I'm getting a deep-pitched rumbling/grinding sound coming from my front brakes as the car comes to a stop. The brakes still work great, and I don't feel any difference in braking power. Car doesn't drag to either side or anything, everything feels the same except for the sound. I've noticed that this doesn't happen until after about 10 or 15 minutes of driving, when (presumably) everything has warmed up - until then, they're silent. Had new front rotors/pads put on in June by a very good independent Volvo guy, of course I'm just out of the 90-day warranty period!

Anyone had similar experiences?

Thanks a bunch,

Ben

My '93 940 gave the same symptoms, but it was the cone-shaped bushings where the strut rod meets the control arm. I think the wear there caused a fore-and-aft "chucking" under braking loads.

At 127,000, they were totally shot. I replaced with IPD's poly versions.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Hey, Bruce - thanks for your input - I'm at 168,000 miles with the original bushings, I think it might be time for a new set! I'm gonna check them out and see what happens... will keep everyone posted.

-b.

Make sure to use a soft, organic pads. They wear faster, but are quieter and don't eat brake rotors. The semi-metallic types should be avoided.

Good luck.

Wow, glad to hear I'm not alone in this. Seems like there could be a whole range of possibilities, I appreciate everyone's advice. I'm putting my snows on in about a week, I'll let everyone know what I find when the wheels are off.

Volvo's pads seem to be among the best. I've used them several times for cars with troublesome noisy or squealing brakes, as well as a few 900's that had the crunchy/growling sound after replacing just pads.

The Volvo pads cost more but come with the shims- the price difference is usually made up if you need to buy the shims.

I bet this car will prove to have a back-side pad that's all worn out. Need to fix it immediately- this is a serious safety issue.

A friend brought over her 745 the other day and OH MY GOD were her brakes grinding. Put on a new RF caliper and a very nice used rotor I saved- the old one had cut the rotor until the fins were visible!!!! Very very scary.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

Mine does the same thing. I've used 3 different sets of brake pads and 2 different sets of rotors. Still does it. It dosent bother me all that much so I just ignore it.
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'93 945 turbo. A big comfy box.... and a '90 Mazda 626 GT turbo, 16psi on upgraded turbo and a bunch of other mods.

out of curiosiy, could he have warped rotors? from too much torque?

Also interested in finding out, thanks,
Al

You can get warped rotors from uneven torque but that would appear as pulsing in the brake pedal and ususally not generate a 'rumbling' sound.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

I am having similar sounds coming from our 98 S90 with 71K (original pads and rotors). Only when braking down from certain speeds, mostly coming off the highway and only within a certain speed range. The rumble wouldn't occur at immediate brake application, would start at a certain speed, then dissapear before coming to a stop. Light braking didn't produce it. Harder braking always did. Rumble only, hard to detect where it was coming from. Tires, wheel bearings, brakes, other suspension? At first I thought the rumble was coming from the tires. I changed them out with our 960 and that wasn't the case. This week, I started getting a grinding sound from the driver's front on most braking application. I'm thinking the rumble had progressed into the brake grinding I am now getting, At least that is what I hope,(just brakes). Will be changing out the brake pads today and will let you know if the rumble goes away.(I hope that's it).

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

I did replace the pads this afternoon (gotta love how easy and quick it is to replace the pads on these cars). So far so good with the 'rumbling' noise. I'll drive it more this weekend and let you know for sure.

All four front pads were worn down evenly but close to the metal. What was making the noise was the outer edge of the rotor (the little lip where the pad doesn't touch so it doesn't get worn down) was rubbing a fine line on the rivet that holds the spring to the pad. I hope this was the cause of the rumbling that turned into grinding. We'll see.

Not bad for 71K on the original pads.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 071,245 and 1995 964 154,100

Best bet is to pull the front wheels and check the pads and rotors. If you put metalic pads on they sometimes make noise . Also check the rear brakes even though the sound seems to be coming from the front. Noise can be misleading sometimes and grinding usualy means metal to metal.
Dennis