2000 V70XC Rear Driveshaft

nilsxc · Post by **nilsxc** » 04 Nov 2023, 11:32

I bought my xc with very little prior knowledge of these cars and learned shortly after that the car I purchased had no rear driveshaft
What is the best option for sourcing one of these? I've heard good things about colorado driveshaft, The prices don't seem too ridiculous there but I'd like to know my cheapest option. It seems like there arent many other options, and I can't find many awd p80s in junkyards near me. Any advice?

Post by **foggydogg** » 04 Nov 2023, 13:14

My suggestion would be to get the car off the ground and have a good look at the rest of the AWD stuff. There might be more issues than just the driveshaft. Several folks on here have taken the shaft out and left it in the corner of the garage - me included. Do a search in this forum, and check out some of Robert Spinner's YouTube vids on what to look for :
https://www.youtube.com/@RobertDIY

Post by **Blacklab467** » 04 Nov 2023, 13:36

Check the angle gear first, also sometimes referred to as bevel gear, it's probably shot and was making noise which precipitated the previous owner to remove the drive shaft. You'd be in the minority if the only thing you need is a driveshaft to restore the AWD functionality.

Post by **scot850** » 04 Nov 2023, 13:52

Angle gears fail, but unless the car was driven by a loon, the P80's normally it is the center carrier support bearing that fails or the front one. Most people remove it for that. Then there are the viscous coupling issues that can cause the system to fail as well as the rear diff. #1 issue is usually the prop/drive shaft failure.

Fixing the system 15 years ago was called a $10k repair at Volvo for the early AWD's. Lots of the issues are down to age and lack of maintenance. I have had angle gears where the oil has turned to grease.

Neil.

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 04 Nov 2023, 16:08

Yeah, as Neil said - the driveshafts on these are known for center bearing wear/failure, which causes vibrations. Since new ones from Volvo are NLA and most used ones are also shot, most people take them out while looking for a new one/saving for a rebuilt one

Post by **scot850** » 05 Nov 2023, 10:28

The normal recommendation is if you want to re-install one, if you have a core send it to Colorado Driveshaft in Denver for a rebuild.

I would consider jacking the front wheels off the ground, chocking the rear wheels and start the car and put in gear and see if the angle gear to prop-shaft flange moves and makes no noise. Any grumbling or lack of motion is typically the angle gear is bad, or more likely the collar splines between the transmission to the angle gear splines are stripped. If this has been left for a long time, it will damage the splines in the angle gear as well. Then the challenge is trying to find a good one of these where the youngest is now 23 years old.

It is not impossible, but go in knowing it is a lot of work.

Neil.

Post by **foggydogg** » 05 Nov 2023, 19:17

nilsxc wrote: ↑04 Nov 2023, 11:32 I bought my xc with very little prior knowledge of these cars and learned shortly after that the car I purchased had no rear driveshaft
What is the best option for sourcing one of these? I've heard good things about colorado driveshaft, The prices don't seem too ridiculous there but I'd like to know my cheapest option. It seems like there arent many other options, and I can't find many awd p80s in junkyards near me. Any advice?

And to address your original question, yes, Colorado is a good vendor, especially since you don't have a core.

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 06 Nov 2023, 08:25

I will note, my first driveshaft from Colorado wasn't well balanced. I needed to send it back and get a second one. Have yet to install it due to college, but thankfully they are easy to deal with for warranty. It seems that I'm not the only one with imperfect shafts from them though, but of course YMMV