Volvo RWD 200 Forum

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bad vibrations 200

'87 240 M47. I get a vibration through the drivetrain that's not that strong, seems worst at about 2500rpm; gets a little stronger on deceleration. While I had the car up yesterday, I checked the rubber donut and center bearing. They are fine, pretty new. New tranny mount. The driveshaft has a little play in it, but the U joints seem pretty solid. Good suspension bushings. Engine idles a little rough, but always did. Recent trans rebuild. Any ideas?








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bad vibrations 200

"I checked the rubber donut and center bearing. They are fine, pretty new."

So the center bearing has been recently replaced? Are you sure the shafts were put back together in their original position? If you didn't do this job yourself, look for markings.



Erling.
--
My 240 Page








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bad vibrations 200

A rear u-joint can seize up and cause a lot of vibration and eventually cause problems with the center support.The u-joint will still feel tight(no slack) but because it no longer pivots correctly it will vibrate.Many center support donuts have prematurely failed due to seized u-joints.








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bad vibrations 200

The center support donut failed after the tranny was installed last spring. It only had about 30K on it and I attributed the problem to the trans install. I installed a new one. I guess I'm going to have to pull the driveshaft to see if the u joint is the problem. Can I just remove the rear section to test it, or do I have to pull the whole shaft? If I do that, I'm thinking I might just as well replace the U joint. Probably has over 300K on it.








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bad vibrations 200

You could just disconnect it at the rear and check the action of the rear joint.








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bad vibrations 200

So you are sure the "donut" aka "flex joint" is fairly new and bolts were tightened evenly? That [bad flex joint] was the source of 87's M47 vibration/shudder way back when. Had to observe it on a lift with someone in the car engaging the trans. Was anything added/omitted on reassembly of tranny such that the drive shaft is at a different angle? Or are you suddenly carrying extra weight in the trunk that you didn't have previously?
--
1988 245A. Past: 1979 245A; 1987 244 M47; 1971 164E








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bad vibrations 200

Good question on the flex joint, it looks okay and was replaced when the engine was done, about 40K miles ago. Don't know if it was tightened properly because the trans was done by a shop. They did break a few things when they did the installation. I guess I'll have to check that.








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bad vibrations 200

If there's a problem with the rubber flex coupling at the tranny flange, it will show up at pretty low driveshaft speeds (like under 10 mph) and smooth out with speed.

You stated your noise/vibration comes in around 2500 rpm. Is that true no matter what gear you're in? In othe words, is it engine speed-dependent, or road-speed dependent?

When the vibration occures, put your hand on the driveline hump just behind the e-brake console. Do you feel the vibration more in your hand, or through your seat?








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bad vibrations 200

It is more predominant around 2000-2500 rpm regardless of road speed. I can feel the vibration transmit through the steering wheel and the seat, but not through the trans tunnel. It's kind of like a "buzzing;" the mirror vibrates too. It's not terrible, but I wonder if it's going to get worse. Could it be in the tranny itself?








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bad vibrations 200

I ran into the same issue along with a vibration noise from the front of the car on a 1990 244. Unbolt and remove the belly pan under the engine, then inspect the amount of space between the top of the power steering rack (on top of the front suspension cross member) and the front bottom of the engine oil pan. If there is little to no clearance, it's time for new engine mounts... this mount failure is primarily noted through feeling the vibration in the steering wheel. Note: That failure was on 10 month old Scamtech engine mounts with ZERO oil leaks.

jorrell
--
92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!








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bad vibrations 200

Have you eliminated any possibilities yet?trans mount is new but how about the motor mounts?








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bad vibrations 200

The motor mounts were replaced with OEM Volvo units when the engine was replaced about 30K miles ago; I've been very careful not to contaminate them with oil, but as I mentioned before, when the trans was rebuilt last spring, there were a few things that were messed up by the installer, so he may have screwed the mounts up too. I will check them out today when I get the car back up on the rack. I guess the problem with tracking down an issue like this is that all the possibilities sound like they make sense to me, so I'll have to check them all.








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bad vibrations 200

Got the car on the rack today. Removed the belly pan and I can get my hand between the steering rack and the oil pan....the rack was leaking though, so I guess that's another problem for another day. The motor mounts look good....clean and not too puffy. I pulled the driveshaft from the rear end and the u joints flex okay, but they do have a tiny amount of side to side play, lateral movement; not play when you turn the driveshaft, play when you push it side to side, just a small amount; is that okay? The driveshaft was marked and the marks all lined up, so I'm hoping that when the tranny shop put the new center bearing and rubber donut in, they did it right. I checked the bolts on the rubber flex joint at the transmission and they're all tight, the rubber looks pretty good. I guess I'm left with the possibility that it's an internal transmission issue, or maybe the u joints. What do you folks think?







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