My front struts eminate a low level rattle at low speeds on rough roads. Is there something that needs to be greased or adjusted? Struts seem in otherwise good condition. Had them replaced at 70K miles and currently have 125K total on auto.

Did you replace struts with Volvo struts or equivalent? Sometimes owners will replace Volvo shocks / struts that may or may not be shot (Volvo shocks/struts typically go on and on and on)and use the "house brand," only to later notice that the ride was better before. (I'm not trying to give you a hard time, honest.)

Back to your rattle . . . don't catastrophize just yet! This low level rattle could be about a dozen things, literally. And, some of the more likely sources are not a big deal. Could be that your end links need tightening or (more likely) need replacing--not expensive or, if you're so inclined, not a difficult project.

I suggest crawling/looking under the front suspension at the end links (are you familiar with them?) and look at the overall appearance of the front suspension components, even if you don't know what everything is called. It's possible that you'll actually see a problem (like an end link about to fall off!). There are ways to tell if a particular component is bad. If interested, let us know. (BTW, I apologize if offending w/ any assumptions.)

A "noise of unknown origin" is a good example of how important it can be to have a trusted mechanic (yes, even a dealer's mechanic if need be). They can probably tell you within 5 minutes and, if not, then after a short test drive / inspection. Ask and see how much an estimate like that would be. If you have any routine service you need done, that would be a really good time for, "oh, by the way, can you check out this sound..." There's nothing that says that you have to get it fixed that day (or by that shop, for that matter).

Your strut bushings are probably bad but with the mileage you have you probably should just replace the whole struts. Try that and see what happens. The other suspension parts can be replaced later if needed. Any good alignment shop should be able to do the work. It's not that difficult.

That's not good. It's probably a bushing or something. I'm currently going through an issue similar to this, here is my story:

While I was at college finishing up my freshman year my parents snagged a 1994 850 wagon to replace my 240 because I'm working halfway across the country in Michigan for GM (I'm from New Jersey). Well my Dad had the whole car checked out by a mechanic that we don't typically use because our usual one was booked solid, and I needed to be sure this one wasn't going to die halfway here. Well the car was fine on the way out, except for the blower motor dying, which I fixed this past weekend. I had noticed a loud clunking and squeaking on these horrible Michigan roads and decided to look into the issue. With my limited knowledge of car suspensions I popped the hood and pushed down on the passenger side, which is where I was hearing these noises. The car went down, but the strut didn't move with the car.

I took my car to the dealer knowing full well that I would be paying more than I wanted to get my struts replaced as well as possibly some motor mounts. I went to the dealer for several reasons, one being the recall service as well as the nationwide warranty. I'm only out here in Michigan until August and then I'm back in New Jersey and New York, so that nationwide warranty is important to me. Well the dealer called back and just about listed every suspension component that I knew of. The line I was fed is that several designs changed which caused the repair to cascade throughout the entire front suspension. Typically only a few parts need to be replaced, but since I guess the front suspension wasn't really taken care of on this car ( I couldn't find any records for the first 180000 miles that related to the suspension) the whole thing needed to go costing me $3100! I nearly fell out of my chair. The only problem with the situation is I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place meaning that now I'm stuck with the bill. I also can't delay the repairs because between July 2nd and July 17th I'm traveling more than 2000 miles.

In short: Be prepared to spend a lot unless there is a possibility of using after-market parts or the only parts that you need haven't been redesigned.

man thats brutal. i just hit 380000m so ive seen it all almost. anyhow i had that rattling noise and of course i kept driving for another 30000 or so worried that i was doing some serious damage. ended up just replacing the strut mount.. just my experience. man these cars take a lickin and keep on tickin. youre probably too young to remember that commercial.

The strut mount was a large chunk of my problems, but all the bushing were gone, some of which had changed causing the cascade.

The way I look at it, I deal with it now, and won't have to worry about it for a long time.

Your strut mounts need to be replaced.

Mebbe the evil sway bar links, too.