XC70: General Another MOT passed, one unwelcome advisory thread...

[al dm]

My 2013 D5 AWD XC70 was due an MOT, and had developed a nasty squeaking sound over the last few weeks.

OK, it's the trailing arm bushes I thought. Fair enough, booked the car in at A&T Automotive in Woking to have them done.

And yes, that's exactly what it was. So all done and at a fair price as well.

They did the MOT at the same time and the car passed with flying colours apart from one advisory.....a CV joint boot.

Well, damn. It's not that long ago that I replaced the control arms at the front and had to take the steering knuckle off to do that. I didn't notice any issues with the CV joint boots at that point, and knowing what a pig of a job it was to do it, I really don't want to do it again.

So I might just try replacing the boot with one of the split types and see how it goes.

That said, seeing as everything was apart fairly recently, it might be easier to take it apart again....

Oh well, its only an advisory, so at least I don't have to do it until the weather gets better.

[volvov70jap]

Hi, out of interest how much did you pay to get the rear trailing arm bushes replaced? Mines started squeaking so will look to get a quote soon and want to make sure its reasonable. Thanks

[al dm]

Originally Posted by volvov70jap

Hi, out of interest how much did you pay to get the rear trailing arm bushes replaced? Mines started squeaking so will look to get a quote soon and want to make sure its reasonable. Thanks

It was £225 for labour and £132 for parts. Plus VAT.

So I think that worked out to £75 an hour for the labour.

Parts are Volvo genuine. If I bought them online, they would be about £70 each anyway.

I could have done the job myself, but I would have had to buy the special tool to press the new ones in, and it would probably have taken me all day to do, with a lot of swearing involved.

:-) And the squeaking has stopped!

[volvov70jap]

Thanks thats helpful. A local Volvo specialist quoted 2 hours labour each side at £80 an hour plus £60 a side in parts plus VAT. So a total of £440 plus VAT which is quite a bit more than your experience.

Given the squeaking comes and goes (it can be weeks without hearing anything) Ill put it off a bit longer and see if I can find a better price elsewhere

[al dm]

Originally Posted by volvov70jap

Thanks thats helpful. A local Volvo specialist quoted 2 hours labour each side at £80 an hour plus £60 a side in parts plus VAT. So a total of £440 plus VAT which is quite a bit more than your experience.

Given the squeaking comes and goes (it can be weeks without hearing anything) Ill put it off a bit longer and see if I can find a better price elsewhere

My squeaking came and went as well, then started being more frequent and would be louder them more people were in the car - and the colder the weather was.....

The car drove absolutely fine and I couldn't feel any difference. But as it needed an MOT anyway I just went ahead and got it done, thinking that it could cause an MOT failure. It probably would have just been an advisory though.

[Kev0607]

Don't forget, you need an alignment after the rear trailing arm bushes are replaced...

If you haven't had one done, get it done before tyre wear kicks in.

[al dm]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Don't forget, you need an alignment after the rear trailing arm bushes are replaced...

If you haven't had one done, get it done before tyre wear kicks in.

Thanks for that. I did the front control arms last year as well, and it should get aligned after that as well. I'll get it done sometime soon.

The tyres are all good-ish, but I am waiting for the worst two to wear a little more so I can replace them with a new set.

[simboc2004]

I did the bushes myself a couple of years ago. Not too bad a job once you get the first one done... :-) What I did was buy the tool, then sell it on again after the job was done - that recouped most of the cost. The latest tool (look for Ford S max/Galaxy, not just Volvo) costs not much over £100 and does the job well.

I had a full Hunter Alignment done afterwards and the rears were perfect as I had installed them.

[al dm]

Originally Posted by simboc2004

I did the bushes myself a couple of years ago. Not too bad a job once you get the first one done... :-) What I did was buy the tool, then sell it on again after the job was done - that recouped most of the cost. The latest tool (look for Ford S max/Galaxy, not just Volvo) costs not much over £100 and does the job well.

I had a full Hunter Alignment done afterwards and the rears were perfect as I had installed them.

That was my original plan, as I quite like working on cars and bikes. But....the weather was lousy at the time and I really didn't fancy lying on my back on a wet driveway in February. And the MOT was due, so I didn't have time for the car to be off the road for a few days

Had it been summer, I would have done the same as you.