98 s70 strut mounts bad

Post by **MoVolvos** » 02 Mar 2012, 14:16

Hi jblackburn,

Can I trouble you with quite a few questions? You mentioned not needing to change the strut mounts? My 98 S70 T5 has 231K.
Large washer on driver's side moving (not easily) but is no longer centered in the mount and makes clunk. The passenger side has a rubber noise once in a while. The lower joint of the Sway bar link on the drivers side is moving also.

Would you replace the driver's side strut bushings only?
Do I need to replace the Strut mount(s)?
How about the nuts and bolts and washers etc...?

Which brand was your Strut Mount from FCP?
Which one out of the three would you choose?

FCP – Brand (???)
http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exec/p ... pring+Seat

Strut Bushing (front) for Volvo vehicles (Scantech)
http://www.eeuroparts.com/Main/PartDeta ... =30683637A

Strut Bushing (front) for Volvo vehicles (Volvo)
http://www.eeuroparts.com/Main/PartDeta ... d=30683637

Ever heard of this brand?
http://www.eeuroparts.com/main/PartDeta ... id=1387860

Thank you in advance for the reply.

Blessings,

BKM

Post by **jblackburn** » 02 Mar 2012, 14:53

At that age, if something's making noise, I'd probably replace everything - strut bearing plate and spring seat. When I had my strut out at 150K to replace the spring seat, there was NO movement in the strut mount/bearing plate itself. But at 230, I'd say there's a good chance of that - and you don't want to get it all apart and then find out you should replace that as well. I would use the Volvo ones - Scantech parts are always crap.

Since you mention movement/noise on both sides that sounds like an upper spring seat, I would change both of those. Use only an OEM XC90 mount or the IPD HD version - anything else and they'll fall apart on you again.

I used the Meyle HD end links something like a year ago. No complaints - they stiffened up my car's steering a LOT.

Struts are a "your call" thing. You'll have the whole strut out anyway to change those things, but I think it's really a question of how much do you want to spend on an old car. I don't think I'm going to replace mine (my car's at 215K) - it doesn't float or bounce, so the harsh ride over rough roads doesn't bother me too much.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 02 Mar 2012, 18:20

Thanks for the information jblackburn. I'm going to have to sharpen my pencil on this one. I have the heater core and tires to address also.

Blessings,

BKM

Post by **rspi** » 02 Mar 2012, 20:19

i was working on a 850 the other day and it drove like crap. So I parked it as soon as I could. Flet like the syspension was falling out of the thing. I jacked the car up and both ball joints were worn out of the control arms, all of the end link bushings were worn out and torn and when I put it down I noticed that the strut stack top nut thing was not centered in the strut tower hole, it was to one side. So I bounced the car and the top nut thing went up and down with the car at least an inch. I assumed that the spring seat was blown because it went up and down in the hole but I also figured that the strut mount is bad because it's not centered in the hole. You can grap that top peice and move it side to side in the mount. Do you guys think both are bad on this car? I replaced the sway bar end links and the control arms because I found a new kit that someone was selling.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 03 Mar 2012, 00:30

rspi wrote:i was working on a 850... Do you guys think both are bad on this car? I replaced the sway bar end links and the control arms because I found a new kit that someone was selling.

1) Do you mean the Strut mounts? I like to know if either or both were bad as mine is not centered and is very clunky but does not have the movements you described.

2) Also, can you link to the new kit? Thank you.

Blessings,

BKM

Post by **rspi** » 03 Mar 2012, 04:58

1 I mean strut mounts and spring seats.

2. Some guy on craigs list was selling a kit he purchased several months ago and never installed on his car before someone wrecked it. I got the kit for $50.

You should check to see what type of mounting arms you have. If you have the 2 bolt style and not the 4 bolt styly, you may want to try the '94 aluminum arms like I did so you can replace ball joints and stop changing those control arms so much. (Long term fix. You can have poly bushings pressed in the arm mounts and replace the ball joints when they go bad every 10 years. Good if you plan to keep the car several years. If you think you'll only own it for another year or two just get the cheap arms
http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850- ... 640/page2/ ).

Post by **MoVolvos** » 03 Mar 2012, 22:38

Thanks rspi. It is going to be cheap all the way around except for the Fluids. Did the DYI trans-flush with the SWEPCO 714 on my s70 T5 today and also on a friend's 01 Odyssey and they both run a lot smoother and quicker. I was thinking the compression was low due to the mileage but the trans-fluid was brown and now it picks up much quicker off the line though I do not want to drive her hard. I am not sure how long the engine will last as it stills blows smoke for a block during cold start up so I am going to go cheap on all the expendable parts and look for some CL like deals

. I will be happy to get 2 years out of her without anything major. Thanks.

Blessings,

BKM
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Post by **MoVolvos** » 04 Mar 2012, 00:48

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The more I read about the failures of the after-market and even standard Volvo units the more I am thinking that I do not want to revisit the assembling and disassembling of the strut assembly so question: has anyone ever used the IPD and how do they compared to the Volvo OE XC90 AWD units? Thanks.

112831 - ipd Heavy Duty Front Upper Spring Seat
http://www.ipdusa.com/product.asp?P_ID= ... ory=basket

112268 - Front Upper Spring Seat XC90 (OES) - "can be used as a sturdier, upgraded version on other models"
http://www.ipdusa.com/products/4749/112 ... t-xc90-oes

Blessings,

BKM
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pg_osborne89 · Post by **pg_osborne89** » 23 Feb 2013, 06:35

I recently had some noises arise in my girlfriend's 1998 S70. I had to knock them out as they came, I diagnosed the passenger side hub and once that was shushed I could start to hear all the suspension noises when I was going over bumps.

It sounded alot like loose sway bar end links but I know it was not them because I replaced those as well.
Didn't take too long to find out I should replace the spring seats, did that to no avail. Did the control arms with ball joints with the same results.

Keep in mind the ride and noises were quieted as we replaced each part but the main noise was determined to stay. Luckily I did all of this one at a time and drove it to see which cured the bad noises. I did all the tests for CV axles and they were going so I replaced them as well.

After reading on here for what seems like an eternity that I don't need to change my strut mounts (why you wouldn't change these while you're doing spring seats I dunno, but if it's your only problem you can change them without a spring compressor) I changed my strut mounts, and magically the noise is gone.

The rumor is that these things have a rather long lifespan, and they do, but don't just expect them (or any other part for that matter) to be good. Every situation is different and most importantly every driver is as well, believe me you can break these things. Luckily I poked around every time I was about to take the car apart and I found a test to determine if your strut mounts are bad. If you have good spring seats and a suspected strut mount, with the car on the ground grab the top of the wheel/tire and yank on it. You should hear something similar to the noise going over bumps. You gotta put some weight into it but it should do it for you, this is of course assuming your ball joints and hubs are good. If all those are good then the bad strut mount is the only place for movement, you can pop the hood and check the top of the strut while you're doing it. I also found out you can't do this test when the wheel is off the ground or even with a jack lifting the car even a little bit. It has something to do with how all the stuff at the top of the strut is put together and when the spring is weighted, don't wanna get too complicated explaining it.

When you have the strut out of your car you will notice there is a little bit of play in the strut mount and that's normal, but anything more than a 1-2 cm of play and that thing needs to go, especially if you're doing shocks or spring seats. Better safe than sorry, just jiggle the mount if it makes noise there then it probably is making noise under the car. Also, if the mounts spin freely on top of the strut, I would replace them just to be cautious. No need to do all that work just to have it be bad too or go bad in 5k.

Just thought I would give my 2 cents because I searched for this noise for few months while I did a couple rounds of part swapping. End result is no noise and pretty much a rebuilt front end. Just glad I did it a little at a time so hopefully I could help someone else having some trouble.

Thanks,
Phil

Post by **cn90** » 23 Feb 2013, 06:42

1+,

Just to clarify terminology as it can confuse people.

The Spring SEAT is nothing more than a metal plate, coated with rubber to absorb the shock from the Spring itself.

The Strut MOUNT is basically a bearing that allows the car to turn RIGHT and LEFT. In contrast to wheel bearing which rotates, this bearing also rotates but it takes the SIDEWAY force (push laterally) every minute of its life, worse when you hit a pot hole.
Technically speaking, the Strut MOUNT should have been called Strut BEARING.