V70 shudder/vibration from front under acceleration

shelhancox · Post by **shelhancox** » 01 Sep 2007, 07:08

Our 2002 V70 T5 developed quite a bad shudder from the front early July. (only 68,000 km on the clock) I figured it might be a wheel balance problem so took it to reputable company who does this kind of work as it was due a wheel alignment anyway. They rotated all the tyres, did the wheel alignment and balanced the wheels. Seemed fine on the drive home and ok for about a week then gradually got worse again. Took it back to have tyres re-balanced, seemed fine and again got worse. now booked for our Volvo tech in town later this week, but am quite concerned about cause and whether i should drive it meantime - will it be safe, are we doing any more damage?

The shudder is definitely coming from the front, seems much worse when driving up hill and turning to the left (we are in NZ so driver's side is the right side of the car). Seems most noticeable at between 60 and 100 kph when accelerating - so i guess when applying power to the front wheels as it's front wheel drive. Not noticeable when coasting/cruising or braking.The shudder is getting quite bad again now and more on the left side than the right. Have checked tyre pressure etc, and alignment seems ok. Does anyone have any ideas? Have had no other problems with it after our initial ignition barrel failure right at the start and we really love the car.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 01 Sep 2007, 11:18

I had something similar happen on my, granted older, S70....it was a bad control arm. There was a time when the tightening bolts they used for the alignment was not tightened enough and it came loose (dangerous!). Hope it's one or the other and nothing serious.

shelhancox · Post by **shelhancox** » 07 Sep 2007, 00:29

Aah. Unfortunately not a quick fix. Went to the Volvo technician today and apparently it is the drive shaft. Fortunately for us we still have mechanical insurance and it will only cost us $100 to fix. Also, the little squeak/rattle i noticed as well turns out to be ball joints. This seems a fairly low mileage (68,000 k/42,000 m) for this kind of problem. Interested to know if other people with this age V70 have experienced similar problems under 100,000 kilometres.