2004 s40 Woes

[andythepandy]

Hello volvoers

I come to you with yet another issue on my S40. I've only had this car 4 months and I have had so many issues with it. I love the car and it does everything I want it to do, but my 30 year old 240 has far less trouble than this one has.

Details:
2005 S40 Sport
2.0l D
127,000 miles

I have a few issues but the main one I have atm is a weird rubbing/squeaking noise coming from the front right of the car. I recently changed the front right shock, strut and top mount and ever since then when I drive along there is a weird noise.
Its intermittent and I hear it every half a second or so like something is catching on something as it rotates. It sounds like rubber catching on something and doesn't sound metallic. Now common sense tells me its something to do with the tyre catching on something but I've had a look and I cannot see for the life of me where it is. Plus I would have thought it would be a constant noise not intermittent. Anyway I have taken a video of it and if anyone has any bright ideas please let me know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-KrA8a5Q8

Other minor issues: I recently changed the rear brakes and discs and now the hand break doesn't work. The car was stood for a month or so and I have heard of these cars losing tension in the handbrake cables or the calipers not working correctly. if the cable has gone is it a hard job to change it?

Final issue. Well final one I will bore you with. The car doesn't seem to accelerate as well as it should do. I seem to get no acceleration under about 2.5K-3K revs. As soon as its above that it picks up. I've changed the EGR valve and cleaned up all of the fuses but I'm not sure where else to start looking. I've bunged a load of injector cleaner through it but it hasn't made a hell of a lot of difference. Also the MPG is pretty crap in on it. Its only doing about 30MPG on average which is crap really. I am hopefully going ot get this remapped but I would like to sort these issues out before I do that.

I don't know if my car has just been badly kept or if these cars are a nightmare to work on but every single bold and nut I undo is seized solid! I don't know if previous mechanics have used water as lubricant or what but ever nut and bolt I have taken off has either snapped or needed to be replaced. Its ridiculous

Anyway any help or advice is appreciated, thank you in advance.

[domhart10]

Originally Posted by andythepandy

Hello volvoers

I come to you with yet another issue on my S40. I've only had this car 4 months and I have had so many issues with it. I love the car and it does everything I want it to do, but my 30 year old 240 has far less trouble than this one has.

Details:
2005 S40 Sport
2.0l D
127,000 miles

I have a few issues but the main one I have atm is a weird rubbing/squeaking noise coming from the front right of the car. I recently changed the front right shock, strut and top mount and ever since then when I drive along there is a weird noise.
Its intermittent and I hear it every half a second or so like something is catching on something as it rotates. It sounds like rubber catching on something and doesn't sound metallic. Now common sense tells me its something to do with the tyre catching on something but I've had a look and I cannot see for the life of me where it is. Plus I would have thought it would be a constant noise not intermittent. Anyway I have taken a video of it and if anyone has any bright ideas please let me know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-KrA8a5Q8

Other minor issues: I recently changed the rear brakes and discs and now the hand break doesn't work. The car was stood for a month or so and I have heard of these cars losing tension in the handbrake cables or the calipers not working correctly. if the cable has gone is it a hard job to change it?

Final issue. Well final one I will bore you with. The car doesn't seem to accelerate as well as it should do. I seem to get no acceleration under about 2.5K-3K revs. As soon as its above that it picks up. I've changed the EGR valve and cleaned up all of the fuses but I'm not sure where else to start looking. I've bunged a load of injector cleaner through it but it hasn't made a hell of a lot of difference. Also the MPG is pretty crap in on it. Its only doing about 30MPG on average which is crap really. I am hopefully going ot get this remapped but I would like to sort these issues out before I do that.

I don't know if my car has just been badly kept or if these cars are a nightmare to work on but every single bold and nut I undo is seized solid! I don't know if previous mechanics have used water as lubricant or what but ever nut and bolt I have taken off has either snapped or needed to be replaced. Its ridiculous

Anyway any help or advice is appreciated, thank you in advance.

yeh I actually picked up an S40 2.0d like yours 2008 Rdesign in black which was really nice but an absolute bag of problems, think after buying it I must of paid about £4000 or more fixing it to then get rid of it (After a year) as other things were starting to break as well. Mine was about 120k and was a problem after couple months of buying it from alternator to getting a new engine to fan etc etc etc. I would defenitly not remap it and save your money, had mine done and ran into another line of problems with that as well.

If your not a mechanic I would honestly just take it into a volvo dealer and get a service as they then carry out a full car health check which would help you see exactly what you have and the possible problems with the car and things that might be coming up soon.

[domhart10]

Just noticed you are in Warwick, just down the road!! am in Leamington. The Volvo dealer in Leamington are pretty good and quite friendly, definite recommend

[andythepandy]

Its a shame because they are nice cars. Its comfortable spacious, it looks good, got a bit of poke when it gets going. Its just these problems are a pain in the arse. I'm not a mechanic but I've spent most of my adult life tinkering with cars so I know my way around them fairly well but I don't know diesels as well as petrols. I am quite determined to get on top of the major issues and then just leave it be. I would rather spend my time on the 240. Also the Remap would be free as I know someone who does it for a living who said they would do it for free. What issues did you have when you remapped it?

True I could do that but the only issue is they charge so much. I'll speak to them and see what they say and what they would charge. I need the cam belt doing soon anyway and I'm not sure I fancy doing it on this on. I've done it twice on the 240 easily but there isn't much space to do it on this.

Nice to meet another Volvo enthusiast in the area

[domhart10]

Originally Posted by andythepandy

Its a shame because they are nice cars. Its comfortable spacious, it looks good, got a bit of poke when it gets going. Its just these problems are a pain in the arse. I'm not a mechanic but I've spent most of my adult life tinkering with cars so I know my way around them fairly well but I don't know diesels as well as petrols. I am quite determined to get on top of the major issues and then just leave it be. I would rather spend my time on the 240. Also the Remap would be free as I know someone who does it for a living who said they would do it for free. What issues did you have when you remapped it?

True I could do that but the only issue is they charge so much. I'll speak to them and see what they say and what they would charge. I need the cam belt doing soon anyway and I'm not sure I fancy doing it on this on. I've done it twice on the 240 easily but there isn't much space to do it on this.

Nice to meet another Volvo enthusiast in the area

thats pretty good, I had a tuning box on then a remap after. Remaps are good if done well but there was an issue on mine where when I put my foot down to enter a dual carriage way the car would suddenly hit safety mode thing which was like hitting a brick wall. Yeh love the S40 which is why i got the one i have now but a petrol engine this time around.

The dealers are actually alright, I did my timing belt with them last year and brought them the parts to pop on to reduce the cost and they also threw in a health check sheet as well to check everything was ok. im actually just getting a rough cost for my next service there.

[andythepandy]

Yeah I'm kind of wishing I bought a petrol on but I'll run this for a while then sell it on I think.

Ok I'll have to have a word with them. If you don't mind me asking how much did a cam belt change and a health check cost?

[scoobysn7x]

Thing with remaps is you have to be really careful who you use, I used a few places in mine time some good and some awful, I had 2 maps on the Mondeo. I had first one was awful (by a very well regarding turning company), it was spikey as hell all or nothing crap power curve and I paid £450, manage to duck the clutch as well.

The second map I went to a different garage which I had initially ruled out for the first map as it seem stupidly cheap, but in the 6 months I'd had the first map on a few friends of friends had used the garage, so I bit the bullet £280 for remap/DPF hollow & removal from ECU, the car was like a different car after brilliant performance, much better power delivery was brilliant. I was chatting to the remapper and he said the first company had only touch a couple of the file of the first remap, basically just turning up the fuel ratio etc, were as he made changes to all of the files.

[domhart10]

I cant remember exactly how much the timing change was, probably around £250 I think? I provided the kit and stuff myself and requested a few other changes as well. It really wasnt that much, but this is for a petrol.

Just to add, as you're local I can source you a Gates timing belt kit for around £75 if you were interested. PM if you do

[Bungo]

Regarding rubbing. You may find that the mounts haven't been lined up properly.
Some cars are lemons but I don't believe the S40 is one. All cars, especially ones with mileage are going to need attention.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by domhart10

Just noticed you are in Warwick, just down the road!! am in Leamington. The Volvo dealer in Leamington are pretty good and quite friendly, definite recommend

I'm Leamington based too, Tollbar are a good dealer.