When the rear wheels of my 1997 960 sedan hit a sharp ridge or crack in the pavement (both wheels at the same time), I get a very consistent and loud metallic rattle from somewhere behind me. The ridge or crack has to be substantial, and the rattle does NOT occur when only one wheel hits.

It happens even when I empty out my trunk.

I replaced the rubber donuts for both the muffler and resonator - no change.

Sometimes I think it might be coming from the right rear door, but I've taken the inside door panel off twice, and can't find anything loose.

Anybody run across this before, and fixed it?

Thnaks!

DHR43

I used to hear this kind of noise quite a bit in my 740 estate it seemed to me to be coming from the rear seat belts where they go into the plastic covers, unfortunately I never got round to checking it out and put up with it. good luck

Dear DHR43,

Good p.m./a.m. and may this find you well.

Check to see if the shock absorber mounting bolts are tight. Also check the rear suspension subframe bolts.

I recently took possession of '93 945, which sounded like there was a bowling ball rolling around in the back.

My mechanic, a Volvo Mastertech with several decades of experience, drove it for about two minutes, and said, "I know what that is". He tightened the shock mounting bolts. The noise was gone.

I recall seeing a post recently, about sub frame bolts being loose. That, presumably would give rise to noise, under certain conditions.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

spook

Spook:

Thanks for the input. If the weather up here remains warm (i.e. 35 degrees F or better), I'll get under it and check out these bolts.

Thanks again.

DHR43

Haven't dealt with the problem yet, but, for what it is worth, I've got a similar noise in the right rear on my 92 940 wagon. Mine occurs whether or not the the left tire also hits a bump. The sound is about what you'd expect if you left the right rear door ajar. Investigating this is on my to do list.

Let's keep each other posted.

Steve C

10-4, Steve.

DHR43

In response to spook's comments, I need to add that I replaced the rear shocks several weeks ago. The noises were the same before and after.

Steve C

ive experienced a rattle, it was the wiper motor for the tailgate. it had managed to work itself loose. just tightened it up, applied some loctite and everything is a-ok. ive heard other people talk of this with their wagons, easy to sort if you can get the trim off the tailgate. just needs a socket spanner and 10mins.