V70 Steering: Intermittent severe steering wheel vibration

[volvo2]

Originally Posted by Clan

You might find that BOTH front wheels are out of balance and as you drive they rotate at slightly different speeds and sometimes the 2 heavy parts add and make it worse and Subtract to cancel each other out.. I have come across that a few times.

I did wonder about that as a possibility but it seems far too violent for wheel imbalance (and too infrequent). I've got a new caliper and two new front hoses on order.

[volvo2]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

OP.. you said it's about halfway along a certain part of your journey..

is it always in the same place exactly ? It couldn't just be the road surface I suppose.. there are sections of the M25 that match that description fairly accurately

Definitely not the road surface.

[mcfe]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

you do have a somewhat negative view of these cars dont you lol

last month it was 'all v70's have dodgy head gaskets' (not that anyone else was aware of...)
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=339197

and now it's all v70's have leaky racks, dodgy track rod ends and warped brakes

I must be really lucky because although I've admittedly got a reasonably low mileage car I haven't had any of these supposed common issues

the rack can be a pain from what I've read on here but most of the discussions seem to be more about how there are a number of different types and you can end up with the wrong one very easily

poor maintenance and using the wrong fluid could cause seals to break down I suppose..

discs and track rods are just consumable items as they are on any car

It is simply the truth, minus the warped rotors, that happens from user driving conditions. These cars have the following issues which occur with increased frequency. HU650/850 FM problems, Leaky rack. HG issues in hotter climates. Cylinder cracking of the engines with 83mm bore(if at or above 250hp; solved with the 81mm bore blocks or shims), any volvo enthusiast knows about this, as well as shimming them to protect against this. Automatic transmission issues, usually because of bad maintenance. Axle ping, which is where the axle bolt comes loose. And the brake booster seal failing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saX-GG6s1Ck&t=261s
Magnetti Marelli throttle body issues.

Peppermint has mentioned some of the issues and is generally the go to information source https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ppermint+volvo

My facelift S60 has experienced the following:
HG issues + warped block. I have not machined the block, my warpage was around 0.06mm to 0.07 at various locations.
Automatic Transmission shifting issues - worn valve body + TC clutch due to lack of regular oil changes from previous owner. TC clutch is diagnosed when the car is in high gear in Slip Lockup mode, and the RPM oscillates around 200 rpm or so.
Axle ping, cured easily.
Extremely leaky steering rack. Rebuilt ones do not last very much either, usually.
Warped rotors(I bought it like this, this happens to every car brand if you abuse it).
HU650 issues, but I've narrowed down the problem to the antenna/power antenna circuitry for my particular situation. Usually the problem is in the SAA7709 DSP processor.

Since I have the following model, BIFUEL I also experienced the dreaded distributor(colloquially known as dizzy) solder joints cracking, causing the engine to stall while driving. Fix is temporary, which is to resolder it.
CNG leaking into the intake manifold causing the engine to choke on startup. Again, this is purely BIFUEL models and problematic NECCAM system.

Point is, I have accumulated a wide range of knowledge from the repairs I've carried out so far, as well as talking with a lot of people with their Volvos and the common issues they usually face.

Thankfully, my transmission + magnetti marelli throttle body are still working.

[stuart bowes]

Alright yeah I'll grant you gearbox issues but as you rightly say, maintenance keeps them in check

and yes the throttle bodies .. ok .. I had to replace mine as well that was a pain, no argument there

regarding the engine though and just to keep things balanced and all that, you did also say previously you 'pretty much always redline the car' as that is a common thing around your way (or at least, among your group of friends I guess) so I'm not really sure if you can really then say engine failure is a 'common issue' .. no cars are perfect and they all need maintenance but if you push them too hard all the time, then it breaks, can you blame the badge ? I don't think so

is it chipped as well, i.e. did you take it beyond it's original design spec, that's another thing to consider

head warpage from what I've read can be a result of overheating, stemming from I guess either poor maintenance or some failure of the cooling system (or possibly like you've said. bifuel + being ragged really hard)

[mcfe]

I redline the car now, and I take full responsibility. But when I got it, it was in terrible shape. And most repair shops did not want to touch it with a ten foot pole.

But I am me, I can do a lot of a things that normal people cannot, which is why I can allow myself to bring the car not up to manufacturer spec, but mine. But the issues I experienced were there before I was even an owner.

I was the one who built my own hardware for the reflashing process, built some of the software stack myself, discovered the maps myself, I am the one who replaced the HG, and in the meantime did some light polishing of the head ports before it was resurfaced by a machine shop. And I will also be the one to install a turbo.
So yes, anything that happens to the car now, is my own responsibility, but anything that happened before I was owner, well that is an entirely different thing and that is what I experienced and had to learn and accumulate knowledge to solve it.

[volvo2]

I got the old caliper off and it seemed pretty frozen as I was unable to push the piston in. Strange how they sometimes get like this. Anyway, I've replaced the caliper and the brake. Hopefully the issue is solved.