S60 Body/Trim: Should the boot struts be able to rattle?

[ilmiont]

Trying to track down various minor rattles from the rear, I noticed the boot struts have significant play and can make noise when rotated side-to-side by hand. The nearside seems to have a bit less play than the offside; it also makes a more muted noise.

https://youtu.be/rLdyiipsJMs

Is this rotation normal?

[stuart bowes]

you could try pushing some grease in there it might quieten it down a bit?

[oragex]

That thing is shot.
Some rattles are very tricky on these cars. Try youtube "volvo s60 rattles"

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by ilmiont

Trying to track down various minor rattles from the rear, I noticed the boot struts have significant play and can make noise when rotated side-to-side by hand. The nearside seems to have a bit less play than the offside; it also makes a more muted noise.

https://youtu.be/rLdyiipsJMs

Is this rotation normal?

Its not normal.

Those struts are knackered.

[ilmiont]

Thanks, thought that might be the case. I'll look at getting new struts.

[ilmiont]

Fitted new Stabilus struts today, once the old ones were off the car and next to the new ones, it was obvious how worn the joints were.



That's the old offside on the left, which was by far the worse of the two... really quite a mess around the joint and somehow the metal has been scraped away at the bottom.

The new ones can still be rotated a little by hand if you really try to. There's no free play though and they can't wobble or rattle at all.

+ YouTube Video

Boot lift action has improved considerably and it closes much more softly now. Not having had the car from new, I'd never really noticed any issues with the boot, but it's now clear the original struts were long past their best.

Stabilus is Volvo OEM (old ones are stamped both Volvo and Stabilus), the new ones are slightly different to the originals as they're now "Lift-o-Mat" which seems to be an updated Stabilus technology (?) but I'm pretty sure what I've bought is what a Volvo dealer would have supplied too. Total cost: £31.75 for the pair delivered from Parts in Motion. Stabilus part number 1128SX.

Haven't driven the car yet but maybe, optimistically, one of my little rattles might have been cured...

[ilmiont]

To finally update and resolve this thread, as I hadn't driven at the time of the last post, I can now say after many hundreds of miles that this £30/2-minute fix has resolved the most obnoxious rattle on my car.

The rear-end clattering has vanished. Quite amazed that something seemingly insignificant could make so much noise and be fully audible in the cabin; they could really be loud over a rough surface.