XC 70, 2000, Bevel Drive and Rear Viscus Cuplink

Adam H · Post by **Adam H** » 19 Oct 2009, 17:27

My Volvo broke down a couple weeks ago and the dealership said that I need a new Bevel Drive ($2500); I got it back from the dealership and it worked great for two days before breaking down again; this time the dealership is saying it's the Rear Viscus Cuplink, another $2500. Has anyone heard of these two going out at the same time, could the dealership have mis-diagnosed the problem or cause the Viscus Cuplink to go out? Any thoughts out there,I just also got the timing belt replaced and could now be into a car for 6k that is worth half of that.
Thanks

Post by **JDS60R** » 19 Oct 2009, 17:51

Adam - your question has a lot to do with how perfect it worked for the 2 days you had it. Certainly we have heard of bevel gears going but the rear coupling going at the same time is somewhat rare. For this to occur the power would have been forced to the rear wheels and then disabled the bevel and rear coupling at the same time.

It is possible that both failed but not at the same time. Lets say the coupling broke for mechanical stress reasons and the bevel gear was leaking oil and finally gave out.

I have a few questions to help you understand this further.
Are you positive you had AWD before this occured?
Any reason you are paying full price for new parts when used are available with warranty (See Erie Volvo above) ?
What did they say the cause of failure on the bevel gear was?

Post by **holler1** » 19 Oct 2009, 17:53

Miles on car and a description of both "break downs" would be useful. What were the symptoms of the breakdowns?
Could the dealer have mis-diagnosed it? Sure.
At the least, I would ask the dealer to show you the old bevel gear and explain what was wrong with it, before sinking another $2500 into a questionable diagnosis.

larryh · Post by **larryh** » 19 Oct 2009, 17:55

It's called throwing parts at it and it's what we do as DIYers all the time. Only at a dealer you get to pay for their training.
Dealer shops are trained in art of replacing the most expensive, least likely parts first.. without testing to see if if said part is broken...and SELLING it to you. Who knows, they may be selling you a driveline next.

Both parts going out at the same time is probably unlikely but you said it worked great for two days after the repair, so maybe they are right...
Are the tires all the same size? My understanding is unequal tires can kill both of those parts quickly.
Were the symptoms exactly the same?

Adam H · Post by **Adam H** » 20 Oct 2009, 08:35

The car's got 100k miles, the tires were all replaced about 6 months ago. It started to make a noise a few weeks back when you were accelerating and took your foot off the gas a noise would start, I took it to a shop by my house; but the noise went away, I drove it with a technician and no noise, a couple days later my wife was driving it and horrible noises started from the front of the car; that's when we had it towed in and they replaced the bevel drive.

Second time we picked it up from the shop, drove it for two days and it seemed fine; my wife was leaving work and it wouldn't go into reverse and was making similar noises.

Lastly, I don't know if the awd was working prior, just assumed that it was.

Thanks for your input.

Post by **holler1** » 20 Oct 2009, 19:08

One reason I commented was that I have a 98 AWD, and a few years ago I had a metallic clacking sound from the middle/front of the car that turned out to be the flexible CV joint between the bevel gear and the rear driveshaft. It cost about $200 to fix with a coupling kit, but I think if I had taken it to the dealer they would have replaced either the bevel gear or the driveshaft (or both) at a cost of several thousand dollars. I've heard of lots of people replacing front-to-rear driveshafts (sometimes called propeller shaft) and I suspect many of these just had the same joint problem I had. However, I never had any trouble shifting, so it sounds like your current problem is more serious. I don't know how to diagnose a problem with the viscous coupling, but a search on that topic might turn up something. Incidentally, some people who have had driveshaft problems on the AWDs have ended up taking off the driveshaft and using the car as an FWD. I would be tempted to do that if my bevel gear ever fails.

habstb · Post by **habstb** » 20 Oct 2009, 19:23

I had the same problem with my 2000 v70 xc - because the 2000 model year is unique, you will not find a gently used transfer case (bevel gear). Unfortunately, it's a bit of chicken and egg - the transfer case, rear driveshaft and viscous coupling are all dependent on each other and the failure of one will inevitably result in the failure of the other two. You can find rebuilt driveshafts and reasonably used VCs, but I looked all over North America for a used transfer case and there are none available. As a result, I've removed my transfer case and driveshaft and now am running in FWD only - thanks be to Volvo!