Sway bar/end link noise?

5rivers · Post by **5rivers** » 15 Jul 2023, 19:11

Greetings everyone,
I just finished replacing the rack on my '98 V70 T5 auto, and in the process of eliminating the air from the lines, I began to hear the following clicking noise:


Untitled video - Made with Clipchamp.mp4: (14.62 MiB) Downloaded 135 times

I am not sure if its the sway bar or the end link or rubber stretching. Appreciate your thoughts!

5rivers · Post by **5rivers** » 16 Jul 2023, 08:52

For what it's worth, when I had the subframe lowered to remove the rack and the sway bar removed as well, I noticed the end link was super easy to move up, down, and around the outer tie rod. Is this normal?
Appreciate your insight!

Post by **scot850** » 16 Jul 2023, 13:24

The ball joints on the ends of links should have a positive firm feel to them. If they are loose or really easy to move then they are bad. I had a set of IPD HD links and they were both loose in about 6-9 months. I replaced them as they were junk. I now stick with OE.

Neil.

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 16 Jul 2023, 17:14

That's kind of what my V70 sounded like when I did tie rods recently. Couldn't figure it out. Noise went away as soon as the suspension was loaded.

5rivers · Post by **5rivers** » 16 Jul 2023, 20:00

I have new end links on order to replace the ones on the car.
When I removed the jacks and lowered the car, the sound seemed to disappear.
I did a short drive in the parking lot next door, and heard a hard thumping sound, like metal on metal. Slowly got the car back into the driveway and raised the front driver's side. Took off the wheel, and noticed the weight (attached for balancing) was being shredded...the origin of the thumping noise, I thought.
I had the hood up and noticed the top of the strut (the strut mount cap) was falling apart with small pieces of the hard rubber nearby. See picture:

Then with the tire back on and front end lowered, the same cap was up almost a quarter of an inch.

Haven't taken the car out for a test drive yet. Just wondering if something is amiss with the strut.

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 16 Jul 2023, 21:17

5rivers wrote: 16 Jul 2023, 20:00 I have new end links on order to replace the ones on the car.
When I removed the jacks and lowered the car, the sound seemed to disappear.
I did a short drive in the parking lot next door, and heard a hard thumping sound, like metal on metal. Slowly got the car back into the driveway and raised the front driver's side. Took off the wheel, and noticed the weight (attached for balancing) was being shredded...the origin of the thumping noise, I thought.
I had the hood up and noticed the top of the strut (the strut mount cap) was falling apart with small pieces of the hard rubber nearby. See picture:
IMG_0344.JPEG

Then with the tire back on and front end lowered, the same cap was up almost a quarter of an inch.
IMG_0346.JPEG

Haven't taken the car out for a test drive yet. Just wondering if something is amiss with the strut.

You look to be overdue for a strut job. Pretty sure (99%) there should be no gap there. Put a breaker bar on the top nut with the car on the ground. There should be a lot of resistance and it definitely shouldn't be turn-able without (a lot) of excess effort. If it spins easy, then the bushings (/carrier bearing?) are shot. Based on the look of your strut cap, the rubber bushing has probably split in two causing the strut to push up into the hood.

Post by **scot850** » 16 Jul 2023, 23:31

WhatAmIDoing is 100% on that diagnosis. You spring seat has failed. I don't recommend driving the car like that! Replace in pairs unless you know the other one was fitted in the recent past (like the last year). Some cheap aftermarket ones may not even last that long!

By Volvo upper spring seats which are the upgraded XC90 parts (that is all they sell now) so are effectively an 'HD' part.

Good job you caught that. What has happened is the metal sleeve which should be bonded to the upper spring seat has come un-glued from the rubber. This might also contribute to the noise you are getting more so than the end-links.

Neil.

5rivers · Post by **5rivers** » 17 Jul 2023, 10:43

I used a breaker bar with a 22mm socket to move the nut on the top of the suspect strut...it moved only slightly, like some rubber was being squeezed, and bounced back into place. It is still up almost a 1/4 of an inch. The passenger side strut top is up about 1/8 of an inch, the top nut does not move with the breaker bar and socket.
If its just the mount cap, is this replaceable with the strut on the car?

5rivers · Post by **5rivers** » 17 Jul 2023, 10:45

I will post a short video of the top of the strut while turning the steering wheel later today.
That should help us figure out what is at fault.

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 17 Jul 2023, 11:21

5rivers wrote: 17 Jul 2023, 10:43 I used a breaker bar with a 22mm socket to move the nut on the top of the suspect strut...it moved only slightly, like some rubber was being squeezed, and bounced back into place. It is still up almost a 1/4 of an inch. The passenger side strut top is up about 1/8 of an inch, the top nut does not move with the breaker bar and socket.
If its just the mount cap, is this replaceable with the strut on the car?

You are going to be in for this job. https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvo ... -tutorial/

Not bad if you have an impact and a vice. If you are scared of giant springs under tension, may be worth paying a local Indie. Should take an experienced mechanic less than an hour to do both sides. Don't buy loaded struts from the part store. They are all junk.