Volvo V70 XC. Sounds like a card in spokes.

[Hungary Bill]

Howdy everyone, I've been asking around the GRM forum but I think a deeper knowledge base is needed. You guys came highly recommended, so here goes:

I'm working on my neighbors 1999 Volvo V70 XC (autotragic).

They've been having a rash of driveline related issues that's lead to a replacement of both the front axles. Recently I've received a recording from their last drive that sounds like a bicycle with a card in its spokes. They took it to their trusted mechanic and were simply told (and I'm quoting here) "aw everything under there is so wore out, I wouldn't bother fixing a thing" (that's a rant for a different day).

They're planning on selling it, and I offered to see if I could fix it for them in an effort to get them a few more bucks to put toward their new car. That being said I took the car for a spin for about 20 blocks worth of city driving and about 4 highway miles at slightly over the posted speed limit later, and I don't hear a thing.

I figure it's safe to assume the noise isn't going to be coming from the front. I also can't tell you if it increases or decreases with turns but I can tell you that the frequency of clicking I heard in the recording seemed "driveshaft related" to me. The fact that it clacked for them and not for me has me suspecting that something is "low on lube", is getting hot, and then making noise (they commute from Tacoma to Seattle, I only drove it about 5 miles).

With all that in mind I pulled it and checked the CVs on either end of the driveshaft and didn't find anything obvious (one was drier than I'd like inside, the other has a cut boot just behind the metal tie, but neither has play, neither is slinging lubricant everywhere, and neither shows signs of damage). I lubed them both back up and am ready to reinstall.

Before I do, though, I had a question:

Is there a THIRD CV before that driveshaft inputs into the diff? I ask because there's a big wet spot that I'm beginning to suspect (please see attached photo). If not, what is that I'm looking at?

Of course any advice/direction would be greatly appreciated

[Hungary Bill]

(driveline disconnected at the top of the picture, wet spot at the bottom near the diff. Sorry)

[scot850]

What you are looking at is the viscous coupling casing. Clean the oil off at the back of the housing and check if there is oil leaking from the rear axle seals in the rear differential.

The prop-shaft has 3 points that can fail. but the usual 2 are the front CV joint due to proximity to the cat/turbo, and the rubber ring around the center bearing support on the prop.

What you can also check is the bearings at the nose of the VC (top of your picture) and also check the support bush at the front RH of the housing.

The first of these issues is more likely to be the issue.

Lastly check the parking brake shoes have not de-laminated or the parking brake cables have snapped and may be rubbing somewhere at the back.

If there is a lot of oil actually coming from the VC unit itself it may have failed.

Many of the guys here would suggest pulling the prop-shaft and seeing if the noise goes away.

Neil.

[Hungary Bill]

Thanks man. I cleaned up the viscous coupling but didn't see any obvious leaks at the diff. I'm going to let it ride a while and reinspect that one.

The front CV joint on the prop shaft was the one that was "a little dry" (think slightly wet graphite). I re-packed it with some generic CV grease, I'll have to drive it tomorrow to see what changes, or if the fault returns. It'd be nice if the bearing was in good enough shape that the grease shut it up for good.

I checked the VC bearings like you suggested. I don't feel any feedback when I spin it, and there doesn't seem to be any play. I completely forgot to look at the park brake cables, but the park brake works so I think I can safely say the park brake cables aren't snapped.

On the subject of the prop-shaft removal and drive idea: Man, I tried that one. The mechanic (supposedly a Volvo specialist in the area) told them that if they let me remove the driveshaft and drive it, the weight would be too much for the front axles and they'd start seeing problems. That's a completely different rant for another day but the short version is I'd like to punch him in the teeth

Anyhoo, thanks for the guidance. We'll see how this goes. Prop-shaft is back in and ready for a spin. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning a cam solenoid for the P00014 or whatever it is code to try to get that to go away. After that we start the test drives.

Good times
-Bill

[scot850]

Hi Bill,

One other place to check I forgot to mention is the brake back plates. They can get knocked and rub on the rotor.

Neil.

[polskamafia mjl]

The mechanic (supposedly a Volvo specialist in the area) told them that if they let me remove the driveshaft and drive it, the weight would be too much for the front axles and they'd start seeing problems.

That's simply not true.