We got our shocks fixed, thanks for your friendly advice, you saved us about $1500cdn. Now we have a problem with we think is the transmission. The car shakes & rattles loudly as the car slows down, though it appears to be unrelated to the braked. It is neither better nor worse in rainy or hot weather and seems to happen only after driving for awhile (20min in stop & go traffic) It is especially bad when we glide at approx 20 km/hr as we approach a stop. We have had the brake rotors replaced thinking they were sticking, and we have just had the transmission 'cleaned'. We think it's the transmission, but it could be related to the gear box or the idle? We bought it used, and still have a few months of powertrain warranty left on it and we want to have the problem fixed prior to it running out....We have taken it to our usual mechanic who has heard the sound during a test drive and suggested the transmission and taken it to another mechanic associated with the warranty company who suggested he could find the problem during the transmission cleaning. The problem is still there and driving us squirelly!!!!HELP!!

Any ideas?

I've had similar problem on my 86 240 ever since I put on a set of used volvo mag wheels. Problem was initially masked as the tire guys damaged a few tires causing tire buldges (although perhaps this was bead shift from bent wheels). Later on spin balance did I observe out of round rims (volvo thin spoke mags). Seems like the wheels took out a lower ball joint so now I get a front end shimmy on the highway (wheel wobble acting on loose ball joint).

your problem seems like a caliper heating up & then drags. Excess heat warps the rotors then dragging caliper on warped rotor will give you front shimmy in front (don't know what it might feeld like in the back). Break inspection & rotor run-out measurement should reveal this.

It still sounds like warped brake rotors to me. Even with new rotors if everything is not free of rust those new rotors will still wobble. The hubs and inside the tire rims must be absolutely clean. Then when everything is all clean thats still not a sure thing. Your brake person still must measure wobble before mounting the wheels. Then use a torque wrench for the tire lugs.

Dan Ray 94 960 176k miles

I have the same problem on my 92 964 w/ 120,000 miles on it. It shakes sporadically upon approaching a stop. It happens at around 15~20 mph as you come up to the stop, but only after driving for approx 20 minutes in stop and go traffic. Since it doesnt happen when the car is cold, I am not sure if this would be a engine mount problem (as it is speed/engine temp related). I have been dealing with this for about a year and the volvo dealer mechanic can't figure it out. I have been able to avoid the shakes by driving the car very gently, carefully pushing up through higher gears fine. But as soon as some idiot cuts in front of me and I have to slam on the brakes, at the next traffic stop the shakes and rattle returns. Sounds as if it is stuck in higher gear and has trouble shifting down. BTW I have done the tranny flush through the tranny cooler line (takes ~17 quarts of atf). My 2 cents.

-Herik

On my '91 940SE, the front end would shake during braking. Thinking it was the rotors, I had them turned twice then eventually replace, none of which solved the problem. If you have more that 50K miles on the car, check into the raduis rod bushings. This member stabilizes the control arm were the bottom of the strut is attached. A set of IPD polyurethane bushings ($80US) solved the problem.

This is only a guess. Did your mechanic check the transmission and engine mounts? With the transmission mount worn down, metal touches metal and this sets off rattle, vibration and noise in the car. It is easy and inexpensive to replace the tranmission mount. Perhaps US$20 for the transmission mount and less than 1/2 hour of labor to put it on. If the engine mounts are bad and these happen to be the hydraulic ones, parts will be more expensive and it will take a couple of hours of labor to put them on. Rubber engine mounts are inexpensive. But if you have hydraulic mounts do not change to rubber. Check places like alloemvolvoparts.com and volvocarparts.com for low prices on OEM and good quality repalcement parts. Swedisn Engineering will sell you factory Volvo parts at a discount. You can find them on the internet under their name. I hope someone more knowledgeable will help you.