Not happy & feel this is a defect. Is a 98 XC with 210K on the clock. Wife heard a pop followed by noise. After a bit of work found that the connecting sleeve between the trans to the bevel gear had stripped out. Bought a new sleeve for a staggering $100. Then found the teeth coming out of the trans were severly worn as well. The only way to get the problem really fixed is to replace the trans with one that has good teeth on the output gear to the sleeve. That's not going to happen.

Am now running the car as front drive only. No driveshaft. Put the new connecting sleeve on with the bevel gear and have lost AWD capability. This sould not be an issue. Have had the car since 120K miles and in that time have run new tires that wore well until the next fresh set. I mention this as we know running different sized tires can cause a problem. What happened before my ownership I do not know.

Any XC's out there with more miles that haven't had this failure? Most of the miles have been Hwy miles, roundtrip commute is 120 per day. This is wifes car & she drives it much easier than I drive mine. Found that we need this car when the snow falls to get up & out of our long driveway, have no idea how it will do as a FWD. Other than an 850 we had that couldn't handle it. I have a terrible time with my RWD cars with limited slip diffs. The XC could make it without spinning a tire.

The stripped coupler sleeve is a common problem. A bit of research on the other boards (start with volvoxc.com) will confirm this for you. It is indeed ~$100 for the sleeve and fair bit of work to do the swap, though it's not terribly /hard/ work.

Many have postulated that the sleeve in question is the sacrificial part - the weakest link designed to fail first to save the rest of the drivetrain. This has not been confirmed one way or another and there is some debate about it.

I've never heard of the teeth on the trans or Bevel Gear stripping before though. It does seem like it could easily happen if the reports of the teeth-wear on the sleeve are any indication. Unfortunately the only way to remedy your problem (the teeth in the trans) is to either change that part inside the trans or get another trans altogether. Both pretty expensive options. It's a real shame this wasn't discovered before you spent the money to have the sleeve replaced.

IMHO it might just be time to pick up a newer AWD car for that AWD functionality. The 2003+ has the new Haldex center coupler which is much easier on the AWD drive train and nearly identical in functionality from the driver's perspective - only better fuel economy and less maintenance!

It will not hurt to run the car without the center driveshaft.

FWIW I have a friend with the same car and he has taken to removing the center driveshaft in the summer to save the drivetrain and up his fuel mileage, then he puts it back in again in the fall for the winter driving conditions.

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1998 V70 AWD->FWD Turbo 200k+

The teeth on the trans gear have worn to a sharp point. I did intall the new sleeve. Got to pull the bevel gear a 2nd time because I left the o-ring seal off the bevel geat shaft & had an immediate ATF leak. Oh what fun. That was on the replacement bevel gear because the teeth were almost completely stripped on the one that was on the car. If any noise comes back up I have ground down the inside of the bad sleve completely smooth so the will be no drive from it. Only sitting there to make the seal.

Sorry I can't be too much help, but it seems to be a relatively common problem for the angle gear to fail.. Did you just get the gear or the whole assembly? I got a couple of links for you to read, though they're not that much help... I'd suggest looking at the pick-n-pulls for the parts you need...

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12121

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?50601-Angle-Gear-Tutorial

Thanks for the links. I only replaced the connecting sleeve. Bevel gear teeth are worn as well. But the new sleeve makes more contact and I removed the driveshaft to keep the wear down on what's left. Haven't been any XC's at the pull a parts around here yet. Plenty of 700 & 900 series. Helps to keep the 780 going.

Time to start looking for a newer, 2004+ XC70. You got 90K out of her and you did good, but please sell it as a FWD car. Remove the awd badge on the rear.

The output spline from the tranny keeps getting better, more robust, year after year. The R models with the higher BHP tended to strip the splines quite easily and Volvo has never come up with a fix that works at 300bhp. The 208bhp version is easier on the spline, but there is still a lot of torque involved when the car goes from slippery spots to grabbing concrete at full throttle.

Klaus
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Why are Volvos so endearing? Its just a car.

Thanks Klaus, if I sell the car I'll be upfront about its issue. May just see what she's got left in her & just drive it. Really doubt I'll go for another XC even though they look a lot nicer. That's because I've come to dislike working on any FWD/AWD Volvo. And that's due to an injury that makes working in the cramped engine compartment unpleasant. I'm still stuck on the RWD and they're now a dying breed. Have had a couple 960's that I really like driving & I'm thinking of selling/trading the 780 & getting a late 960-V90 to replace the XC. Give that to the wife & I'll finish off what's left of the XC.

I concur. If you want a good RWD with easy maintenance, look for a 940 or 960T. The 4cyl engines last longer than the 6cyl and get much better mpg. Plus they are easier than the 6 cyl to maintain.

Of course, there is always the VW Jetta diesel, 50+ mpg? But you cannot get #2 diesel in the winter time if it is below 0F.

Klaus
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Why are Volvos so endearing? Its just a car.

Of all the Volvo's I've owned, most have been red blocks. Very durable engines. We got over 250K out of both the 960's. And now youngest has a 960 as her 1st car even though she said she wouldn't drive a Volvo. I just like the interior & the engine in the 960's. We've just been lucky so far with them, they can be nightmares. To me the best of the last RWD.

I've got to get back in another wagon, when I got the 780 I didn't know how much I'd miss having a wagon for those times you need one. My other car is an 87 635 CSi & having 2 coupes isn't cutting it, niether good for hauling anything. The 780t is the daily with 178K. Only have 3 Bricks in the drive right now, have had as many as 5.