2004 S60 AWD Turbo 55k mi, shaking & sluggish.

Chris15 · Post by **Chris15** » 08 Jan 2009, 15:29

How can I fixed the shaking and sluggishness? The dealer fixed the shaking after I bought the car second hand in Dec. 2007 and got an oil change from the dealer. But the dealer went out of business and I don't trust the other nearby dealers.

Shaking seems to happen after an oil change, like today. Jiffy Lube said they put in Mobil full synthetic and inflated the tires to 35.

What's going on? The car seems sluggier than when I bought it in 2007. Can I do something to "cleanse" its system and get some new parts? I think a dealer recommended overhaul is around the 60,000 miles mark for sparkplugs and others.

Do you know of any trustworthy volvo dealers near new york city or jersey city?

Thanks.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 08 Jan 2009, 16:22

Welcome to MVS.
Wow...first is, don't take your beautiful Volvo to Jiffy Lube.
Who knows what filters they are using or what they actually put in your car. You'll have to be more specific of your symptoms for us to be able to help you better.

Chris15 · Post by **Chris15** » 08 Jan 2009, 17:53

Oh, I didn't know there is a difference in filters and stuff. Okay, the steering wheel shakes lightly like a vibration from when the engine starts. Then it shakes much more when I'm on the highways. I know it's the car and not the road because I drive I-280 often and know the road and pavement smoothness in certain areas.

When the dealer fixed the shaking last year, the steering wheel didn't shake at all. Sometimes I forgot the car was on. I want that back.

I don't hear loud revving noise from the engine except in the winter like now. The first turn of the ignition in the cold mornings makes the engine sound like a small Mack truck engine.

I got 2 new tires 6 months ago and the next 2 tires about a month ago. They're all the same types that came originally from the dealer.

The shaking definitely was worse after the oil change today.

The guy who sold me the car said there is a sports/performance package on the car (from volvo) so the tires are a bit specialized. Someone told me the shocks will be lower as well. I don't think I'm suppose to feel every bump in the road, though, because I've had complete smoothness before.

The sluggishness is something else. When I test drove the car, I didn't understand why the car didn't go immediately when I stepped on the peddle. My friend who looked at the car with me said it has to do with the turbo. Well, now the pick up is just slow like there is less power. I don't really feel the "turbo lag" anymore because it's just lagging/sluggish all the time instead of the initial step.

Please ask me more questions if you need more details.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 08 Jan 2009, 18:24

Where to start? I would do all of the reading you can on this site in this section. I would say that first of all, your top engine mount (called the torque mount) is most likely broken. This is common and will happen to all of these care eventually and will need replacing (the most likely cause of your vibration). A bit early for 55K miles, but maybe not. The other issue is that your car is an AWD so you have to have tires within 2/32 of an inch of each other or you'll mess up your AWD system- this can cause vibrations... If you have tires bought at different times that are close always keep the tires bought at the same time on the same axle (newest on the front, for instance). Also, I would be very careful on your oil filter...It is not as big a deal as the older cars with a metal canister oil filter, but the paper insert that your car uses is still something that should be a name brand- not something that is stocked jiffylube- I'm sure they use the cheapest thing (Mann, Mahle and Volvo are my recommendations). What synthetic oil do they say they use? Do they show you the containers after they are finished? I'm wondering what they're really putting in. 20/20 did a news report on Jiffylube a year or so ago- lots of lying and cutting corners and not doing what they say they're doing- I just don't trust them. Also, unlike other cars, your car uses close to 6 quarts of oil (when including the filter) so make sure you pull your dip stick and have the correct amount. Seriously, I would find a good independent shop that knows Volvo's to do your work- even oil changes, or learn to do them yourself. My wife's V70 is very similar to your S60 when it comes to oil changes and I have it down to only 10 minutes to complete:
1. drive up on ramps
2. pull the oil drain plug and drain
3. tighten back up the drain plug w/ a new aluminum crush washer)
4. move the collection pan to under the oil filter, take it loose, replace the oil filter inside
5. check the threads of the oil filter cover- use a new o-ring on it
6. put the new paper insert filter in the cover and fill it with oil, then carefully tighten it up to the car
7. fill up car with oil, start engine and check for leaks
8. drive car off of ramps- double check for oil leaks...turn engine off
9. let things sit for several minutes- check oil level from dip stick again and top off as necessary.

Post by **JRL** » 08 Jan 2009, 18:49

Dave,
It's a Haldex,car, it doesn't matter too much about the tires

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 08 Jan 2009, 19:07

I know it's a Haldex, but still does matter. We just don't want someone with one a pair of worn tires and a pair of new tires cross rotating- thus having mismatched tire on each axle- from what I understand, that will still play havoc with the Haldex AWD system.

Chris15 · Post by **Chris15** » 08 Jan 2009, 21:58

You are probably right about the engine mount because the dealer told me one of the four had to be replaced when I bought the car. They replaced it. The engine had "knocking" a few weeks before I took it to the dealer when I first bought it. I think it was low on oil and had bought a quart and poured it in the oil area myself. I will check on the engine mount.

Jiffy Lube didn't show me the quart bottles. They said they filled with Mobil 1 synthetic and showed me the dip stick when I went back 10 min after I drove out of there. I exited the first exit on I-280 when I felt the shaking and told them I was going back so they can tell me what they did. The oil marked the full area on the dip stick and they charged me the extra quart of oil.

They also charged me for taking a plate off for the oil change. $4.99. I think I have a plate about the size of the front two seats plus the leg room under my car, if that plate on the ground was mine. I will check tomorrow.

DCH volvo in Montclair, NJ going out of business has been a big headache for me. They were honest and friendly. I don't know where to find another trusty dealer. The two dealers I was going to buy new/used volvo from were snakes. One tried to have me sign a more expensive lease (Ramsey volvo) when I was went to pick up my new car and didn't honor my original signed lease. I didn't want to go to the lawyers or do business with them after that. And the other I was suspicious when they tried to sell me the loaner car at close to retail. The loaner, the car people get when they bring in their volvos for servicing. This is the dealer closest to me.

Thanks for the all the important info and I will update soon.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 08 Jan 2009, 23:06

Ah yes, the plate- some cars have them. We thought our V70 had one because a friend with the same car does, but ours didn't...go figure. I put on an IPD skid plate instead (it has a hole to access the oil pan nut and keeps my underbelly safe at the same time). Yeah, I would try to find a good independent shop that deals with Volvo's in your area and try to avoid any dealers if you can.