General: Dealers!

[Monkey Boy]

Our 2005 XC90 started to make a clunking sound on full lock when turning left. We asked an Indy to check it out and they said it was the steering rack. My wife, not happy with this, brought it to another Indy and they said it was the suspension! I took charge and left it to Volvo who charge £65 to diagnose the fault BUT when I called to see what the problem was they said they would need to charge me 4 hours labour (£500) to investigate further but "think" it's the brake calliper. I understand having to pay, BUT £500 just for looking is taking the p*ss a little bit don't you think? She has recently had new disc's and pads, Link arms and wishbones fitted so I'm at a loss to what it is!

We have dropped her to an Indy where she will remain until fixed and he is diagnosing for free.

[bertuk]

typical of most volvo dealers everythings about money with them, they dont like giving advice etc, but they will bend over backwards if your looking to buy one of their motors,i spoke to a volvo service technician about the idler pully on my tdi all i wanted to know was does the idler sit true or is it offset ? easy question if your working for them, the answer was im not sure, bring it in and pay use ££££s and we will tell you had similar problems over the last few weeks with a few volvo dealers and everything was we dont have a clue, bring it in and pay us the rip off labour fee ,dont get me wrong there are dealers who will try and help but theres alot that wont so in the end i found a good volvo brain in preston that answered my question and helped me out with a few other problems

[Chinese taxi]

My xc70 started with an (expensive sounding) groan when on near full lock and moving round tight corners (say 15+ mph).
Several mechanics later and much head scratching, I did a fluid level check ready for cold spell last Dec and topped up the steerign fluid.

Quiet as a mouse since. Unbelievable.

Worth a quick check. The level was only just on bottom line in resevoir.

Previous vehicles with similar symptoms always had their front CV joins wearing out or drying up with split boots around the drive. A lot more expensive.

[jayne5807]

Hi,
had same fault on xc70, volvo, came up with several answers, then wanted car all day to strip it down, to diagnose further, at £80 an hour, no chance, took it to a little garage near me that is volvo specialist, it was the CV joint behind the wheel, volvo only sell this in two parts, very expensive, my little man had it reconditioned and so as good as new for £140,
He only charges £10 an hour servicing costs, full service this time was around ton mark, over three times less than volvo for same work,

Anyway common fault which is very easy to sort, can be reconditioned, doesnt have to cost an arm, and a leg

Hope this helps

[Monkey Boy]

UPDATE
We had the steering rack replaced at an Indy as he said this was the cause of the clunking!. The rack was refurbished instead of a brand new one. When we picked up the car the 'anti-skid' warning light was on and the indy could not reset it and he also told us the clunking was still there and he could not find the cause so did not charge us for the rack.

Took the car to Volvo about the clunk and got a call an hour later asking about where we had the steering rack done. On telling him he said that the rack was not installed properly and whoever put it in broke the clock spring and another part!

The dealer called the Indy who agreed, after some persuasion, to foot the £641 bill!

Three weeks at the Indy did not solve the issue, 1 Day at Volvo resolved it!!

Methinks it's main stealer from now on based on the above regardless of expense!

[grass hopper]

Originally Posted by Monkey Boy

UPDATE
We had the steering rack replaced at an Indy as he said this was the cause of the clunking!. The rack was refurbished instead of a brand new one. When we picked up the car the 'anti-skid' warning light was on and the indy could not reset it and he also told us the clunking was still there and he could not find the cause so did not charge us for the rack.

Took the car to Volvo about the clunk and got a call an hour later asking about where we had the steering rack done. On telling him he said that the rack was not installed properly and whoever put it in broke the clock spring and another part!

The dealer called the Indy who agreed, after some persuasion, to foot the £641 bill!

Three weeks at the Indy did not solve the issue, 1 Day at Volvo resolved it!!

Methinks it's main stealer from now on based on the above regardless of expense!

there are 2 types of rack,speed sensitive or standard,never heard of a clock spring on a rack,there was problems with clunks on the racks at low speeds,there was free play in the racks o/s,this could be adjusted by resetting the pre load on the rack.

amazed that a main dealer will start to contact another garage that has carried out repairs,and argue the case for you,usually the dealer will advise you,but diagnose repairs as they feel fit.

[bobdabuilda]

Originally Posted by grass hopper

there are 2 types of rack,speed sensitive or standard,never heard of a clock spring on a rack,there was problems with clunks on the racks at low speeds,there was free play in the racks o/s,this could be adjusted by resetting the pre load on the rack.

amazed that a main dealer will start to contact another garage that has carried out repairs,and argue the case for you,usually the dealer will advise you,but diagnose repairs as they feel fit.

grass hopper do you know how big a job it is to adjust the preload on the rack? My car has been doing this and the service manager at the dealers says that they can't find anything wrong to cause the clunk- but then he always says that even when there is.....

[Teejay1]

Originally Posted by Monkey Boy

UPDATE
We had the steering rack replaced at an Indy as he said this was the cause of the clunking!. The rack was refurbished instead of a brand new one. When we picked up the car the 'anti-skid' warning light was on and the indy could not reset it and he also told us the clunking was still there and he could not find the cause so did not charge us for the rack.

Took the car to Volvo about the clunk and got a call an hour later asking about where we had the steering rack done. On telling him he said that the rack was not installed properly and whoever put it in broke the clock spring and another part!

The dealer called the Indy who agreed, after some persuasion, to foot the £641 bill!

Three weeks at the Indy did not solve the issue, 1 Day at Volvo resolved it!!

Methinks it's main stealer from now on based on the above regardless of expense!

Please let us all know who is this fabled dealer??

[grass hopper]

Originally Posted by bobdabuilda

grass hopper do you know how big a job it is to adjust the preload on the rack? My car has been doing this and the service manager at the dealers says that they can't find anything wrong to cause the clunk- but then he always says that even when there is.....

its easy to test,grab hold of the o/s track rod close to the boot and pull up and down hard,you will feel play and hear it,if you rock the steering side to side there can be a clunk.

it takes about 2 hours to do though as the rack requires partially removing

i guess the dealers checked the obvious like drop links,strut top mounts etc.

[Monkey Boy]

Originally Posted by Teejay1

Please let us all know who is this fabled dealer??

North City Volvo, Chigwell, Essex. Gary the Service Manager was the man in my corner.