98 v70 xc drive shaft removal

[johngrant67]

It started as a rumble that appeared to come from the front end from a strut or cv joint during cornering. A local garage told me it was the ball joints. $700 later, no fix. I procrastinated for a long time, then had some brake work done. For some reason, a squeak (like a wheel bearing) started and someone said it sounded like it was coming from the center of the vehicle. I thought the two were unrelated until the rubber membrane completely let go and the shaft began thumping around at the joint. It wasn't obvious until that point. After I took the shaft assembly out, no rumble, problem solved. ...until I have to buy a shaft.

[stratey]

Well....

Thanks to everyone here, I just finished taking the drive shaft off of my 98 XC70 (157,000 miles).

description of problem - I had a rumble in reverse and when starting off and turning at slow speeds.

It took me about three hours to complete. I believe the time was longer for me as I didn't work with a lift. I worked on four ramps in my driveway. The 6th drive shaft bolt in the front was a bear to get off (probably an hour alone), but I finally got it off with about four extensions on my ratchet!!! Since the shaft is out, NO MORE NOISE!!! I plan on leaving it out and keeping it a front wheel drive car. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest, I'll give it a 6.

Couple hints -

- keep the center bearing loose but secure (2 bolts). This will stop the shaft from falling on you, and give you some play to get your ratchet in to loosen the bolts

- remove the front first. Couple raps on the flange, after the bolts are removed, makes it easy to get off

- the two bolts on the center of the plate that holds the center bearing in place should be removed after you take off the front and back ends of the shaft. The shaft will come out pretty easy after that.

- oh, and I didn't have to remove the viscous coupling ( i think that's what it's called) on the back end of the shaft (sounds are gone). Seems like that might be a bit tough to get to...expecially the bolts at the top of the sleeve. Does anyone know if I'm causing problems leaving it on without the shaft??

- Do I plan on putting a shaft back on? Heck no!!!


Other jobs I've done on the XC70,

- top engine mount - a bit of a job getting it in - about a 4
- engine mount (right side passenger side) about a 4
- front strut mount - about a 4
- various electrical items - ect sensor, etc. - easy
- maintenance - brakes, etc - easy

Quirky car...

Looks like you have to like to work on cars to own a volvo, unless you have alot of cash...so far, the jobs haven't been too bad. I'll post back to let you know how it's performing as a FWD car. So far, the handling is just about the same...power about the same too.

Thanks for helping me with this job, guys. You have no idea how much money I've saved checking in here.


Jim

[stratey]

Update January 1 (5 months later):

Hello and Happy New Year. I'm happy to report that there have been no adverse reaction to nme removing the driveshaft. Living in the Northeat US, I was afraid that the car wouldn't handle very well in the snow, but it was fine. Replacing the drive shaft was out of the question becasue of the cost and the book value of the car. It was a bit of a pain to remove in my driveway (I'm not a mechanic), but I"m glad I was able to do it in about 3-4 hours. The biggest pain for me was, since I was working off of jack stands and ramps, I had to spin the tires to get to the bolts which were at the top of the rear differential. I also had to use a couple extenders on my ratchet to get to the front of the shaft where it attached to the transmission. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the hardest), I give this a 7. It was made harder because it wasn;t up on a lift. If it was on a lift, probably a 4.
>
> One word of caution. Make sure you're out of the way when the shaft drops. It's heavy and can cause some damage if it hits you

[johngrant67]

I agree with your assessment of the job. I was lucky to have a concrete floor to work on.

[RichSad]

Hi all,

I need to do this on my 99 V70 XC. Is the procedure basically the same? Any differences worth noting? I am getting a prominent clunking noise from the rear drive shaft that I believe will go away if I remove it.

I am considering operating it for the summer as an FWD, and then having Colorado Driveshaft rebuild it and put it back on over the winter. Does this sound like a decent plan?

A little history: the clunking started in reverse during the winter and has gotten more prominent. It happens when the car first starts rolling, and then again (sometimes) between 3rd and 4th gears. Engine mounts seem OK and no problems with tranny. It really feels like it is coming from the rear drive shaft and I know this component is troublesome with 99 XCs. Mine has about 160k miles and is otherwise in excellent shape. Would love to get another 50k-100k miles out of the car. I realize I will have repairs to do from time to time to get that.

[johngrant67]

You won't hurt anything by removing the shaft. If the noise persists, just put it back in. It wasn't a bad job once I figured out what was going on. The pictures in the thread really helped. Good luck.

John G.

[johngrant67]

This one is for Brad:

I had no ill effects after removing the shaft. I'm not sure why you'd want to remove a good shaft since this car is like a half-track in the snow in AWD, but I'm sure you have a good reason. You should be all set. I recently sold my 98 and I see the gentleman driving it all the time.

John G.

"Hey John, I too am in Maine and recently purchased a one owner 2000 V70 AWD
w/ 170k miles on it. I'm not getting any funky noises or anything like
that, but nevertheless I am considering removing the drive shaft and
>maybe< putting it back on before snow flies. My question to you is, did
you ever end up reinstalling your drive shaft, or did you run it as FWD all
winter? If FWD, how did it handle in the snow? Any input is appreciated!
- Brad"

[JP2004s60]

Sorry to revive an older thread but I need some clarification if anyone can help.

2004 S60 AWD 2.5T, 92K

Started having a "whump whump whump" sound (similar to an unbalanced tire) on acceleration. This only happened on acceleration and would imediately stop when you take foot off of the gas.

After two trips to local shop (removed then reinstalled drive shaft) because he could not diagnose properly I went to the dealership for $125 annalysis.

After going back and forth they determined that the angle gear in the front of the drive shaft was going bad and needed to be replaced. The dealership wants $2,850 to fix and local shop will install for less but still alot.

I have read here and elsewhere that I can remove the driveshaft and convert this to a FWD car with no repercussions except losing AWD.

Question # 1: Does this fix apply to my specific make and model?

Question # 2: Will this fix work for a bad angle gear or just for problems past angle gear? I ask this to be sure that removing the drive shaft will elliminate sound from bad angle gear and also stop any future damage to car.


Any replies are greatly appreciated as right now I am scheduled for angle gear replacement next week and would rather save the 2K for Phillies World Series Tickets.

[johngrant67]

I'm not totally familiar with the front angle gear, but I can tell you that it will be a very cheap fix to remove the entire shaft and run this in FWD mode, no problems. See the game, and replace the shaft later... or not.

Good luck.

[holler1]

Question # 2: Will this fix work for a bad angle gear or just for problems past angle gear? I ask this to be sure that removing the drive shaft will elliminate sound from bad angle gear and also stop any future damage to car.

Probably the best (and only) way to find out is to try it and see, especially since it was already removed once. Didn't the shop drive it after removing the shaft to see if the noise was gone? If not, why did they remove it?