2004 xc70 clunking after car gets warm

das1997 · Post by **das1997** » 26 Apr 2014, 21:33

First I want to thank everyone on this forum for all the excellent advise posted. I bought a used xc70 2004 couple years ago and love this car. I went from a gmc crew cab and now the wife drives that I and get the car. When I bought the car I heard this clunking after driving it for couple hours. They replaced a upper engine mount and said all ok. I drove it several months going ino the winter and didn't really hear it. As the spring came, so did the noise. They still didn't find anything and I'm too stubborn to keep paying the labor for them to tell me nothing. Drove all summer and learned to live with it. This winter again the noise was barely there. Now warmer weather is here it is bad. It happens only after driving the car awhile, a clunking noise that seems to get louder the longer I drive it. Pull it in the drive, take the kids inside and come back out to shack the hell out of it and nothing. I forgot to mention it only is audible at low speeds like around 20-40. Yesterday in the parking lot waiting for wifey, I played with it. I could start to hear the clunk when I applied the brakes and started back out from a low speed not coming to a stop. I don't hear it when I leave a stop though. And it continues to be heard while driving at low speeds. It's weird why I only hear it after awhile of driving. So I concluded something is getting warm. I read a lot of post here and thought I would try the iPd bushing insert for the subframe bushing.

Does anyone think this should be my first trial expense or should I take it back to the dealer and just pay the labor to see if they can now diag it. I am going to put new rotors and pads on the front as they are starting to vibrate when applied in the last month. Don't think that is the issue, just Maint. (Side note, I replaced the tie rods ends two months ago and thought that was it but the noise did not get noticeable until the weather started to break. Put new ties and an alignment at the same time. )

Thanks for any input

Das

Smytty · Post by **Smytty** » 27 Apr 2014, 21:00

Sorry I don't have a solution for you, but I have the same problem on my 2001 V70 T5. I had it up on jacks today and looked at everything - engine mounts, all suspension components, etc. I couldn't find anything loose or with any play. I think I'll try the subframe mounts too, but I am really interested to see if anyone else has had this problem and fixed it!

das1997 · Post by **das1997** » 30 Apr 2014, 04:47

Are you going to try the inserts or replace both bushings? I read that they are hard to replace. Thanks for the reply.

Post by **oragex** » 30 Apr 2014, 14:01

how is the noise, continuous? like some rotating part that hits once at each rotation?

do you have separate winter/summer tires and wheels?

Post by **matthew1** » 30 Apr 2014, 14:25

Control arm bushings or subframe bushing would be my guess.

oragex wrote:how is the noise, continuous? like some rotating part that hits once at each rotation?

do you have separate winter/summer tires and wheels?

This ^ would help to narrow it down.

das1997 · Post by **das1997** » 30 Apr 2014, 15:54

The noise only starts when the car is driven slow and after it warms up. Then it woul resemble a sporadic clinking clunking noise. Not sure if I can but I will try to record it and post. I use the same all weather tires and they have been replaced in November. It weird because I can hear it on our nightly drive around the lake 20-40 speeds but I go get on the interstate and I do not hear it anymore, nor can I get it to make a noise bouncing on the car in the drive right after coming home from hearing it. I will see if I can word it better to help isolate it.

das1997 · Post by **das1997** » 30 Apr 2014, 15:56

Sorry it is not continuous. I tried to bounce on the shocks but as soon as it cools down no noise anywhere.

Post by **oragex** » 30 Apr 2014, 19:28

I would inspect the upper shock absorber bearings and torsion bar bushings. What is different when the car warms up is the shock absorbers get softer after driving a while because they are old. They are also softer in warm weather. As for the vibrations when braking, they can be caused by marks on the brake disks but also by worn lower control arm bushings.

Smytty · Post by **Smytty** » 05 May 2014, 21:09

das1997 wrote:Are you going to try the inserts or replace both bushings? I read that they are hard to replace. Thanks for the reply.

Doing the inserts and upper engine mount first. If that doesn't do the trick, then I'm going to do the lower control arms.

Bartlett S60 · Post by **Bartlett S60** » 07 May 2014, 19:36

My S60 made clunking noises. I was sure it was CV joints. Replacing them helped but not completely. My problem was ball joints.