:banana: Hi, this is my first post. My name is Gleb, I'm 22, I'm from San Diego, and just got a 2002 Volvo S60 T5 with 98k miles on it. I'm a smart kid, and an engineer, but am limited in my car expertice, especially volvo's.
Anyways, I have a couple concerns that I haven't been able to resolve yet, and don't want to take it for a diagnostic inspection until I need to because that costs 107 bucks. I'll present a few concerns I have, and any help or suggestions regarding either would be appreciated:

When I drive between 45-75 mph, it seems like the pedal is vibrating with the car. I'm used to driving a manual transmission, and there is not such feeling through the gas pedal. I was thinking possibly the torque converter or the throttle module or something is causing a hesitation in the trasmission, so the transmission doesn't know whether to engage or downshift. This is obviously more pronounced on rougher roads, but does not fully go away on smooth roads. The problem was a lot worse, but then I found out my front wheels weren't balance correctly. The vibration feels like the wheels are not balanced, but I feel it slightly eventhough now I know the wheels are fine. I don't know if that's normal, or if there's something wrong. I also was thinking possibly a transmission software upgrade would possibly alleviate the problem. Also, when I'm doing 90 something on the highway, it seems to be smoother. However, using tiptronic to lock into a gear does not take away the vibration feeling. Also, i was thinking it could be the transmission software upgrade, because it's forcing the engine to detonate due to excessive torque at low rpm. I heard one guy say it could be the steering bushings? Or maybe it's just that my shocks are old, and a little shaking is normal?? To what extent do other S60 owners feel vibration/pulsating in the gas pedal?

Another problem has been occuring when the car is cold. I'll start the car, and take off slowly, and then soon after, I hear a scratching sound, like some gears rubbed. It's relatively subtle and very brief. It doesn't really happen when the car is warmed up, and it does't happen in higher gears. It usually happens like once when first taking off. I thought it was the gears griding in the transmission, but it doesn't happen when the shift occurs, sometimes before or sometimes after, depending on how long you accelerate in first gear. I was thinking possibly the u-joint? or the cv-joints? could be worn out? Or is it something with the transmission, maybe the sound is caused by cold transmission fluid, since it doesn't occur when warmed up? AWD does not change anything either. And only very recently, I've started hearing another crunching noise when I brake. Is my frame talking to me, or the sway bars, or the struts/bushings/bearings? I don't know what to think. I'll take it in soon, but any help would be appreciated.

I can only address your second question because that sound is exactly what happened to my volvo also.

I'm not sure, is yours a manual? Mine is. Its a 2.4L S60 5 speed and every time I would drive (only in cold weather, or when the engine was cold) I would hear a noise shifting from first to second, and second to third but not in the higher gears.

I took it to the dealer, and after spending a day on it, they found that it was the stabalizer bar which is attached to a pully-like device which is also attached to the engine.

In other words, this bar is indirectly attached to the engine. So, when the engine is vibrating at its most (first and second gears, and when cold), it moves that bar and thats what made MY noise.

They tightened it, and it never made the noise again. Hope this helps.

Thank you, I'll try that

The shaking could also be down to a CV joint, I had another vehicle that this was the case with. it felt like the wheels needed balancing and was worst around 50mph.