2002 S60: Brake issues and a strange steering problem

Yaworski · Post by **Yaworski** » 11 Oct 2020, 08:22

I've talked about my brakes here before. It all started when the right front brake would lock and not release. So off to the mechanic who told me that it looked as if the brakes hadn't been flushed in years upon years. I had bought the car from my former mechanic who assured me that he'd been maintaining it for a customer and that it was in "good shape." I guess that he lied about the maintenance. Anyway . . . .

First off my guy tries to flush the brakes. He winds up replacing both front calipers, one rear caliper because the bleed screw was frozen and snapped off, the master cylinder, the flexible brake lines, and the mechanical part of the ABS unit. Yep, that's a ton of shit. Why so much stuff? It was incremental. For example, the left front caliper wouldn't bleed so he tracked that back to the ABS unit.

Well, the right front doesn't lock up anymore but there's a new problem. Actually two new problems

Under hard braking, the car pulls strongly to the left but tracks straight when just driving down the road.

The other odd thing is that turning left requires more force on the wheel than turning right.

I've read that worn lower control arm bushings can cause problems like the brakes pulling. Can that affect the steering?

Post by **oragex** » 11 Oct 2020, 13:55

How many miles ? If you lift a wheel, how does the small CA bushing look ? do you see metal inside the bushing ?
Not sure how much a really busted CA bushing will pull, but it's a bit suspect all of a sudden and especially if the car drives straight.
Mind you, it's not necessarily a front caliper, rear one can also make the car pull under braking. If the guy hanged the caliper by the flex hose, it may damage the hose inside. I would remove the wheels, undo a bleeder and pump the pedal 1-2 inches (should not be pushed to the floor), and see if there's a caliper that doesn't bleed - or has little flow.

Yaworski · Post by **Yaworski** » 12 Oct 2020, 12:37

I haven't looked at a bushing in years.

Three new calipers. New flexible lines. New master cylinder. Everything now bleeds.

Post by **firstv70volvo** » 12 Oct 2020, 13:10

In addition to checking the control arm bushings also check the ball joints. Worn ball joints will cause the car to pull during braking and if worn badly will pull abruptly during braking. I had one badly worn ball joint and the car would dart in another direction under heavy braking. Another symptom of badly worn ball joints is when first starting out from a dead stop the steering well twist on its own if held loosely.

Yaworski · Post by **Yaworski** » 13 Oct 2020, 11:12

Thanks all.

Yaworski · Post by **Yaworski** » 19 Nov 2021, 08:24

Update.

I had told my guy about the control arm bushings but he insisted that they were fine. Ok, fine. So I continued to drive the car with the brakes that pulled left.

Fast forward to this year and I take the car in for annual state inspection. Need control arms because the bushings are worn. Bear in mind that I probably didn't put 2k miles on the car. New control arms and the brake related pulling has gone away. Go figure.

Post by **Blacklab467** » 19 Nov 2021, 21:24

LCA’s will definitely do that, also separated spring seats.I would offer that if you didn’t replace with Volvo brand LCA’s you likely will find yourself in the same position in a few months, the aftermarket ones are junk!