Noob with drive train issues

[Swaneez]

Hello out there. new to forums and to posting. Glad to see others out there with an interest in these cars. Bought a '99 XC with 154K miles on it a month ago. First Volvo (3 Saabs, 1 MB, dodge, ford etc.) Did the requisite timing belt/serp/water pump (original! The belt had about 45 seconds of life left). Then wanted to change the ATF. It looked clear but brown, no smell. A used trans was installed in '08 but no idea how many miles. No driveability issues prior to drain/refill. About 2 miles after the drain/refill I felt a driveline shudder at 30 to 45mph, would disappear above or below that. the shudder progressed to a rattle/shudder and i anticipated further deterioration. Put it on a hoist and ran it up to about 50mph with lots of clanking/clunking/vibration.($$$) then removed the driveshaft. Ujoint not loose, bearing felt like hi-mileage but not particularly noisy and not sloppy. But when i ran it up to speed again got just a few clicks and then smooth. Drove it several miles without driveshaft and now in only clicks a few times when one wheel spins (winter here in northern Minnesota you know). I was a VW/Ford mechanic back in the 70's and am comfortable with Auto/manual transmissions but the VC and BG are aliens to me (so far!) Any advice for this issue? I have read about 2000 threads about these things but so far have not hit the right one yet.

[JRL]

When the AWD is hooded up they ALL will vibrate pretty badly up on a lift!
THIS IS NORMAL for these cars
Look elsewhere

[Swaneez]

Thanks! that's good to know. I thought it was odd that I drove into the shop with little issue and then experience all the comotion up on the rack. Driveshaft is out now, driving without issues other than clicking/ratcheting with wheelspin on snow, and only with the L wheel? Is there something else in the system that would do that? the sound is similar to older ABS activation. The ony other thing I can think of is that the spiders on the differential are damaged and when one wheel spins they start to rotate. I'm assuming the differential works like a traditional diff. I'm starting to think that nothing on a volvo is like any other car

[JRL]

Your left axle may need to be replaced

[Swaneez]

Your left axle may need to be replaced

So, a CV joint is dying? I get nothing with turning, only with L wheel spin. No other self-destructive noises. And now that I think of it the diff would make noise if either wheel spun. Other than removal and inspection is there an on car test proceedure to test it? On VW we just turned and listened but removal was 5 minutes so inspection and disassembly was easy.

Also wondering if running the drive train on the hoist put the CVJ in a high-risk angle and caused some damage. The saga continues.

[JRL]

The diffs don't go bad on these
If so, it's the entire tranny.

My bet is on the axle
Check the axle bolt, it may have come a bit loose