Got an '07 XC for a rental, and I am kinda ticked.

[gibbons]

I got an 07 XC for a rental car today in Calgary, driving to a destination about 3 hours away. It has about 12K miles on it, my car has 60K. The rental's transmission is so much smoother that I am ticked off at mine now. I took mine in at 49.9K miles and told them it isn't as smooth as it was when newer, and of course, if VADIS doesn't show a code, and I have the lastest software, they said it was working perfectly. In particular, I am bugged by rough 3-2 downshifts, and what feels like backlash when on/off the throttle. Man, the 07 is smooth as silk in all situations.

I think I am going to go in and cause a scene. I want to talk to the Volvo regional guy about it, and see what's up. We shall see. I am also going to put in an IPD lower transmission torque arm. If the top torque resisting engine mount wears out (mine has been replaced already), it is logical to think that the lower one could be shot too.

And oh, yeah, it did provide a good reminder why I replaced the noisey, rough Scorpions at 1,200 miles. I can't believe Volvo hobbles a car this nice with tires that bad right out of the factory.

[BoBoKwok]

I learnt a word "backlash"
My 01XC got the same "backlash" when on/off the throttle as yours.
The day before I took my XC to a garage of my friend.
As I guessed I got a faulty propeller shaft, I inspected it by myself.
I held and turned the propeller shaft by hand, of course I was not strong enough to make the wheels turning by turning the propeller shaft. However, I found that the play of prop shaft was quite big. That's mean I can turn the propshaft freely with all wheels remain intact. I noticed that both shaft from angle gear and rear differential are turning too. My friend(mechanic) said that the play is caused by worn gear inside both angle gear and rear differential. I doubt. Most probably it is the origin of "backlash"
Later when I have time, with help form my friend, I will take the propshaft and rear differential off for overhaul, inspection or whatever

[gibbons]

Gear sets and differentials have a certain amount of clearance (backlash) designed in. I don't think it's the drive system for the rear wheels, because the propshaft and rear wheels are always being "dragged", whether accelerating or decelerating. That continuously loads the negative side of the lash. If it was rear wheel drive, you would be right, I have experience with that in American cars (both my Chevelle muscle car and my truck).

[BoBoKwok]

I may not be able to describe the feel or behavior of my car correctly. I know a certain clearance must be there for all moving parts but I still believe that the clearance is too big. To prove it, I just have to take the propshaft off, let it be a FWD to see whether the "backlash" still there or not.
Anyway, I am interested to take the rear differential as well as the angle gear apart. I don't have enough/correct tools myself but lucky that my friend(mechanic) is willing to help.


Gear sets and differentials have a certain amount of clearance (backlash) designed in. I don't think it's the drive system for the rear wheels, because the propshaft and rear wheels are always being "dragged", whether accelerating or decelerating. That continuously loads the negative side of the lash. If it was rear wheel drive, you would be right, I have experience with that in American cars (both my Chevelle muscle car and my truck).

[PierreC]

I got an 07 XC for a rental car today in Calgary, driving to a destination about 3 hours away. It has about 12K miles on it, my car has 60K. The rental's transmission is so much smoother that I am ticked off at mine now.

About a week ago [just before fitting new tyres] I had the front suspension bushes on my 2002 XC70 replaced. The dealer who obviously wants to sell me an upgrade to a XC90, made an almost new - 1500m miles on the clock - V8 XC90 available for my use while my car was in the workshop. :D:D

This car has the new 6-speed Aisin-Warner transmission and my observation was exactly the same - the absolute smoothness of the gearbox in all manner of driving [and I did test the car's pottering around, normal driving, heavy traffic and "accelerate the hell out of it!" abilities]. [thumbup][thumbup]

But then, I had done a tranny flush on my XC70 [110.000 km or just short of 70.000 miles] just about 3 weeks before this experience using the Gibbons (coincidence?) method, and that made such a noticeable difference to the smoothness of my transmission. Now I can feel the 1-2 and 2-3 changes only slightly when the tranny is cold, and almost none of the shifts when the tranny is warm.

But the shifts are definitely not as smooth as the new 6-speeder on the XC90!:(:(