We have a 2000 V40 with several intermittent noises from the right front side -- only when cold, and only when accelerating from a stop. There's a clunk, and also a less specific noise which can only be characterized as somewhere between a crunching/clicking/scraping. It only happens when first pulling away from a stop, and only for the first few minutes in the morning, and only on cold mornings, so it's a bit hard to observe consistently. Turns, bumps, etc.. do not seem to be a factor.

The dealer has changed the front struts and a swaybar bushing, and claims to have check the engine mounts -- which seem to be the usual culprits behind these noises.

At this point I don't know if it could be a sticky brake caliper, ball joint, CV joint, or something else with the transmission/drive train...

These symptoms have been covered in other threads, but it appears our dealer has check the usual causes to no avail (swaybar bushing, engine mount), so any other clues from other V40/S40 owners would be welcome.

Thanks!

I had this exact problem when the engine was cold and when pulling away. I spoke to a Police mechanic (we use volvos as Police cars here) who stated it was probably an engine mount. He said you could not always see damage to the mount and so it is not always recognised. He suggested craming a bit of rubber between the mount and the frame to see if the problem stopped. I did this a few months ago and have not had the problem since. The bit of rubber is still in place today. Cheap and effective!

I appreciate everyone's input on this. The dealer has apparently run through all the available service bulletins, with no real luck. There was some part of the axle which they lubricated to some effect, but I guess it didn't completely eliminate the problem. (Sorry I can't remember the specifics. Once I learned it didn't fix the noise, I stopped paying attention to those details..)

Anyway, they still have it, and apparently a Volvo Rep is supposed to be coming by today, so will take a look and hopefully offer some additional advice.

Have they changed the upper strut supports? They're failing on X40s and there's now a TNN or TSB about checking/replacing them in VEN. Your dealer should have checked that.
We've seen several X40s with those supports failing.

dcole

I have the noises at the same instance. Early cold morning drive, slow squeek then heavier grinding sound when accelerating. Checked all the same as your dealer did and couldn't find any major area of concern.

I did find that cleaning out the little plate that holds the springs for the struts helped a lot. It seems to collect so much junk and dirt I believe thats where the grinding comes from. Either that or the spring is moving around and "reseating?" in the plate and it gets noisier in the morning when cold. I think I make the same noise in the morning when it's cold too.

I once tried putting light oil, WD40, at the point of the spring-seat area and was able to eliminate the noise for a few weeks. If you try this remember the brakes are right under the spring so don't get the oil on the brakes or pads.

Hope this helps.

Miker

Miker,

Thanks for the WD40 tip -- I might check that out, since the dealer finally finished all sorts of tweaks, but still the noise is back. We only just got the car back, so I haven't been able to check under the hood -- is this area easy to access?

Thanks.

I am surprised to see this here, but apparently this is a common:
I have exactly same problem for over 4 months, noise just getting progressively bad.
Dealer did not find anything.
Noise dissapears after 10 minutes of driving and comes only after complete stop and only then car was in idle for a few hours.

Ark

A co-worker with a MY2000 S40 had/has the same problem. As far as I can tell maybe the dealers in THIS instance might not be able to figure it out. He had a front ball joint replaced thinking the problem was fixed. He really did have a bad balll joint but the noise we experience was still there.

My fix seems to work temporarily so I'm not so concerned just an annoyance.

Miker

I'm experiencing the same thing on my 2000 S40. Clunking on the left front side
even if it is not cold. It feels like when you reaapply the accelerator to start pulling again, there is a tiny gap that you can feel when it pulls. I've been complaining about it, and the dealer had done some sway bar adjustments, engine mount replacements, steering adjustments, and still clunking. It is really very annoying to always feel this everytime I drive the car. I'm soooo disappointed with this car's poor throttle response from start, brakes, clunkings, power steering problems, check engine lights, headlight bulbs popping, oil leaks already, the list goes on...... Anyone wants to share more of their experiences?