I feel a sort of shudder or vibration in my wife's '99 NA V70 (132K) as I slow to a stop. At first she complained of a brake problem that she felt in the pedal and the steering wheel as she braked to stop. I drove it and felt it, but I thought it was the engine stalling as the car slowed and the idle dropped, like the trans wasn't downshifting and was stalling the engine. But I also felt it when I slipped the trans into neutral before stopping. Having isolated the trans, I don't think that's the problem.

Unrelated, I took the car to be aligned and my alignment guy said he thought I might have a bad engine mount that was letting the engine move around too much. I hadn't mentioned the vibration to him.

I'm also wondering if a bad power steering pump might be putting strain on the engine as it returns to idle.

Has anyone experienced this? Any suggestion? TIA

The front engine mount, on the passenger side, is probably broken. That will give you all sorts of vibrations and is not a terribly hard fix. Jackstands, a jack to hold the engine up 1/2 inch and replace. Mine failed around 130K, it was in 2 parts.

The PS pump hardly works when the wheels are pointed straight, but you should flush the PS fluid anyway. And the brake fluid if it has been over 2 years.

Klaus
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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)

Is it possible that he's describing warped rotors? Sounds a little like it to me. The lug bolts have to be torqued to 81 ftlbs and he could check that pretty easily.
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'97 855na, Mobil 1, K&N, various IPD's and eBay's

It could be, but the vibration would be worse at speed. A simple removal, cleaning, and greasing of the caliper slide pins is always in order, as is verifying the torque.

Klaus
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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)

Those of us who have felt the feeling of warped rotors know it instantly. I can feel it now in my foot from the car I test drove in 2001. Fortunately, my car has never had warped rotors, because when I started reading this board, I faithfully torque my wheels. I've stopped pulling out my torque wrench in front of various service people though. Sometimes they say 'oh yes, this gun will do that' and I get home and it's like 300 ft/lbs.
The other shudder I had experienced was alignment and tire balancing. But you said that you had been to an alignment shop. I'd still bet on the rotors though, and the speed of it would change as Klaus says. Maybe if you imagine a warped record on a turntable, and your foot is the needle. (assuming you're old enough)
Good Luck
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'97 855na, Mobil 1, K&N, various IPD's and eBay's

Thanks, Klaus. I'll start a little maintenance.

If your tranny torque converter lockup is failing to release properly when the car comes to a stop, there is a software download from the $ealer that will correct that particular problem. About $100.

Klaus
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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)

I have felt it even when I slip the trans into neutral before slowing down. If the torq converter is hanging on, would I still feel it in neutral?
Is there a test for this? Thanks

Your comment about the low rpms triggered the answer about the lockup not releasing.
Verify the slide pins are not dirty and the rotors slightly warped. Warped rotors will shudder more at higher speeds and lessen as you aproach 0.

Klaus
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Just driving a 1998 V70R :)