I recently got into my 1998 V70 which, two months earlier, had gone through an expensive 75k check at the dealership. On my way to the grocery store I noted that the front driver's side wheel was making an ungodly noise so I turned right around, headed home and had my husband drive the car around the block. He, too, thought the car shouldn't be driven again until Volvo had a chance to look at it. The dealership could/would not schedule me for at least a week, would not give me a loaner etc. so I managed to get it to a local garage where the technician told me the front driver's side wheel was almost off the car by the time I arrived. It turns out the Volvo logo nut in the middle of the hubcap had fallen off (the other four nuts had not and were difficult to remove), the tire was close to doing the same thing, the axel was broken and the rotor was damaged. All in all, an $1800 repair bill on the heels of a $900 75k standard check in June. Upon looking in my garage I found the nut lying on the floor. I hadn't hit anything with that side of the car and my kids aren't in the habit of trying to losen the nuts on the tire - not that they would have been able to since the oldest is 8.

I'm losing faith - I've gone through two sets of rear rotors in one year (Volvo balked at having to pay for the second set as I didn't feel I should since they only had about 15,000 miles on them and the warranty was one week past due only because the dealership couldn't fit me in earlier) and other expensive repairs that seem to crop up out of nowhere. Is 75,000 miles alot for a 1998? Should I be expecting more expensive repairs? Anyone know of a good mechanic just west of Phila. that isn't a Volvo dealer? This may not seem like much but I've been through other repairs with this car - some my fault and some which appear to reflect design flaws in the car (cracked radiator due to parking curb - the car seems to sit very low; broken cup holders which are $60 a pop to replace; tailgate latches which don't function).

fjdale

The axle nut always has a cotter pin, clevis pin, locking ring or some other such device. Loosening or removing this nut is a two-step process and can only be done intentionally...and I suspect the dealer at the 75K service did something with this wheel and didn't reinstall the nut properly. (You should have somebody check the others, too.) If you don't already have one, get a detailed list (without telling them why you want it) of the work they performed. You need to ascertain whether they have documented a procedure that would have required the removal of the axle nut (i.e., to check bearings, CV joints, abs sensors, etc.). You'll then know whether you have clear recourse to collecting damages from the dealership. I'll bet you do.
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(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting, red calipers) (92 940GLE)

Do you mean that you found the 36mm large axel nut laying in your garage and that your front axel was then loose (which it would be) or the axel was broken?
If that's true, then I'd find that very suspicious as even if it wasn't tight enough 2 months ago, it's not likely that it'd just unscrew conveniently in your garage vs fall off on the road somewhere.

Before accusing your dealer for this, realize that even if they failed to properly tighten it (if previously removed?), it would have become a noticeable problem soon after leaving the dealer, not 2 months later. I have also seen cars where those nuts can and do loosen by themselves (not common however) but the noise that causes usually becomes obvious long before anything is damaged, it doesn't just spin off quickly in a day or two, it takes more time than that and there's obvious noise from that wheel too.

Yes, the large axel nut was lying on the garage floor. When I realized what the problem was (after having been told by the mechanic) I went back and found it. The axel was broken by the time I got it to the mechanic - I took it to the closest place I could upon hearing the noise and after having Volvo tell me they couldn't fit me in for at least a week.

fjdale

This is very strange.

Did you have any front suspension work done recently (before the incident)at that wheel; for example, struts, CV joint, driveshaft (axle) or a bearing?
When the proper nut is used, and assembled properly, it cannot fall off by itself. One of three special retaining methods are generally used . . . a cotter pin, a staking tab, or a nut with integral thread locking. I think a 1998 V70 uses the last method. If the locking mechanism is damaged during disassembly, a new nut is supposed to be used.

If your V70 is a left-hand drive model, I would expect the normal rotation of the spindle to tend to tighten the nut over time, not loosen it. Perhaps I am not thinking about this right.

In addition, the spindle (axle) nut is covered by either a wheel cover or plastic center cover. If the nut came off, it should have rattled around inside. Even if the wheel cover were missing, it seems like a one-in-a-million chance that it would happen to fall off in your garage. Did your mechanic remark that this nut was missing? This would be very unusual, something he would remember to tell his grandchildren in old age.

I suspect one of two things . . . human intervention (perhaps the nut was loose and a child was able to spin it off), or that the nut you found in the garage is not the spindle nut.

It's not clear from your description(s) what fell off. If your V70 has alloy wheels, there is a plastic cap (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, with the Volvo logo) that snaps into the hole in the center of each wheel. As others have mentioned, these are for apperance only and do not retain anything.
On the other hand, if your car has steel wheels and plastic full wheel covers, there is no center plastic cap.
In both cases, there is a large spindle nut under the cap or cover that retains the hub (which is what the wheel is bolted to with the 4 lug nuts). This nut has 6 sides, and is just under one inch, measured from one flat side to the opposite one. It is not only a self locking nut, but is suppose to be extremely tight and usually requires a powerful air-driven wrench to remove. I doubt if this is what you found on the garage floor.
I suspect you had a failed front wheel bearing, not unusual at 75K miles. Someone could have shortened it's life by hitting a curb recently. A failed bearing would make a howling noise, and would permit the wheel to wobble. The end of the spindle could have struk the plastic cap, knocking it off.
If you actually found a spindle nut, that would be very suspicious. Did you have a strut or axle relplaced at the left front during the 75K service?

And yes, Volvos are generally very expensive to repair.

So one lug bolt (not lug nuts) fell out, and the other 4 were still tight, right? When you say the axle "broke" did this cause the wheel/hub assembly to be loose? Did the very large axle nut fall off? That nut is right behind the center cap in the wheel. I get the drift that the axle was broken, and causing all the noise...It is VERY unusual to break an axle.

No matter what happened, the lesson here is when you hear "ungodly noises" coming from your car, no matter what make it is, STOP, and don't keep driving it. Your safety was definitly at risk, and I'm sure your repair bill would've been a lot less. $1800 sure seems like way to much money for an axle and a rotor, BTW. Parts are under $500, and it's only a couple hours labor at most.

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RussB in Ct. - '96 855T- '91 940T - '93 850GLT (R.I.P. 6-16-02)

Well, as far as your concerns about reliability are concerned, it's not a Honda or Toyota. On the other hand, as far as safety, style and luxury are concerned -- well... thankfully, it's not a Honda or Toyota.

The wheel center cap that you're referring to is merely cosmetic. It has no part in securing the wheel to the hub. They have been known to come off on occasion, and they're usually lost for good when they do come off. If you found yours in the garage and it's not broken, then it can probably be reinstalled into the center of the wheel.

As for "the other four" lug nuts -- that's LUG, not "logo," and our cars use wheel bolts, not lug nuts -- that were "not [loose] and were difficult to remove," this comment is inconsistent with your statement that "the tire was close to doing the same thing [falling off]." Also, there are five wheel bolts per wheel on our cars, not four. Regardless, I have a feeling that your message was merely hindered by a lack of terminology, and that you're describing a situation where one or more wheel bolts were either loose or damaged. That explanation would be consistent with the claim of damage to the hub -- which, in a sense, is an extention to the axle that you referred to -- and to the brake rotor.

Generally, loose lug nuts or wheel bolts don't generally "just happen." Usually, this only happens when someone forgot to tighten them after installing a wheel. It's also very uncommon that it would take two months for loose bolts to make themselves apparent -- I would have expected these results within a week after that last service, if that's when any mistake was made. Because of this, I expect that the dealer will be very reluctant to admit to making the mistake of not properly securing those wheel bolts. Has anyone else worked on the car, at all? Even just an oil change, or inspecting the muffler, or ANYTHING where they might have had a chance to remove the wheel to inspect your brakes or something? Could someone have tried to vandalize the car or steal one or more wheels? Did your hubby just take out a large insurance policy on you? (I'M KIDDING!!!!)

Regardless, I'd have a tough time blaming the dealer for this one, and loose wheel bolts are not a problem that's common to ANY automotive design, including your Volvo. Someone left those bolts loose, and most likely it happened much more recently than that major service that you had done two months ago.

Jim Rothe
'99 S70 T5M
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'99 S70 T5M

I admit, I'm not totally conversant in the correct terminology for all the parts found in various places but what was lying on the garage floor was what appeared to be something like a nut with a Volvo logo on it which came from the center of the hubcap along with the bolt which appeared to have come from underneath the Volvo logo piece. When the car was taken in the mechanic had trouble getting the other four or five (I don't remember how many there are) lug nuts off. The car had been worked on two months prior and this would seem to preclude the dealership having left something loose (although the tires were rotated at this time). It seems to be a mystery to all who have seen it. I have two theories - someone came into my garage (the side door is usually open) or, this is the latest form of vandalism at malls. I happened to have been at a large mall the day before, drove home and hadn't been in the car since. The garage theory is a bit scarier - while local teenagers have been known to steal beer this would be a new trick.

fjdale

Your difficulty with the terminology is understandable. The big nut responsible for holding the wheel, tire, and brake rotor in place is smetimes known as a "hub nut", "spindle nut", "bearing nut" and "axle nut".

Go to this web site and scroll down the the picture on the page . . .

http://www.ultimategarage.com/whlbrg.html

. . . the six-sided metal thing in the center of the picture is what we are talking about. Does anything in that picture look like what you found?

I doubt vandalism. It takes a (really) big wrench to remove this nut when it is installed properly. The average teen does not have access to one. On the other hand, repair shops have been known to "cheat" and reuse the old nut when it should have been replaced (with disastrous consequences).

Thanks for the info - I did look at the picture and I also had a talk with my local handyman. It was the axel nut which came off. No one seems to be able to explain it - the handyman feels that when the tires were rotated it is possible that the axel nut was not tightened properly and, over the course of time, loosened and fell off - very conveniently, it did this in the garage which seems strange. The expense in the repairs resulted from the break to the axel and the cost of Volvo parts.

fjdale

To rotate tires, they only remove the wheel's lugnuts. The axle nut would most likely have been disturbed at something like the 70K service if they checked CV joints, ABS sensors, hub bearings, etc. Axle nuts are not removed for routine repairs.
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(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting, red calipers) (92 940GLE)

Your local handyman is probably well-intentioned, but the axle nut does not have to be removed to rotate the tires. Nor does it have to be removed to replace the brake pads, replace a brake rotor, or change a strut. It does have to be removed to replace a front wheel bearing, or perhaps a drive shaft.
They do not fall off unless not installed properly, or an old one is re-used instead of buying a new one. Virtually every front wheel drive car (icluding all of those Honda Accords, Toyota Camrys, and Ford Tauruses), depend on a similar design to hold the wheel and tire on. You won't see many along the road with a wheel falling off.
I don't think this incident was an act of God, or kids.

Once an axle nut becomes loose, the damage you experienced is a likely consequence.