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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Posts
    12

    Default 07 XC90 Question

    We have an 07 XC90 that we are having some issues with and could use some guidance. The vehicle has 65k on it and there is some interesting noises coming from the middle to front right passenger side. I'm assuming that since it is a 3.2, it doesn't have the transmission woes that come with the T5, is that correct?

    - In a parked position with the vehicle in Drive there is a fast vibrating noise that almost sounds like an exhaust leak or something rattling very fast. If you put the car in Park it goes away.

    - When driving the car down a street that has washboard bumps or small chatter there is a metallic clunking coming from the right front.

    We have taken the car to two independents and the dealer. The dealer said it sounds like the shield for the catalytic converter and when they replaced it the sound was still there, so they said it was the transmission. At the independents they both thought it was something, but not the transmission. They couldn't ever find out what it was, but they both agreed that it could be the transmission. They put the vehicle on the lift and moved the wheels and could hear a clicking noise from the "differential" and the transmission. The replacement cost for the transmission according to the dealer is $7k. That's a lot of money. Could use some Volvo opinions.

    Thanks,
    Trevor

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Atlanta
    Posts
    15

    Default

    Trevor,

    The vibration could be a few things. First of all, these things do vibrate more than other cars, so it could just be normal. At your mileage, I would first look at the motor mounts. Primarily the torque rod going from the transmission to the subframe. Its on the driver side of the vehicle, on the front of the transmission. These things fail regularly. I just replaced mine at 80k, and im sure its been completely worn out since 70k. Its about $60 at your dealer and takes less than 5 minutes to replace. Also, the mount on top of the engine going to the strut bar likes to fail as well. Again, its pretty cheap and a 5 minute job to replace.

    The noise you are hearing sounds to me like the upper strut mount. There is a rubber mount at the top of the front coil that seems to fail around 70k miles on these cars. I replaced mine a few thousand miles ago. They are about $40 a side and easy to replace if you are handy and feel comfortable using a spring compressor.

    Hope this helps

    Will

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Fort Worth Texas or thereabouts
    Posts
    400

    Default

    the RH engine mounts need to be inspected closely.
    When those settle engine vibration gets transmitted into vehicle and they can clunk and rattle.
    3.2 has a different mount and torque rod arrangement compared with 5 cylinder models.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Posts
    12

    Default Thanks for the information!

    Thank you both for that information. I'm hopeful that this will fix the problem as we love our Volvos. Have a good weekend.

    Trevor

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Posts
    12

    Default Update with bad news

    After taking our car into another independent and having him look at the engine mounts etc, he also believes that the transmission is what is going. During idling in drive the transmissions makes a rattling noise that is evident in almost every gear except the higher ones at freeway speed. The clunking is still occurring over bumps too. All the engine mounts, struts and everything is in great shape. He thinks that replacing the transmission will probably fix the problem, but it is an expensive thing to guess at. He suggested calling Volvo and seeing if we can get them to help out.

    So I called Volvo. They won't do anything other than recommending that we take the car back to the dealer and open up a ticket for the district service manager to read. If he feels like it is worth looking into he will make that call. However, may just say that it isn't worth the time and not give us any help. The lady from Volvo was very adamant that the independent mechanics don't know how Volvo operates and it is foolish to think that they can possibly know how Volvo does business.

    We have a 2007, XC90 3.2 with 67k. I haven't heard anything bad about these transmissions, have you? Any other advice would be great.

    Thanks in advance.

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