V70, off the gas it drifts left

Post by **jonesg** » 02 May 2016, 09:35

i RECENTLY GOT A 2004 v70, i THINK ITS A 2.5 litre BUT not certain.

On the Hiway at 60mph if I give it the gas it pulls to the right, letting my foot off the gas it drifts left.
Could this be related to the AWD compensating for a worn right rear tire?

nsjames · Post by **nsjames** » 02 May 2016, 09:38

it's probably worn out steering/suspension components in the front end.

Post by **chrism** » 02 May 2016, 14:52

Most likely your LH control arm bushings are shot.

Post by **jonesg** » 02 May 2016, 14:58

By LH do you mean driver side?

The passenger side control arm bushings were ripped, I changed that side along with the ball joint, used Moog.
It seemed to help but the wandering is still there. There is no slack in the steering response.
So I should do both sides.?

Post by **chrism** » 02 May 2016, 16:20

In a FWD car, when you give it the gas, the front wheels are trying to pull forward which also means they're trying to toe inward. So if it's yawing to the right that means the left wheel is toeing in more than the right wheel. So that means the left side is more worn than the right side.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 02 May 2016, 16:42

Did you do an alignment after your steering parts replacement/repairs?
That should help if the other side checks out and the control arm is good.
Otherwise, your subframe bushings may be worn and the whole thing your suspension is attached to is moving about- very possible. If it's just barely loose (not wandering hard all over the place) there are bushing inserts for the 4 front subframe bushings that IPD and others sell. I did this little "tidying up" job yesterday on my wife's '04 V70 and she said it made a difference with her car. Post back if your suspension is good, your alignment is right but you're still having this issue and I'll post a link to those inserts. First thing first- you got to make sure the basic things are done. No sense in "tidying up" things if there are bigger issues going on. Btw, "wandering steering" is often tir-rod ends...if ball joints are good and this is bad, it could be that, so check those too on both sides. I will say though that if it's ball joints, you'll typically get vibrations like the tires are out of balance- do you get that?

Post by **jonesg** » 02 May 2016, 18:06

I wasn't sure if it needed alignment and wanted to see if it fails inspection for any suspension problems I can't find.
I believe the suspension is ok, don't know about the alignment.

No play or slop when I jack the wheels up and grab them , side to side etc is good.
Its not so bad that I don't like driving it, I've driven worse.
The ball joint was still good on the control arm I changed. Swapped it out anyway.

Top motor mount is bad, so I expect other mounts will be bad also.

Its due for inspection in the next few days.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 02 May 2016, 19:00

Good luck with the inspection...yeah, tightening up the chassis will make all the bad spots worse than ever. Best to get through the inspection and change the mounts as you go...there is always room for improvement on these cars!! Alignment would go a long way- they are usually good for 6 months too so once it's done if you change something up, you can always go back in for another!

Post by **jonesg** » 02 May 2016, 19:06

chrism wrote:In a FWD car, when you give it the gas, the front wheels are trying to pull forward which also means they're trying to toe inward. So if it's yawing to the right that means the left wheel is toeing in more than the right wheel. So that means the left side is more worn than the right side.

Yeh that makes sense, considering the left side is now the old control arm.

Post by **jonesg** » 05 May 2016, 15:33

MadeInJapan wrote:Good luck with the inspection...yeah, tightening up the chassis will make all the bad spots worse than ever. Best to get through the inspection and change the mounts as you go...there is always room for improvement on these cars!! Alignment would go a long way- they are usually good for 6 months too so once it's done if you change something up, you can always go back in for another!

Got the inspection sticker.
Took a look at the timing belt, its oily in there, can't really see which seal so I bought them all (3).
Got a Gates kit today.
Is there a timing belt/seal write up anywhere here for this job.?
Do I need a cam gear holder tool for this ?
I have 18v milwaukee impact and decent enough tools to tackle it.

Question, when the 3 timing marks are lined up, does that take care of #1 cylinder being at TDC?
I have 174K miles, should the water pump be changed out yet ? ,,,or just inspect it for weeping.