1999 V70R AWD Horrid Rear Suspension/Drivetrain Clunk

breesay1 · Post by **breesay1** » 07 Apr 2014, 18:38

Hi,

I have a 1999 V70r AWD 2.3 with 145k on it.

The transmission shifts smoothly, compression is good, it has no dash codes, its fast! It has new front struts/spring seats/strut bearings/wheel bearings/cv axles/pads/rotors/4 new rims and tires. The rear end had not been overhauled but axles/boots/and all bushings check out ok.

Here are the mystery problems that I am about to go shell out a bunch of cash for for diagnostics at the local Volvo specialist... my local independent mechanic and I are stumped. Perhaps you all can help.

1) When braking with medium force and slowing down from cruising speed... when I reach 10mph there is a terrible, deep, cluck-whack that seems to me coming from the right rear corner of the car. It is loud. The brakes are fine, the caliper mounting bolts and pivots are fine, the suspension is all in excellent shape. The only thing we found that looked out of the ordinary was the gap on the bushing of the trailing arm link that reaches forward in front of the wheel and mounts to the frame. It looks to be... large like it could be producing the metal on metal clunk of death... (picture is attached. with grease we put in the gap to check for movement when braking)

: Trailing arm link bushing R. side; photo 2.JPG (45.3 KiB) Viewed 2452 times

Could this sound be related to the angle-gear and other components of the AWD system? MVS forums tell me that if I jack up one side of rear end of the vehicle (in park and off) and attempt to rotate the elevated wheel that it should not rotate. Mine does. When I spin it it rotates the drive shaft while the car is elevated. True? Angle gear done?

2) Despite brand new tires and rims and all rotational components on front end it shudders at 50-70 mph

Thank you for your help!

Dirk1966 · Post by **Dirk1966** » 07 Apr 2014, 22:45

Might be nothing but have you checked the handbrake also?
Mine did this in reverse only and my dealer told me to check the hand brake first.
When I slackened my handbrake a bit it disappeared.

Post by **jimmy57** » 07 Apr 2014, 23:15

If you have the other three wheels on ground and you turn that one wheel and driveshaft turns then you have an angle gear connector collar failure (maybe more).
If you have a single rear wheel off the ground you should be able to turn the rear wheel slowly with 60-80 ft-lbs torque. If you try to turn it faster the force will increase.

I don't think the trailing link bushing is the problem. I think a problem there would happen at brake apply when the bushings load.
There is a centrifugal freewheel override device in the viscous coupling that I suspect is making the noise when it engages and starts spinning your rear driveshaft after you are at speed (the job it is supposed to do). Remove rear driveshaft and drive it to see if the noise goes away. Then fix the angle gear issue and I think your noise will be gone.

breesay1 · Post by **breesay1** » 07 Apr 2014, 23:35

Jimmy57, Thanks!

A singe rear wheel does indeed spin very easily and rotates the driveshaft when elevated with all other 3 on the ground. I'll investigate these two issues and let you know/ask again when I see what happens.

Thank you for your reply. Its killing me to not be able to let this machine roar smoothly like it used to.

breesay1 · Post by **breesay1** » 07 Apr 2014, 23:37

Also... Handbrake has not been engaged at all during any of this process and seems to engage and disengage appropriately. California car... almost no rust or binging in the brake actuation lines. But thanks for the idea!

breesay1 · Post by **breesay1** » 11 Apr 2014, 23:29

So. I removed the prop shaft to determine whether the clunk of death was drivetrain (and rear-end related) It turns out that it is. Without the prop-shaft sending power the rear wheels the chunk is gone. I gave in and went to my great local Volvo Guys (specialists, not dealer) and they say that my bevel gear is roasted as well as the bevel gear sleeve/collar. They think the viscous coupler is fine as well as the prop shaft (already replaced by previous owner), rear diff, rear drive axles, etc.

So... once I drop by angle gear out how do I determine if its just the collar that is stripped or whether the angle/bevel gear unit is done.

Thanks again!

swedewrench · Post by **swedewrench** » 12 Apr 2014, 13:08

I have seen this a few times. Installing the incorrect tire size on 1 wheel at 1 axle, such as the spare or different sizes from axle to axle will cause that noise,-- sounds like you're getting rear ended when slowing off the highway-- from the rear torque tube clutch and will ruin the angle gear.
I did see you said there were new tires and wheels installed, are they correct size as on the fuel door? check each one very carefully. The circumference must be identical on each wheel. It literally only takes a few miles with the incorrect size tire/wheel to ruin an angle drive.

swedewrench · Post by **swedewrench** » 12 Apr 2014, 13:23

I didn't address your angle drive question. The collar is not stripped, if it were, you would not have any power to the rear wheels.
Also, the pinion bearing is probably destroyed. The pinion is the part which the drive shaft or propeller shaft mounts to, it should have very little play side to side. Yours probably has a whole lot of play.
Good luck

breesay1 · Post by **breesay1** » 12 Apr 2014, 17:53

So, the tires and wheels are brand new and all of the same size. Volvo original rims. I did recently have to drive it just a little ways at non-highway speeds with the spare on after a flat. So that may have caused the issue. Damn!

As I mention in the original post the rear wheels are not getting power. And one of them will spin freely when elevated with the other 3 wheels on the ground. The collar then is indeed done and perhaps the bevel gear as well correct? The prop shaft is relatively new and is an genuine Volvo replacement not a remanufactured one and the pinion appears to be fine in terms of its play...

Here is my question: Once I remove the bevel gear unit and pull the collar/sleeve how do I judge whether the bevel/angle gear unit is toast or whether it could be resealed, re-lubed, and reinstalled with a new sleeve/collar connecting it to the trans?

Thanks again everyone for your help!

swedewrench · Post by **swedewrench** » 13 Apr 2014, 11:42

The bevel gear is difficult to reseal, many special tools are needed and typically the crown wheels will strip when removing them. Not to mention, many different versions have different seals.
In my opinion,its best to get a remanufactured Angle drive from volvo. As far as the driveshaft goes, the propeller shaft from volvo is also remanufactured, I've had many fail.