2003 Volvo V70 Vibration at Idle, Not Engine Mounts, This One Has Me Beat

[Blacklab467]

Have a real good look at your control arms, I know they're almost new but they're aftermarket. I had a set of Meyle arms that were new and touching the subframe after about a month causing vibration and clunking, I ditched them and installed Volvo blue box CA's. You'll have to look under the arms with the suspension compressed to see the witness marks on the aluminum if this does turn out to be the problem.
Something has changed on your car in the last two weeks with regard to your vibration that is different than it was for the past 20 years. Would you say that you changed the LCA's and motor mounts to address this vibration, or just in the course of regular preventative maintenance? Are you sure that your spring seats are ok?

[Telerama]

Thanks for your reply. I changed the control arms because the left side had one torn bushing. No vibration before. I used Lemforder from FCP Euro. These are not cheap arms, are OEM and have perfect reviews. Control arms are not touching the subframe. No, I haven't checked the spring seats. The strut towers don't vibrate, the subframe doesn't vibrate, the rack doesn't vibrate. The right wheel vibrates and not felt in the cabin until the brake pedal is applied firmly. This will never be solved, 59K and for me, it's totaled. No one will be able to figure this out. It's a shame. Car looks literally brand new. Can't drive a car without stepping on the brake pedal and with this one, it vibrates. Subframe bushings are okay.

Found this online and I reached out to this guy, EXACT same problem. You know what he said to me was the fix? He bled the brakes. Impossible, but he was serious. He said he had to bleed them twice to stop the vibration. This makes no sense, and as desperate as I am, I tried it. I used my power bleeder and do you know what? It did nothing! Still vibrates. Just as I knew it would. Here is his original post, EXACTLY the same thing as me.

Posted by
u/N1troking
2005 V70R M66 Atacama1 year ago

Idle vibrations when pressing brake pedal
V70
2007 V70 2.5T AWD (AW55 Auto) in question. I have recently noticed that when I'm idling and press the brake pedal, no matter if in neutral or in gear, I get increased engine vibrations through the cabin. When I let the brake pedal off, the vibration is gone. If the car is moving forward while holding the brake pedal, i can't feel any vibrations but as soon as the car stops completely, it starts vibrating. I recently replaced the entire PCV system but it had no effect on this issue. I also bled all 4 brake calipers with no difference. Is there a problem with my brake booster? Has anyone else had this?

[dikidera]

Well I also have vibration at idle. Though mine has vibration regardless of brakes. My lca mounts are shot though.

I believe Volvo use much softer rubber or did use at the time. And when you install anything not Genuine Volvo you are always making a compromise e.g Lemforder.

[jonesg]

passenger side vibrates more because the axle is longer.

my car always vibrates slightly at a red light, its the transmission chattering, thats normal wear to me.

[Blacklab467]

I still would like to see a good video of what you’re talking about. At 59k, it would be hard to imagine that anything would be worn out or failing. Obviously your owner history with the car is long so is it correct to view this vibration as a fairly new development, and if so how fast has the progression of it been? Sometimes it can be helpful to go for a ride in someone else’s similar make/model of car to see how yours compares with issues like this, I’ve done that in the past.
I’ve been researching your problem fairly extensively, lots of complaints of vibration on all the Volvo forums primarily with 2.5 and 3.2 litre 6 cylinder engines, from all accounts these tend to be resolved by the dealer as “normal”. One thing that I’ve found is 2 instances where the steering wheel nut has come loose resulting in a change in the “ normal” vibration, seems crazy but you might want to check that on your car. Lots of people have found that this nut has come loose on Their Volvos.

[Telerama]

Thanks to all for your input. It can't be the control arms. This developed about two weeks after I installed them. Also, the subframe does not vibrate at all. I can rest my hand on the subframe where the control arms mount and there is nothing. If this is the result of clamping the rotor, which is what happens when brakes are applied, and if this is coming from the front right wheel, then removing the caliper, supporting it in space, with a piece of lumber to sub for the width of the rotor (otherwise the piston will pop out,) apply the brake pedal, and if the vibration is gone, then it's because there is too much vibration at the right wheel.

Either there is a defect in the tranny, torque converter for instance, or there is something happening in the engine. That right side drive axle has a bearing cap which is mounted to the engine and if something is bad in the engine, it will telegraph through that axle. Mind you, the engine doesn't shake or miss or hesitate. It may be just enough increase in vibration from whatever is bad, to not feel it in the cabin as the new mounts, all 5, are doing their job, but feel it when that vibrating rotor is clamped. I will also mark the harmonic balancer to see if the marks separate after a few cranks. It looks good. I doubt it's bad. I already removed the serpentine belt to see if that would stop this vibration, thinking maybe a bad alternator or ps pump, but there was no difference. The left wheel vibrates too, not as bad. Spring seats are good. I had some moving dollies in the cargo area today, man they were vibrating every time I pressed the brake pedal firm enough to stop the vehicle, so this vibration is through the car.

[Telerama]

Regarding that other fella with the vibrating V70. Providing he told the absolute truth, and I have no reason to doubt him, can anyone explain to me how bleeding the calipers could resolve a vibration that he described in his post. Exactly the same as what's happening with my car. The only thing I can think of is he had excessive pedal travel due to air in the system. This excessive travel may have resulted in loss of vacuum from the booster seal resulting in a rough idle. The vacuum pump would have been running all the time, I think he would have noticed that?? I don't know. It makes no sense.

[Telerama]

Also, it's been mentioned that the P2's vibrate. It's their normal state. I guess I got lucky. For 20 plus years my V70 never vibrated. Now it's making up for lost time.

[scot850]

All I can suggest on bleeding the brakes is if they system had air stuck in the ABS pump it may have caused the pump to run constantly and vibrate. Bleeding the air out of the system returned everything to normal.

Neil.

[jonesg]

I tested my car today, at idle it runs smooth, if I apply brakes and stop the car theres a low level rumbling, probably from the transmission.
Any motor or trans mounts that are too rigid or too soft will make the car shake.