V50 Steering issues - noisy when travelling straight, turning left

Volvo-DIY · Post by **Volvo-DIY** » 17 Apr 2016, 15:52

Hi All,
Hopefully someone out there has had this happen and can advise what the fault may be.
This happened just recently. The car was purchased second hand at 132000Km and it now sits at 135500Km. Performed faultlessly apart from the dreaded swirl valve control linkage which I have now sorted and very occasionally a bit of a stiff right turn from driving straight (only when cold) - seemed to be fighting the turn away from straight and once it had been turned it came right.
New symptoms - very noisy when travelling in a straight line and turning left. When turning right - dead quiet.
Sound is like a rattle noise that disappears totally when turning right.
I cannot replicate this with the vehicle stationary so it's hard to diagnose.
No error warnings on the dash and no DTC codes on VIDA.

By the way while I am asking questions, is the cam belt replacement period 100,000 miles?

Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Warren.

malcolm2 · Post by **malcolm2** » 18 Apr 2016, 07:07

I would suspect that the noise is a CV joint. Listen carefully and see if you can tell which side it is on. Then you will need to replace the axle on that side. If you where really curious, you could take the axle off, remove the CV joints, clean them and dismantle them. When you do that, you might find a broken cage or worn spider or ball. When you turn the balls move away from the worn spot.

https://youtu.be/LsytyVzokBg

The above link is part 1 of a 2 part process. The guy takes apart a CV joint from a Porsche 914. I did this with mine. There are other videos with similar titles, search for "CV joint rebuild".

Volvo-DIY · Post by **Volvo-DIY** » 18 Apr 2016, 17:44

Thanks for the response. This was not something that came on gradually, but rather suddenly. I understand the logic behind your suggestion and will do a check on the CV joints. They do not click when at full lock so it may be the cage. I have done CV rebuilds and replacements on my 850 before so performing the task is not that difficult. I hope it's the CV and nothing to do with the power steering -that could get costly.