Clicking noise CV Joint???

Mc909sg · Post by **Mc909sg** » 24 Oct 2006, 11:46

Hello it is I again

There is a clicking noise coming from the left front when I make turns.
Experience with other cars tells me that it is the cv joint. Can I make the same assumption with this vehicle? In the trouble shooting section of the manual that I downloaded from this site

CarVolvo · Post by **CarVolvo** » 24 Oct 2006, 12:28

Perhaps you can supply more information on your car. The year and what the maintenance schedule was on it.

I guess the next question is how long you intend to keep your car and is it a daily driver or performance hobby car?

My car is a 93 and I installed the CV joints on the car and that was one year ago and they are working fine. I picked it up at a local parts store and it was a rebuilt one for around $100.

I am in Canada and picked it up from something similar to your AutoZone.

The only thing i noticed about purchasing these things are that some even have life time warranties. Some insist on you returning the core to get a price reduction while others are manufactured new. As I mentioned the rebuilt ones i have are in great shape still!

As far as replacing the boots they usually cost 25 for the inner and outer and grease per side. But before you proceed with that you might want to check out if the units have deteriorated inside.

Getting the ones for $60 with a good warranty would be worth it depending on your long term plans for the car.

Mc909sg · Post by **Mc909sg** » 24 Oct 2006, 14:02

Well Mr. Volvo

it is a 94 850 turbo sedan. 197,717 the service history is pretty good from what i can tell from the records. the original owner brought it in ever 5k or so 116138k the turbo seal was replaced, 130,xxxk the w/p and the t-belt, 135,xxxk radiator and drive belt.all accroding to the record book. Then i supposed that the car was sold or traded in 10/02 becuse thatis where the records stop. My mom bought it in 07/06 so from 02-06 i have no infomation. I just got it from my mother last week. She "upgraded" as she calls it to a five series beamer. she does not know what she got rid of.
I notice the clikning a couple of days ago.

ccgaudette · Post by **ccgaudette** » 24 Oct 2006, 15:14

I have clicking on my 1993 850. I know the outer CV boot is ripped. As I turn half the boot is clicking against the other half, as the two halves now have a chance to turn out of step with each other.

In my case, I need to replace the motor mounts first. My mechanic (for things that I cannot do myself) confirmed what I suspected about the motor mounts. There is no point in new CV boots only to have them ripped by a motor and axle that is moving in ways that it shouldn't be moving!

Post by **pfeener** » 24 Oct 2006, 15:44

Yes the outer CV joint is your problem (99 % probability). Replacing just the boot and repacking the joint is not an option at this time. Once the joint begins to make noise it needs to be replaced. The most trouble free outlet that I've seen for axles is raxles.com.

Post by **matthew1** » 24 Oct 2006, 17:27

Here's a great thread on replacing Volvo 850 and 70 shafts, with pictures

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 24 Oct 2006, 18:49

Let me just add my $.02 since I just went through this about 3-4 weeks ago. First off I had my tires rotated at a tire store (called Free Service Tire where I have a life time rotation and balance deal- sure, they always want to sell you other service but I always decline as I do most myself). No big deal. At highway speeds (70-80mph) I started noticing a shimmy in my steearing wheel. I thought the tires were not balanced properly, so I took the car back to the original place and they did the blancing again and told me that my front driver's side tire was sure enough a "hair off." Very next day on my way to work, the shimmy is back, worse than ever. So I look under the car to see what I might find. The front outer CV boot on the side that was a "hair off" was torn and grease was everywhere. Of course I thought they might have done this out of spite, but there was no proof so I just chalked it up to coincidence or whatever.

I buy a CV boot kit from Eeuroparts.com (pretty cheap but German made boot kit for my Volvo). Drive my car everyday- about 100 miles to work and back for about 10 days while I wait on parts...very slow shipping this time. Finally parts arrive and I have it put in....My trusty and cheap mechanic charged $100 ...still there's a vibration.

I was going to have to buy new tires soon anyway, so I hastened my purchase and bought new tires from the tirerack. When they came, I had them mounted and balanced and put on the car (this time by a different place). Still, I have a vibration at high speeds. I had the car then aligned...somewhat better but still a slight vibration. Had all of my suspension parts checked out. All is good and tight.

Finally I decided that it must be that CV joint...car has almost 130K miles by then and figured that it must have just worn out...but no clicking.

Sent off for a new axle with both CV joint (raxles.com Talk to Marty by phone and he's really good). These axles don't use any rebuilt parts. They send you a sticker that you send your old axle back with...total cost was about $160...but I didn't want to buy an axle that was going to give me problem like some of the really cheap ones out there ($60 ones at the local autoparts places, or even the $100 fcpgroton or other's that use rebuilt parts).

My trusty and cheap mechanic did the axle replacement in about 20 minutes and only charged me $25. Maybe he felt bad for me or something?

Anyway, long story short- ALL VIBRATIONS are now GONE! ! ! !

So, there's more to the story: My conclusion.
I have a good mechanic that really works for very cheap and he knows what he's doing. I'm very lucky. If I had any work done at another shop, I would have been charged some big bucks.

First of all, it's about a 2+ hour job to take an axle out, take the old boot off, put the axle in a press, take it apart, clean it, repack it with grease, put a new boot on it (hoping it fits right) and then putting the axle back in the car. With an axle replacement, you pop the old out and the new one back in. So, for the cost of labor itself and parts, a total replacement ends up costing very close to that of a CV boot replacement.

Now, which would you rather have? A good, new axle in your car that is pretty much determined to be error free of for about the same price, your old axle back in your car with possible issues?

Btw, the Raxles Axles have a life time warranty and are packed with synthetic redline grease. I would definitely buy from them again if I needed to. Shipping is fast- ordered my axle from them over the phone from Marty on a Tuesday and on Thursday morning the new axle was at my door step.

Post by **pfeener** » 24 Oct 2006, 19:04

MIJ speaks the truth. Rule of thumb: if you do your own work change the boot (not in your case...it's already clicking) if your having the work done (even if they work cheap) go for the whole axle.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 24 Oct 2006, 19:07

Let me also add to your comment that (even with boot broken) and all of your other suspension/alignment is in good shape but your axle is vibrating at high speeds (and you're picky like me), then go ahead with a whole axle replacement. Adding grease and a new boot to an already worn out axle will not fix it's problem.

Conversely, if your boot is busted and all other suspension/alignment is in good shape and your axle is showing NO vibration, then by all means just change the boot out, if you do your own work.

pmonk · Post by **pmonk** » 25 Oct 2006, 09:22

I would also like to add that if you do it yourself or even have someone else do it, make sure the axle seal doesn't get dammaged. I had my axels and all done at 182k for the same reason, clicking=cv joint=paid someone, so do the axles, but they didn't quite get the seal right and i was leaking some gear oil (manual gearbox). I had a hell of a time narrowing it down, and when I did and brought a picture they redid everything for me for free and put on new everything again. Now I take before and after pictures of everything when I have work done and it comes in handy. Good luck