2000 V70XC Rear Wheels not Engaging on jack stands?

ducksaysquack · Post by **ducksaysquack** » 20 Oct 2015, 20:10

Recently purchased a 2000 v70xc from an older gentleman, he took amazing care of this vehicle and had a whole binder full of service records. His wife was getting tired of him spending money on the car, so I picked it up for cheap ~$700.00 cash!

no lights on dash, 08w46 yellow label ETM, no leaks anywhere, tranny shifts great, and practically rust free, which is HARD to find up here in New England. For maintenance so far, I've done the tranny drain/refill process three times and filled with Valvoline MAXLIFE synthetic ATF and also drained bevel gear oil and refilled with 75w90 synthetic gear oil, also the usual fuel filter, air filter, plugs, oil change, yada yada.

ANYWAYS to my question. When purchasing, I was under the impression that these v70xc had all time awd like the subaru but after research I see that's not the case.

To test for awd system status, I've placed the car on 4 jack stands and suspended the wheels off the ground. I then place into Drive and slowly accelerate up to 25 mph. Every time it reached 10-15 mph, I would hear a noise from under the car. It sounds like when your wheels start losing grip and the ABS system starts making that clicking noise trying to gain traction, but no movement from rear wheels.

Will the rear wheels engage with a test like this or is there a different procedure I should give a try?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 20 Oct 2015, 21:33

It is full time AWD. Is the prop shaft there, hooked up to the bevel gear?

The prop shaft joints are a common failure on the early AWD cars and it is not uncommon for the shaft to get removed so as to keep the car in service as a FWD car. If it has been removed and you can still contact the seller you definitely want to get the old shaft even if it is bad so that it can be rebuilt. A bad core can easily set you back over $100.00.

...Lee

ducksaysquack · Post by **ducksaysquack** » 21 Oct 2015, 08:08

Sorry for late reply, I sleep early for work.

At work now and just went outside and looked, from what I can see the prop shaft is still there.

Last night when on the jack stands, I spun both rear wheels by hand and I could see the drive shaft rotating. One thing I noticed is that they feel heavy, like it felt as though the parking brake was engaged on the rotors even though it was disengaged while I was testing.

quick edit: The car was in PARK when I spun the rear wheels and could see the drive shaft rotate, albeit the rear wheels felt like parking brake was engaged.

Post by **kahl** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:20

I would check the front flange bolts on the drive shaft to see if they are installed. On my 2000 V70 XC the wheels will not rotate while the car is in park. When the car is in neutral the tires will rotate.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 21 Oct 2015, 16:48

If the prop shaft is hooked up then I have some bad news for you - the bevel gear isn't working. I have heard of mechanics gutting them after the gears fail since the assembly is usually pretty expensive to replace It needs to stay in place to keep the transmission from leaking out all of its fluid.

...Lee

ducksaysquack · Post by **ducksaysquack** » 22 Oct 2015, 07:39

kahl wrote:I would check the front flange bolts on the drive shaft to see if they are installed. On my 2000 V70 XC the wheels will not rotate while the car is in park. When the car is in neutral the tires will rotate.

Are the flange bolts the 5 or so that are on the end of the drive shaft that connect it to bevel gear? hmm I didn't think to peak my head around the corner and check for those when I did the fluid change, I'll run outside while I'm at work when I get a chance and look.

When I had all four wheels suspended the other night off the ground, I was able to rotate the rear tires, with force, and see the drive shaft rotate.

ducksaysquack · Post by **ducksaysquack** » 22 Oct 2015, 07:46

Ozark Lee wrote:If the prop shaft is hooked up then I have some bad news for you - the bevel gear isn't working. I have heard of mechanics gutting them after the gears fail since the assembly is usually pretty expensive to replace It needs to stay in place to keep the transmission from leaking out all of its fluid.

...Lee

I really hope the bevel gear isn't fried

I was wicked excited at the idea of grabbing an AWD car in immaculate condition for $700.00.

Is it possible to sub one in from another 1999-2000 V70XC, like straight swap? I've called a few salvage yards around MA and they've given me prices ranging from $99.00 up to $900.00 WOW. All the salvage yards call it a transfer case though, which I guess is no big deal since it technically is?

Also, if I end up picking one up from a junker, what should I be checking for?

Would REALLY like to get AWD working before New England snow

blizzaks on my FWD Acura TL aren't cutting it for me anymore

jcdillin · Post by **jcdillin** » 22 Oct 2015, 09:04

Before going too crazy i'd pull yours and check the status of it, also check the coupler that goes between the angle gear and the transmission. It's also possible that it's rounded out which would make the angle gear not work as well.

This is the best thread for AWD component info.

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread ... s-Listings

Post by **Big Will** » 22 Oct 2015, 10:00

This sounds to me more like a failure of the viscous coupling than the angle gear.

ducksaysquack · Post by **ducksaysquack** » 22 Oct 2015, 11:43

jcdillin wrote:Before going too crazy i'd pull yours and check the status of it, also check the coupler that goes between the angle gear and the transmission. It's also possible that it's rounded out which would make the angle gear not work as well.

This is the best thread for AWD component info.

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread ... s-Listings

THANKS for the link! but after reading everything in there over and over for an hour at work today...I'm debating if I should even bother trying to repair the AWD system

Pretty much what I took from it is for me to be able to see if the problem is the bevel gear, I need to remove it and check it. Which involves pulling right cv shaft, suspending drive shaft up, and then maneuvering the bevel down?

Big Will wrote:This sounds to me more like a failure of the viscous coupling than the angle gear.

Or it could be viscous coupling? That procedure is pretty much just pull it out of torque tube and replace with a known working one?

ugh either way it's $$ and since I bought the car so cheap I'm not excited about investing up to the same amount I paid. I don't know what I should do...