98 V70XC - Growling sound.

Post by **kicmx5** » 02 Jul 2009, 14:59

Showing just over 100k(miles), my v70xc has been growling for no apparent reason! (well fed, exercised & watered). I've been lurking about this forum for years & figured it was the rear driveshaft/steady bearing culprit. A friend of mine with same model & mileage recently replaced his & is living happily ever after, so I took it to my indie mechanic & he dropped the shafts leaving me with FWD until I get the replacements.
So I leave his place to drive home, get up to about 30mph & here comes the growling again!
I really can't differentiate which side it comes from, it doesn't increase or decrease when turning left or right, it just remains constant. There's no clunking or other such noises.
When I got home I crawled underneath it & could see a slight bit of oil seepage from the inner right side where the shaft enters the transfer case? If this is where the bearings are bad, perhaps that's why I can't tell which side it comes from - it's practically the center of the car!
Looking for opinions/advice on this.
Next point - I've checked a few rebuilders of driveshaft/CV components & there's quite a range in price, although none are that expensive. Differences? Recommendations?
Finally, what about the rear drive shafts & steady bearing? Jack says that the steady bearing is done & also the rear coupling seems to have more range of motion than the front. Obviously a more costly fix than the right driveshaft.
Should the steady bearing hold the driveshafts perfectly centred? This one shows a decided preference to the upper right quadrant, although everything seems to move fluidly.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but as ARNOLD said, "I have questions You have answers!".
Thanx.

Post by **kicmx5** » 05 Jul 2009, 04:44

Nobody has an opinion ?????

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 05 Jul 2009, 06:26

Welcome to MVS... I'm sure you'll get a response. If I knew the answer I would post it but I don't- I've never owned a AWD Volvo- but I don know that there are parts that continue to move even when the drive shaft to the rear is removed and either front or rear, some of these moving components wear out. Just hang tight, I'll be you'll have a few answers today.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 06 Jul 2009, 10:56

Next point - I've checked a few rebuilders of driveshaft/CV components & there's quite a range in price, although none are that expensive. Differences? Recommendations?

For the front CV / Axles I tried a set of rebuilts from OReilly and they did not work well at all. I replaced them with a new set of EMPIs and those have worked fine. The one brand that never gets any complaints is Raxles at www.raxles.com .

Avoid the $79.00 Chinese axles, I hear nothing but complaints about them.

...Lee

sorenmail · Post by **sorenmail** » 25 Jul 2009, 22:38

You might want to check your angle gear. It's the unit that connects the front wheel drive with the rear wheel drive shaft. I have a 2000 XC and mine went bad 3 years ago at 96,000 miles. It was just a kind of light grinding hum heard on the highway. Took it to the dealer and they wanted to replace the drive axles, the angle gear and the tranny for $7,500 which was about as much as the car was worth. I took it to a mechanic trained in Tijuana and he put it up on a lift, put it in drive and listened with a stethoscope to the wheel bearings, front axles, tranny and angle gear housing and it was as clear as day that the angle gear was grinding. He took the housing out, showed me the bearings and I did some driving around L.A. to find the right sizes but finally hit pay dirt and he fixed it. I've got 152K on it now with no other angle gear problems. The bad news is if you don't have someone who can rebuild it (parts and labor for my job was $825), the angle gear alone will run you around $1,800 plus labor from the dealer.

Hope this helps.

Post by **holler1** » 26 Jul 2009, 06:40

It's my understanding from reading on other forums that the angle gear can be removed and the right front driveaxle re-connected. I think there is some kind of protective sleeve that is used. Normally the right driveaxle goes through the angle gear as your post implies. This would make the car permanently FWD. However, I don't know how involved getting the angle gear out, my guess is it might require considerable labor. I suggest you check the v70xc forum - I think it has a lot of discussions of AWD topics.

Edit - I looked up the thread. See
http://www.v70xc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13260