I have a 99 S70 non-turbo that I purchased new. It now has 30,000 miles on it and has never been involved in an accident. Since new the car has sometimes made what I describe as a "ratcheting" sound when stopping. Also sometimes when parking as I turn the steering wheel to the left it will make a popping sound. Both of these symptoms have been described by my dealership as normal. Has anyone else experienced this with their S70?

Thank you,

David Whitfield

Mt. Olive, NC

DAWIWH@AOL.COM

David-

I have a '99 V70R AWD with 22k- purchased 11/00 with 20k. Last week my wife stated the car was making a 'funny' noise. I took it to work and experienced the noise while stopped and turning the wheels and also during almost all driving conditions. With the car on a rack and turning the wheels I could feel a vibration coming from the left swaybar link. After removing the part, I could feel a slight resistance in the lower joint but little else. A new link cured the symptom. We replace a few links for various noise complaints, but this is the first one I've seen that makes noise with the car stopped. The noise could have been described as a 'ratcheting' sound because it was a series of rapid 'pops' under some conditions. Have you demonstrated the noise for your dealer?

Dave the Volvo Tech

'99 V70R AWD, '93 854 GLT, '82 242 DL

Don't know about the "popping" sound when turning the wheel but the "ratcheting" sound (good description, BTW) while braking sounds perfectly normal. It is the electronic brake force distribution unit, kind of like a "pre-ABS" unit that goes to work in milder situations that would not trigger full ABS. Perhaps someone else can chime in with the full technical details.

I have the same car you do but turbo. No, i dont have those problems.

Andrew