2006 V70 2.5t: Odd clunking noise in front suspension

[Reverend]

I have these QuickStruts in my car;
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-complete-strut-assembly-v70-s80-pps-72433342c

And last week my car started making a bit of a clunking noise in the front.
I’ve narrowed it down to the struts. I think.

I can duplicate it every morning when the car’s been sitting overnight and rolling up my driveway and onto the street for about a minute after, I have very slight clunking in the front. It’s not something that gets worse over bumps, corners or dips, it’s just for the first minute or two in regular driving, it clunks a bit. Then it's far quieter but still there while I'm on the road, whether smooth asphalt or rougher roads, it's still there but only audible if I turn the fan and radio off and pay close attention.

When the car’s been out in the heat (100f here the last few days) it doesn’t do it. Nothing over turns, driveways or bumps when I start and drive home from work. Only in the morning leaving my garage (73F or thereabouts). Nothing after I’ve been driving for a while or when I get home and try to replicate it by pulling out of my driveway and onto the street.




So if it’s temperature sensitive, I’m really suspecting the struts. I’ve replaced all the other front-end parts too (inner/outer tie rods, ball joints, sway bar links) and I’ve tugged on the strut links and everything else I could jostle around. I bounced on the front fenders and don't hear the clunk. I thought I caught a wee clunk when I turn the wheels lock to lock this morning (engine on, so with power steering) but nothing definite there.

So what do you think?

Struts? Another way to confirm the diagnosis? I’ll need to get on the horn with FCP to get them replaced and then do the work of swapping them out. :( The upside is that I don’t have to worry about spring seats or strut bearings as it’s all in the package, but could I have done something different when I got the QuickStruts? Maybe check the lubrication in the bearings?


I'll pull the wheels this weekend and crawl around and look, bend and pry to see if anything reveals itself. I *could* swap in the old struts I have, but I *really* don't want to do all that work in the heat and humidity.

[JRL]

You can't tell by tugging on the sway links, the end needs to be removed and LOOK at the bushings and the play inside said bushing
Lower Control arm bushings and the spring seats are the most likely for clunking noises.
Yes, it's possible ... you have a broken strut but it too needs to be removed to check

[Reverend]

Sure you can, tugging on the sway bar links is the common Volvo diagnostic for bad sway bar links - mine shouldn't be bad as they're basically brand new (couple of months old). This is according to the Swedish forums, but it's worked on a few Volvos for me too when they're shot. If there's any click/clunk/play, they're bad.
Mine don't do it.

Lower control arm bushings should be okay too. They're brand new (couple of months old) OEM lower control arms with bushings.

The variable here is the Quick Struts, as they come with bearings/seats/struts all-in-one. I'm guessing the easiest confirmation of bad strut package is to just swap the old struts back in. They're still completely assembled so it shouldn't be much more than just wasted work as I have to do it again if/when I get replacement Quick Struts from FCP.

[JRL]

Again, I sell these for a living and no, not always
Unless it's up in the air you can't really tell for sure.

This..."The variable here is the Quick Struts, as they come with bearings/seats/struts all-in-one"
....is probably your problem.
Junk spring seats and bearing plates come with this.

You need OEM Volvo XC90 Spring Seats and possibly the bearing plates but definitely the Spring Seats

All the spring seats are now XC90 spring seats unless you happen to find a dealer who has the old ones and sells them to you!!!

[Reverend]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Quick Struts are the problem. I was hoping that if they'd last 100K miles, it would be a worthy replacement as it's quicker and easier to just swap out the entire assembly.


If they're subpar, yes, then I'd rather get the XC90 seats, bearings and Sachs (or whatever OEM is) struts and reuse my springs.

[billr99]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Quick Struts are the problem. I was hoping that if they'd last 100K miles, it would be a worthy replacement as it's quicker and easier to just swap out the entire assembly.


If they're subpar, yes, then I'd rather get the XC90 seats, bearings and Sachs (or whatever OEM is) struts and reuse my springs.

I have ProParts Quick Struts on my '05 XC and they are working great. Having said that though I did have to replace one strut mount after it started creaking which apparently resulted from a fair pothole hit. Sounds to me like you might have the same issue.

When I talked to the ProParts rep, it appeared to me that the struts themselves are made by Monroe but the plates and seats come from China from an indeterminate maker, although . Best to use Rein (the R in CRP as in Continental, Rein, Pentosin) XC90 seats with Lemforder mounts for best results.

Cheers,

Bill

[Reverend]

Yep, but getting the other seats would negate the benefit of the Quick Struts (meaning they're a complete assembled kit).

You mentioned ProParts rep? That could be a way to go depending on what happens... I'm hoping (assuming the kits are faulty) is that they just send replacements. Of course, they could be bad too - in which case I want to return them and go with struts/bearings/seats and reuse my existing springs.

[billr99]

Yep, but getting the other seats would negate the benefit of the Quick Struts (meaning they're a complete assembled kit).

You mentioned ProParts rep? That could be a way to go depending on what happens... I'm hoping (assuming the kits are faulty) is that they just send replacements. Of course, they could be bad too - in which case I want to return them and go with struts/bearings/seats and reuse my existing springs.
Well, remember if you got them from FCP they have the lifetime warranty from FCP. Give them a shout and see what they have to say.

Good Luck,

Bill