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Strut noise?

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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Pauloil
Posts: 1038
Joined: 21 March 2006
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Location: davenport, IA

Re: Strut noise?

Post by Pauloil »

swaybar bushing can make noise
99 V70XC 158K

95 850glt 188K

anmartin44
Posts: 229
Joined: 25 October 2009
Year and Model: 1994 850 n/a
Location: Chehalis, WA
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Post by anmartin44 »

Another thought, you never mentioned anything about changing the ball joints/control arms. bad ball joints clunk.
1994 850 na green 187k on body, 275k on motor(backwards?), unrestricted airbox, 960 TB, persus wheels, Lowered, IPD poly upper and trans mounts.
1974 144 k-jet m40 satin black, 250k on body, 25k on rebuilt motor(running...usually)

Jot
Posts: 593
Joined: 24 January 2005
Year and Model: C30 2010
Location: Orr's Island, Maine

Post by Jot »

My 2000 S70 GLT SE had the same noise on bumps . It was the lower A frame . Lift the front end and check for play in the wheel.

hansenjg
Posts: 77
Joined: 15 October 2007
Year and Model: 2011 XC60 3.2
Location: Virginia

Post by hansenjg »

Thanks for all the good ideas. I did put the cross nuts back on and I think they bottomed out, but that's one of the things I'll check when I take the struts out again. I have never changed ball joints or control arms on this vehicle. It may be that the ball joint is popping at the same frequency as the top of the strut because it would be moving at the same time.

Lower A Frame? Is that what has the lower ball joint on it? And is that a job I can do myself. I've done it on my explorer, but not on this Volvo.
John
2004 C70 Ragtop w/2.4L LPT 65K miles (wife dd)
2003 XC 70 with 2.5L Turbo, 195K miles (my dd)
Parts Car: 2000 C70 Ragtop w/2.3L Turbo, died at 200K miles (water pump siezed. took out timing belt)

Ozark Lee
MVS Moderator
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Post by Ozark Lee »

hansenjg wrote:Thanks for all the good ideas. I did put the cross nuts back on and I think they bottomed out, but that's one of the things I'll check when I take the struts out again. I have never changed ball joints or control arms on this vehicle. It may be that the ball joint is popping at the same frequency as the top of the strut because it would be moving at the same time.

Lower A Frame? Is that what has the lower ball joint on it? And is that a job I can do myself. I've done it on my explorer, but not on this Volvo.
The lower control arm and the A arm are the same thing. Replacing a control arm / ball joint fairly easy on a Volvo, likely easier than on the Explorer. If yours is bad just be sure to get good parts or you will be doing the job all over again in six months. You can't go wrong with OEM and Lemforder is the OEM supplier. There is so much counterfeiting of car parts right now that I am to the point where I don't believe anything is real unless it came from a dealer or through a dealer's website and it comes out of the blue box.

...Lee
'94 850 N/A 5 speed
'96 Platinum Edition Turbo
Previous:
1999 V70XC - Nautic Blue - Totaled while parked.
1999 V70XC - RIP - Wrecked Parts Car.
1998 S70 T5
1996 850 N/A
1989 740 GLT
1986 740 GLT
1972 142 Grand Luxe

anmartin44
Posts: 229
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Year and Model: 1994 850 n/a
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Post by anmartin44 »

any news on this?
1994 850 na green 187k on body, 275k on motor(backwards?), unrestricted airbox, 960 TB, persus wheels, Lowered, IPD poly upper and trans mounts.
1974 144 k-jet m40 satin black, 250k on body, 25k on rebuilt motor(running...usually)

hansenjg
Posts: 77
Joined: 15 October 2007
Year and Model: 2011 XC60 3.2
Location: Virginia

Post by hansenjg »

Resolved! Here's my embarrassing story. After changing the struts the noise was still there. After changing the sway bar links, still there. I was sure it was the struts and thought maybe I had done something wrong upon assembly. So today I took the struts out again and looked them over. Both sides had the spring not seating perfectly in the upper spring retainer. The bitter end of the spring was not tight up against the notch that it seats against. I was extra careful to ensure the springs seated well on the upper and lower retainers and gently released the spring tension so as not to cause them to move. Test drive results in the no more clunking. So it was my poor mechanical ability on the first strut job. Good news is now I have two new struts and two new sway bar links. The links I took out were very sloppy so they really needed to be done. The only two things left to do now are the rear shocks and get an alignment. Thanks for everyone's help on this. I can't do this stuff without this forum!
John
2004 C70 Ragtop w/2.4L LPT 65K miles (wife dd)
2003 XC 70 with 2.5L Turbo, 195K miles (my dd)
Parts Car: 2000 C70 Ragtop w/2.3L Turbo, died at 200K miles (water pump siezed. took out timing belt)

anmartin44
Posts: 229
Joined: 25 October 2009
Year and Model: 1994 850 n/a
Location: Chehalis, WA
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Post by anmartin44 »

glad to hear you got it figured out!
1994 850 na green 187k on body, 275k on motor(backwards?), unrestricted airbox, 960 TB, persus wheels, Lowered, IPD poly upper and trans mounts.
1974 144 k-jet m40 satin black, 250k on body, 25k on rebuilt motor(running...usually)

bugleg
Posts: 61
Joined: 14 August 2011
Year and Model: 2000 V70XCSE
Location: NYC

Post by bugleg »

Interesting...how far were the springs from the correct position on the seat? I'm trying to track down a strange binding/popping/clunking from my renewed front end and this sounds like a possible cause.

woodchopper
Posts: 24
Joined: 19 June 2012
Year and Model: 2010 S80 T6 AWD
Location: Ontario Canada

Post by woodchopper »

I really appreciate these posts gentlemen. I am trying to diagnose various rattles and clunks from the passenger front side on a 98 V70 and this gives me some things to check out. One thing I have discovered is the outer tie rod end can be rotated back and forth to the degree it can swivel on the tie rod joint, that is the bar turns inside the rubber piece and I was wondering if that is a possible cause of noise.

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