Hello, I own an 95' 850 turbo and have had the most frustrating experience recently. A little history first. In February of this year I had my front pads replaced and rotors turned. I began hearing a noise soon after and returned the car to the mechanic only to be told that they couldn't find anything. Soon afterwards, I began to get a vibration/groan that became present when stopping. This would really only be noticed at speeds of under 30 miles/hr., but most evident when rolling gently to a complete stop. Months later, my ABS light began coming on and the sound became worse. The initial mechanic still found nothing wrong with the brakes but noticed the front passenger side need a new drive shaft. We replaced the shaft and the car still made noise. The mechanic then told me he couldn't check the ABS so I went to a Volvo technician. The Volvo mechanic noticed a bad ABS module/relay and front right tie-rod, along with the front right pad not gripping the rotor correctly. This caused the rear rotors to become warped from overcompenating. This had to be causing the vibration and groaning sound when stopping right? Now we're already at $1850. All four rotors were replaced along with new pads and calipers checked. Still vibrates/groans to a stop. The mechanic, who works on BMW's, Benz' and Volvo's has never heard anything like it and is out of ideas. He's pissed too, but is sure the brakes have been eliminated as a problem. The problem never occured when the car was on the rack bearing no load. I tested it this evening and found that it happened when going forward, but not in reverse. What's up with this? Is this a transmission deal or what could it be? Mind you, it only occurs or is noticed at very slow speeds and when applying the brakes.

Please help from anyone, I've owned this car for 2 yrs now and it had a perfect maintainence record and I've now averaged almost $100 per month in repair/upkeep.

regards,

Andy

I bought a 1996 850GLT wagon yesterday that also has occasional intense low speed vibration that is clearly related to braking. Its really quite phenomenal. I found a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB), #551803 issued Aug 96 somewhere on the net with the following title:

"New Shims to Minimize Resonance Vibrations, Rear"

I purchased a set of stainless steel shims for the issue from my local Volvo dealer for $12.00. I will install them this weekend and see how it goes.

I recommend if you have any weirdness with any car, to check the tsb's before doing anything else. They can save you thousands of dollars. Most mechanics, even specialists and dealers, don't check the tsb's so don't think it has been done if you have taken a vehicle in for repair. I suggest www.alldatadiy.com for a comprehensive listing. They provide a free title search of tsb's and recalls, and for $25/year the complete tsb and recall as issued by the manufacturer, and repair manuals for your car.
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88 745 GLE 200K, 88 240 GL 150K

I had nearly the same experiance as rick850r. One thing I did different was to install the special cut out shims for the rear brakes that you can get from Volvo. Ultimately my fix was to replace all 4 rotors , and all four brake pad sets with oem , and the shims. It ended a month of frustration . The original work was done by a forign car mechanic. he gave up. I ended up doing all the work myself. You can change the back brakes yourself in about 20 mins per wheel. the front are a bit more difficult. Use the brake grease they provide , and grease the caliper pins. Check out bay 13 for instructions. This is a known problem with the 850. there is a lot written in this forum about brake shudder, and vibration. Best wishes.

Make sure your tech really knows Volvos - if the brakes are new all around, and they're OEM parts, then there's an influence from someplace else. Did they grease the pins and pads with the hi-temp silicone grease (as opposed to sticky stuff)? It could possibly be the ABS system, but just as likely are things like the rubber bushings in the suspension....when they're worn, they can cause your suspension to momentarily twist into various kinds of misalignment which you'll either hear or feel. A chronic problem with my 1988 745T, which was eating front brakes every 15K miles, was solved with $17 torque rod bushings.

If your brake parts aren't Volvo OEM, I'd start there.


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David
1998 S70 T5SE // misc mods (mostly lighting) // red calipers // Michelin Pilots // Yakima //
1992 940 GLE//SilverStars

Hi:

I own a 95 850 also. I have not noticed this problem, but I am still on the second set of pads with 38K miles on the car (yes, I indeed did purchase a vehicle owned by a little old lady--substitute Berkeley for Pasadena). However, on my '91 940 turbo I had this problem. Okay, RWD and disc brakes in the front only, but ...

I do not do my own maintenance other than change oil, so I rely on good mechanics. It is surprising how few I've found who truly understand Volvos. I also had my rotors turned and discovered the vibration when slowing to a stop. One mechanic suggested different pads which did nothing to solve my problem (the turned rotors lasted less than 2K miles, BTW.)

After much disappointment in the car's handling, not to mention many $$ spent, I finally learned what GLTease said: the rotors are not designed to be turned--two sets of pads and you put on new rotors.

Beware mechanics who simply think they know Volvos. I lost an AC pulley because one mechanic incorrectly routed on of the belts. Even the Volvo garage didn't catch this error.

Sadly, after correcting these problems, my beautiful red 940 was rear-ended. $6200 damage was enough to total in, even though it was otherwise primo. I, on the other hand, am still in physical therapy for back and neck injuries. Good thing I wasn't driving a Yugo.

Suzanne
'95 850T

I am surprise that your mechanic doesn't know what is wrong?

The fix is simple: You most likely installed aftermarket pads when you had the rotors turned--yes? Aftermarket pads are made of a compound that is too hard for the stock rotors, ie. The grind you hear and feel. Replace them with OEM Volvo pads from the likes of www.fcpgroton.com where you can acquire them for a very reasonable price. Install them and your grinding noise will disappear immediately. How do I know? I did the same thing you did, but I didn't turn the rotors,--they are not made to be turned--I simply installed aftermarket pads, got the grinding noise as you described, replaced them with oem pads from Volvo, and shazam the problem disappeared.

Note: Volvo rotors are designed not to be turned, but used with 2 sets of pads and then replaced. Any Volvo mechanic should know this.

Hope this helps.

I had this damn thing too, ABS sensors were changed, etc etc. Ended up changing my rear rotors, problem solved.