at no cost, or replace the driveshaft (Colorado Driveshaft $400). This need not be mysterious- it's a very common problem with the AWDs. That way you won't be "throwing parts" at the wrong problem. The rear parking brake shoes inside the rear brake rotor sometimes make noise, but not the noise you describe.The parking brake typically rattles or grates at very low speed.