2000 V70R Click/clunk

Chewie688i · Post by **Chewie688i** » 19 Dec 2017, 09:32

Hey everyone, I need your help. First off, let me start by telling you my horror story with this V70R. Bought the wagon back in June from an old lady in Boston. Never really drove it, but did a lot of maintenance on the car (or so I thought). Regardless, after getting in the 2+ hours home all was well (minus an intermittent oil light, but oil level remained good). Got it home and was driving it around the block for a few weeks trying to work out all the kinks when the oil light remained on and I noticed a lack of power when driving up a hill. Being the typical man that I am, I figured the best way to regain power would be to drop the pedal to the floor. I decided that was a bad plan when I noticed the smoke screen emitting from the exhaust. Figured I blew the turbo seals I decided to remove the turbo (mind you I have never worked on a Volvo before in my life). Come to find that the exhaust side turbine blew off and I am assuming is now embedded in the catalytic converter somewhere. Regardless of my stupidity and after many beers and cuss words later I finally got the turbo replaced. I am still blowing smoke out of the exhuast, but I have noticed no drop in oil level, and I am assuming that it is residual oil in the exhaust that I will either burn off or replace the exhaust.

Now, the real reason I am here, is to figure out what this weird clunking noise is when I go to drive it. It sounds like its coming from under the shifter (transmission) but I'm not missing any gears and the noise does not appear when under power. It only comes when I am coasting, or turning or under low speeds like in the video. I'm not really sure where to look, whether it be driveshaft related, angle gear, or transmission. Your help is most appreciated. Help me get this death wagon back on the road. Below is the youtube video showing the noise.

Post by **abscate** » 19 Dec 2017, 10:20

It does sound driveline related - I would guess one the Constant Velocity joints on the driveaxles is bad.

I don't have any AWD Volvos, though, so let some who have suffered the symphony add their insights.

Post by **scot850** » 19 Dec 2017, 10:51

Usual suspects are:

1) Front prop-shaft joint. They fry and fail with age sitting beside the cat. Colorado Drive-shaft are the goto people. Remove the shaft and see if the noise goes away.
2) Prop-shaft center bearing rubber support failure. Removing shaft will also fix this.
3) At the rear end of the prop-shaft there is a unit called the viscous coupling unit. It is a friction clutch for the AWD. Sitting will cause this to fail as the silicon fluid sits at one point and sets without use. It will strip the clutches.
4) The casing for the VC has a bush at the front and that can fail causing a knocking.
5) The nose bearing of the VC can fail.
6) Then there are the front CV axles. But I think the issue is more likely the prop-shaft or VC unit.

If removing the prop-shaft (6 x 6mm (?) bolts either end (mark the prop-shaft flanges and where the bolts come out of as it is balanced to the units either end and even those bolts can be different lengths for balancing purposes). Then remove the 2 or 4 bolts for the center mount and remove. The later props can be a little reluctant to release from the flanges so be careful.

Neil.

Chewie688i · Post by **Chewie688i** » 19 Dec 2017, 13:10

Thanks for the quick replies. I am getting pretty fed up with the car. Minus the transit to my house, I have driven it probably a total of 10 miles. I'll be taking it to Eurocars here in Groton CT on Friday to see what they find. I don't want to throw tons of money at it, but I need my winter car on the road. My SRT Charger does not exactly handle well in the snow

Post by **scot850** » 19 Dec 2017, 14:34

All I can say is I wish you luck. Let us know how you get on. I have spent thousands of dollars on my 2000 'V70R'. The list of what has not been repaired or replaced is short!

Neil.

Post by **jtp** » 19 Dec 2017, 21:10

Kind of sounds like mine did recently when I had to put a new prop-shaft in it due to a bad center bearing. And for a little bit the knocking would stop/lessen up under load like in your video.
Mine got really bad really quickly so I had the propshaft removed until I had time to source a good part and have the work done.
It ran fine in FWD too.

Post by **scot850** » 19 Dec 2017, 22:44

Just be aware that if you plan to replace the prop-shaft with a used one, they changed every year. You need to check the front and rear flange diameters.

Neil.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 19 Dec 2017, 22:55

am assuming is now embedded in the catalytic converter somewhere.

You never retrieved them? Could the sound be back pressure popping?

Chewie688i · Post by **Chewie688i** » 20 Dec 2017, 05:02

RickHaleParker wrote: ↑19 Dec 2017, 22:55 am assuming is now embedded in the catalytic converter somewhere.

You never retrieved them? Could the sound be back pressure popping?

No. I tried fishing it out, but couldn't find it. I didn't remove the down pipe so either it was a previous hack job and not there or it's stuck. The sound was there prior to replacing the turbo, but I was initially diagnosing as a CV joint

Post by **jvl** » 20 Dec 2017, 06:19

Could it be the angle gear sleeve at the beginning of failing? Mine has done this, and it did not sound exactly the same, but it was as rhytmical as your noise.

Regarding the driveshaft: I've also seen rebuild kits on ebay that go for around $100. Never used them, so don't know how well they perform, but worth a try if you are looking to reduce costs?
I ran my v70xc as FWD for a while to rule out the back end, a cheap/easy first step in diagnosing the faulty part would be to remove the driveshaft.