On 98 V90 having similar and more problems.

Asking for advice as well. Seems suspension, steering are virtually shot !

Bought it @ 50K miles off-Volvo lease from a Volvo dealer w/ext warranty. All seemed OK until hit around 65K - now @ 80K, warranty expired. (BTW, we love our 93 240 wagon - bought new and 41k now: it is a survivor and much more dependable and predictable than the V90.)

Although tires seem to wear evenly (and pressure is checked often) upon turning or changing lanes it wants very much to come back to straight position (somewhat hard to hold it in even a moderate turn at or below speed limit).

Front wheels/front end reverberates upon hitting smallest pothole/bump, again at normal speed. Front end seems to wander a bit at higher (legal) speeds. Front CAB (upper ?) replaced under ext. warranty, but thats all they said it needed.

Upon braking, dips forward a lot. Upon pushing down manually on front, front end bobs several times. Upon hitting a bump, rear has a resounding thud (rather like a Weapons Carrier). Are there rear springs ? shocks ?
Same result pushing down on rear - it bobs !

After reading some posts, it seems the V90 is a real problem !

Questions are:

Is it time to throw down the key, walk away, and no one get hurt (any more) ?

How much would complete new front end cost $$$? rear $$$?
Is it worth fixing ?
Will fixing take it only another 50-60K ?
Use non-volvo parts (I keep seeing fibreglass (?) ?
Even if fixed, what other suprises are we in for ?

Thanks for any recommendations, constructive comments....Woe is I !

98 V90 bought at 50K miles (off Volvo lease)- seemed great until 65-70K. Engine still seems fine. have done all maintenance timely. {BTW, we love our 93 240 wagon (bought it new, only 40K now)- it is infinitely more dependable than the V90 (except for the 3 AMMs just after the warranty years expired) !}

Front end/suspension & rear end seem totally shot ! Front end shimmies upon hitting minor potholes, bumps/speedbumps (@15mph) & rear end/tires major 'THUD' on same (brings back memory of weapons carrier jouncing); steering pulls hard back to center either way & corners terribly, but (oddly, I guess) tires seem to wear OK.

Ext warranty paid only for front upper (I think) C.A.B. @ 65K miles. gps replaced (interestingly, @ same mileage as 960 gps); sunroof repaired;

Having read several other similar posts, this now seems somewhat typical w/V/S/90s.

Any comments on whether struts, C.A.B., sway, ball joints, springs (are there springs ?), or most all of the above ? How much would all that cost ?

Is this the time to put keys down, walk away, and no one gets hurt (any more) ?

Or is it worth repairing (and would it get us to 200K, or would it happen again) ?

Sorry - seems like too many questions and ().

The problems you described are extremely common in 960/S90 series. In fact, I had (or still have) all of them on our '98 S90 at some point in the past four years of ownership.

Cracked bushings/ball joints -- happened when our S90 had about the same mileage as yours. Replaced both the ball joints and the control arms with bushings with new parts from FC Groton

Warped rotors -- still has not replaced them. I just got used to squeeky brakes. (It does not happen all the time)

Car hopping around -- had this one too couple of years ago. It seems to me that 960/S90 is very sensitive to bad wheels alingment and/or unbalanced wheels and/or uneven tire pressure. My problem went away after performing computerized realignment and making sure the tire pressure was even.

BEFORE you spend the money on new rotors, just loosen all the lugs and re-torque to 63 ft.lbs. and drive it a couple of weeks. We had a bad shimmy on out 95 960 when braking that got worse the hotter the brakes got. The lugs were all unevenly torqued. Two of which took two guys jumping up and down on a huge breaker bar to break loose. Definitely not 63 ft. lbs. I cleaned the mating surfaces, lubed the lugs with anit-seize and 4 years later the brakes still don't shimmy. (I've got new rotors sitting in the garage that I bought 4 years ago to replace them but after trying to get the wheels off, and realizing how uneven they were.......... it's worth a shot, zero dollars spent.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 068,300 and 1995 964 152,300

Yeah, and to add to what he said:

The squeaking could possibly be the shocks but that is rare, and is as you said, most likely the bushings. It could be the ball joints and what not as well. The car hopping around? If it isn't the balance being off(i would get that checked first), it could be as he suggested a wheel being damaged/bent. I wouldn't think it would be though, probably a weight fell off of a wheel or something. As for the brakes, well, your rotors could be warped... Some parts places are iPdusa.com and AllOEMcarparts.com. And about the length of the post, it's nothing, i've posted much longer ones =D. Hopefully some more 900 series specific people will be able to help clue you in a little more. Good luck!
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Kyle - attending Ore. State, while my lil '68 142 (256k, 74 b20, m40, iPd bars, other misc... =D) waits for its next outing... (My Cardomain site)

I am having some weird noises coming from the front of my car.

The car is fairly new to me. Maybe 6 months old...
And bought the car with 69,200 miles and thought that was low.


The timing belt must be changed every 70,000 miles. See the FAQ for more details.


Seems to me that the front end is starting to make noise sounds like," squeeking when it's warm outside and I drive up a driveway and back down. Once I am on the way back down I hear the car squeek."
Not sure if I am being to anal about this but I hate it.
And seems my bushings when I took the wheel off are cracking and the ball joint rubber seal is cracked on both sides. Do those hold the grease in place?


You probably need new ball joints. Check the tie rod ends as well.


Another thing I am experiencing is at 75mph the front of my car starts to hop around, not a severly but bad enough to rattle the glove box. Tires are pretty new and I think the wheels are in balance... Has anyone been through this problem??

>>>>>>~~ I HATE THE SHIMMING I get when I apply the brakes!! HELP!!


I have a similar problem at 20 - 30 mph. I'm thinking it's a bent wheel.


++ Also do most of you turn your brake rotors at least once?


The brake rotors cannot be turned. They are not thick enough.


WHERE does everyone order their bushings and other Volvo parts from?


The dealer, FCPGroten is also good. I buy a lot locally.


I really need bushings mainly I am pretty sure... I will take a photo of it and post the pics.

The bushing at the rear of the lower control arm needs to be installed by the dealer. It requires a special tool. FCPGroten sells a replacement lower control arm with the bushing installed.


PS: Sorry for the length of this, so many questions and so little time! 8-)


Don't be sorry.


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Warren Bain - '99 V70GLT G-Valve > 80K mi, 89 300SE, '96 965 >120Kmi, near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu. This post written with 100% recycled electrons.