Significant inner CV axle radial play.

dikidera · Post by **dikidera** » 27 Jun 2024, 01:04

On my S60 2005 automatic, it appears that something has broken or worn out where the driver side axle enters the gearbox, there is a lot of radial play in the cup up and down which causes constant rattle as the car goes over uneven surfaces.

Is this an easy repair or is something in the gearbox worn? I am hoping it's not the differential.

I would surmise that the reason this rattle developed was because of a failed strut in conjunction with failed strut bearing and control arm bushing. I believe the combination of the aforementioned failed parts induced more stress on this component.

Post by **jonesg** » 27 Jun 2024, 10:06

pull it and inspect the splines.

dikidera · Post by **dikidera** » 27 Jun 2024, 23:41

I have ordered a replacement, used cv axle just in case the damage is only to it. But if damage has occurred to the gearbox splines in the differential, that is a different story.

Post by **matthew1** » 28 Jun 2024, 10:30

dikidera wrote: ↑27 Jun 2024, 23:41 I have ordered a replacement, used cv axle just in case the damage is only to it. But if damage has occurred to the gearbox splines in the differential, that is a different story.

That would shoot this from a 3/10 difficulty to a 7 or 8 real quickly. Crossing my fingers for you.

dikidera · Post by **dikidera** » 03 Jul 2024, 09:52

Some small update. Turns out it was not the axle, but litte ol' ball joint. I ordered a replacement part, only to get not the old style ball joint but the newer. So off we go to order to correct one finally.

dikidera · Post by **dikidera** » 05 Jul 2024, 10:53

Well, after replacing the ball joint, which unfortunately the first one did not go in correctly, ultimately destroying the splines inside the knuckle, I had to get a new knuckle. I installed a brand new ball joint, the old one was really bad.

I also replaced the drive axle...low and behold, the clunk is still there. Not a lot of other things it could be, the end links, the inner tie rods(or the rack itself) or the stabilizer bar bushings.

The problem is, it all feels solid...no play anymore(after replacing the ball joint) in the wheel. But, clunk clunk clunk

Post by **hausmeister** » 09 Jul 2024, 06:34

Last klunk I had was the sway bar end links (or the 2 stabilizer arms) were shot. I thought that might be the case, but could not diagnose it without a lift.
Maybe have a mechanic look at it before you throw more parts at it.

Post by **scot850** » 09 Jul 2024, 13:47

Be careful with the end links on the sawybar. I could not understand why recent links had failed prematurely. Turns out the dealer mechanics used impact guns and did not bother using the counter hold. They span and span them until the nut came off. The 'cup' in the swaybar end links are usually only nylon. That spinning it enough to heat the metal ball portion enough to melt the nylon making them knock, even though they look fine.

The remaining place to check based on what you have written are:

Swaybar bushes as hausmeister has mentioned above. These are glued (vulcanized) onto the swaybar and will detach after many years. There are replacements but they are usually a short term fix and will start knocking again. In early 850 life Volvo sued to supply a repair kit for the swaybar bushes, but dropped it as there were so many complaints of re-failure soon after being swapped.

Good Luck!

Neil.