Drive shaft problems

DGB47 · Post by **DGB47** » 10 Oct 2009, 15:30

I have an ongoing problem with the drive shaft in my 99 V70XC.
162K miles.
A year ago I replaced the drive shaft with a new re manufactured one. After eight months it was making noise so I pulled it out. Fortunately it was under warranty and I received a new one. Before putting it back in I took the car to a volvo mechanic to check out and make sure everything was in order.
He found I was missing the heat shield on the exhaust pipe which runs directly behind and to the side of the front cv joint of the drive shaft. He said without it the heat would cook the grease in the cv joint and eventually ruin it. Which is probably what happened to the last one.
Unfortunately you cannot buy the heat shield from volvo, they do not sell the part alone. I had a friend fabricate from stainless steel a new shield and bolted it on in place of the missing one. I never saw the original one, but, this one looked like it would protect the cv from the excessive heat.
I guess not, now after 4 weeks I am seeing that grease from the cv is slinging everywhere.
Has anyone heard of this problem before? I'm wondering if maybe there is an abnormal amount of heat build up? Could it be a sign of the catalytic converter clogging up, although there are no codes being thrown.
I can't imagine the original shield being much more then what I replaced it with as there is very little room for anything around it.
Does anyone have a photo showing the heat shield or any advise would be appreciated.

volvomileage · Post by **volvomileage** » 10 Oct 2009, 18:33

hello

i have looked through the volvo manuals and found this information

hope it helps

Post by **holler1** » 10 Oct 2009, 19:35

I had a problem with the front to rear driveshaft CV joint a few years ago on my 98 V70 AWD, and I always thought it was because of the heat from the exhaust too. I'm attaching a couple of pictures. Neither of them shows the heat shields very well, but it does show the grease thrown from the joint after the boot failed. I got a kit to replace the CV joint, and it has worked fine for more than 50K miles.

: volvo v70 awd driveshaft 2 small.jpg (74.36 KiB) Viewed 4202 times

: volvo v70 awd driveshaft small.jpg (30.76 KiB) Viewed 4202 times

DGB47 · Post by **DGB47** » 11 Oct 2009, 06:42

Thanks for the photos. It is hard to tell what is there on the exhaust pipe itself, but I assume there is something there as there are the mounting bolts on the pipe to attach it. The shield we fabricated follows the pipe around at a 90 degree bend. It just seems like it would have done the job. I winder if there could be an issue with the reman. drive shaft whether the cv and boots are inferior.

Post by **holler1** » 11 Oct 2009, 09:31

Here are a few more pictures from the top. Hard to get the camera in that area. I was surprised how close the shield is to the drive coming out o the angle gear. By the way, I think these shields are aluminum. Hope this helps.

: volvo v70 awd exhaust heat shield 5.jpg (78.76 KiB) Viewed 4185 times

: volvo v70 awd exhaust heat shield 4.jpg (37.79 KiB) Viewed 4185 times

: volvo v70 awd exhaust heat shield 3.jpg (52.9 KiB) Viewed 4185 times

: volvo v70 awd exhaust heat shield 1.jpg (20.8 KiB) Viewed 4185 times

DGB47 · Post by **DGB47** » 11 Oct 2009, 10:43

Thanks for taking the time to send these photos. I think I can see enough from them how the shield should fit.

Post by **holler1** » 25 Oct 2009, 06:44

Update- This morning I found that my exhaust heat shield is loose. The earlier pictures I posted were of a partially loose heat shield. The area around the two bolts that hold it on apparently corroded away.

Buzzard1220 · Post by **Buzzard1220** » 18 Feb 2024, 23:24

This caused me to sell the car since I could not get any honesty from the stealership. Seems like they would know this when they know I was going through shafts every 5 months. Although I had a insurance repair, I asked the mechanic to find out why the driveshafts were melting at $800 a pop. Most of the parts for these have to be OEM, although I wouldn't doubt it was made at Ford, shipped to Sweden, then shipped back to the US. Don't know. I had to talk to a service manager in person, and he refused to give me any information and was unbelievably rude. An aftermarket shaft was wobbly from the start when they put one in without my permission.
I changed my oil for the last time and saw the spatter on the engine rock guard/shield. I was tired of it after 4 shafts and I didn't have any faith that anyone would help me since I was so thoroughly gaslighted and they communicated with each other through my unscrupulous insurance agent.
I kept wondering if the engine was too hot and a jimmied temp guage was not telling me. It always seemed fishy. Likely wrong about temp guage. It may have been that the turbo was going bad and they like to create huge heat. Too bad, the engines on these are really well built, but turbos, by nature, are problematic unless you have one of the few types of car that they did a real good job of making turbos.
Advice: When buying a car with turbo, find out how it needs to warm up because they are all different. My F150 is water cooled turbos and I was advised to run truck right away. Some cars one is supposed to warm up the engine and turbos first.

Even if it's not turbo, I had asked a previous mechanic if there was supposed to be a heat shield and he didn't tell me. I loved that car, but hated what it was gouging me. I would have liked to sue the dealer. I put a lot into that car. Wood trim interior, air dam, drive shafts. Would go through a set of tires every year since the standard was that the rears were cambered negative like it was a hot rod until I cambered them more neutral myself to the minimum. Two runs of 4 Michelin tires. I guess convertibles, lacking a certain stability, are hard on tires and then they crapped on me by the negative toe. Tired of the mental strife and the fleecing of my income. What an ordeal! Quite obvious that there was too much heat. I think that if the turbos were bad, it would not make any difference at all that there were heat shields. They get unbelievably hot and it goes right through the engine. Probably melted things I don't know about. Was likely hard on the transmission. No one would tell me. The car was under warranty the first time I took it in, but they successfully avoided me. I was working around the country and did not get to take it into the original dealer.

Maybe someone would give me more info on the turbo. Can the car run with poor turbo? It was not exactly a burning fast car, like they tried to protray it: may have been due to bad turbo. bought it used from a dealer with certifed status that lasted for 2000 more miles. The first dealer didn't treat the problem when it was still under warrantee. They said it was my fault. I didn't find the truth until after I sold the car.

Post by **scot850** » 19 Feb 2024, 10:28

I have the history from almost new on my 00 V70R. As far as the history shows it is still on the original prop-shaft.

Stainless steel was a poor choice of material. It maintains too much heat. The original heatshield is a sandwich of aluminum and heat proof card or some such material which absorbs the heat. Stainless does not dissipate the heat but will reflect it onto the joint.

Parts quality is an issue today as well. The go to for years has been Colorado driveshaft. But even a company with a generally good reputation can only use what is available.

The front joint was always a weak point on these cars. One issue I have seen is that some cars I see in the junkyards are missing the exhaust manifold heatshield.

Allowing a short time after stopping for the turbo and engine to cool down may also help reduce the issue. Also where you live may also have input on this. Hot dry areas are harder as the car has to work harder in higher temps, and this affects rubber parts.

Is that a good answer, no not really, it was a bad design, but then perhaps a cat running to hot may add to the issue, and worst case just remove the prop-shaft and run it in FWD.

Neil.