V70xc bowed out spring... Any thoughts?

pedal2metal · Post by **pedal2metal** » 21 May 2017, 08:23

I know this Q (with images) is going to be odd, but I'm at a lose and now need an opinion. I changed out my front strut mounts 3 yrs ago and had no problems at all, until Jan/Feb when the left front started making weird noises; and not the usual crunchy (bad mount noise). So, I pulled the left side and it looked like the orig. spring itself was bowed, which I never noticed it before when I put it back together 3 yrs earlier. So, I thought: I'll just bite the bullet and order a new Volvo strut and "OEM" Volvo spring (by Lesjofors #9169021) from FCP to be safe because I don't feel like replacing the parts again for awhile. I also used a new "HD" spring seat (from FCP) which seems fine. BUT, the new strut mount was a Febi brand (that did not come from FCP) and that most likely needs replaced as well after only a few months!

Well, when I pulled the unit yest, I noticed the new spring lays in even worse than the previous used spring and Yes, I have the notches lined up for the spring ends. So, have you guys seen this before? and Why is it doing this? I ended up putting the old orig. 190k miles spring back in for now and chucked the new Lesjofors brand spring back in the box. The noises are not as bad, but I'm pretty sure I need a new strut mount, again. Any thoughts are much appreciated! -Royce

DSC01881 by R.T. Copenheaver, on Flickr

DSC01886 by R.T. Copenheaver, on Flickr

More pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pedal2met ... 986596976/

Post by **rspi** » 21 May 2017, 11:38

It is not set in the strut/mount properly or it would be straight.

pedal2metal · Post by **pedal2metal** » 21 May 2017, 15:10

Thanks for replying, Robert. I know you probably can't see it from the photos (theres more on my flickr pg) but I had the spring lined up to the notches top & bottom, believe it or not. It doesnt matter if the spring is flipped around, does it? Meaning, no top/bottom to them are there? I tried the other way and still the same results. Like I said in the posting, I have done this job MANY times prior since owning the car and I have never had this happen. It makes ZERO sense to me.

Post by **rspi** » 21 May 2017, 17:20

Yes there is a top and bottom. Bottom is a lot narrower than the top. Are the struts different?

Post by **Winnebago** » 08 Jun 2017, 14:39

have you resolved this?

looks to me like maybe you screwed either the cross shaped nut or top nut too tight... or both. plus the ends of the springs aren't lined up with the grooves in the strut and the spring seat. with the strut out of the car, it should be fully extended... but the pic shows the yellow bump stop right up under the spring seat. maybe try to reassemble?

Post by **abscate** » 08 Jun 2017, 15:08

Upside down spring, I think

Post by **precopster** » 08 Jun 2017, 15:24

I don't recall seeing BOTH ends of the spring being so tapered on any FWD Volvo. Are you certain they're not sending you the wrong spring?

The bottom of the spring sits on the strut base which is quite wide. That spring shape makes no sense.

Post by **precopster** » 09 Jun 2017, 07:13

I had a quick look at the photos on Flick R and the spring is definitely upside down. The end of the spring with a tapered end should go down.

pedal2metal · Post by **pedal2metal** » 15 Jun 2017, 11:48

Thanks everyone for the help! Yup, I had the tapered end on the top end since the part number stamp pointed that direction... duh! So I guess the part # is now upside down, but does seem correct now. That really wasn't too much of an issue, the main reason I keep taking it apart is the clunking noise (which sounded like a bad spring seat/bearing.) So, here that "new" strut mount/bearing was shot & it has only been in there since Dec '16. So I ordered the best one FCP has, and of course put the new XC90 seat back in which was also repl in Dec. of '16. Here the noise is still bad... I looked around and here the very front most control arm bolt was sheared off in half. Anyone know how bad that will be to fix? (btw: Its the 4 bolt style ones which suck big time to remove on the d. side) Also, I would assume I should NOT drive the car with only 3 bolts intact to the local garage, since I don;t think I'm going to attempt this repair since I don't feel like lifting the motor/trans etc without a lift here at home. ugh

pedal2metal · Post by **pedal2metal** » 16 Jun 2017, 09:25

UPDATE: I found the mysterious noise! The left anti-sway bar end link appears to be loose on the bottom; Is it supposed to be metal on metal contact? As stated earlier, I also found the front control arm bolt (d. side) was broke in half, but luckily I was able to back out the broken end and thankfully, VOLVO gave me a "scrap bin" bolt (that sure looks new to me though) for free since you can not by those bolts any longer and I was ticked about that fact; which is totally STUPID, if you ask me! I know you can get them if you buy the whole control arm kits (mostly China made ones).