Hi

My XC90 has suffered with a intermittent knocking problem from new, the sound coming from under the car, but from a variety of different places. The vehicle is now nearing the end of its warranty. The dealership has been unable to fix the problem, despite repeated attempts. Most recently when they had the car back in, it came back worse than it started, this time with the noise coming distinclty from the offside rear underside of the car when going over bumps or through holes in the road.

Research on various forums has come up with a few possible causes: right rear shock, rear spring seat insulators, and 'sway bars'. I have quoted these possibilities to the dealer, who hasn't even heard of 'sway bars', though this has been mentioned a couple of times on one forum. I wonder if it is a piece of US terminology? Can anybody enlighten me?

Has anyone else had these problems? Has anyone else managed to get them fixed?

My dealer informs me that once outside warranty, fixing this problem will be at my cost. Can this be right? Is there no guarantee on work done within warranty? Surely, this would mean that a dealer could make any claim about work they have done within warranty, with no come back on the quality of the work once the vehicle is outside warranty. The dealer says there's no warranty on work I 'haven't paid for'. I certainly feel that I have paid for it in the purchase price of the car, but there doesn't seem to be much point in arguing this one without any back up.


Thanks to anyone who can help

Marie

I have a similar knocking noise problem coming from the front left side of my car. Almost every time when the car coming to a stop or going down hill. I have taken my car to the dealer 6 times but they haven't been able to fix the problem. I had the sway bar taken off but it did not solved the problem. Your dealer must be retarded for not knowing about the sway bar!!!

I have the knocking sound coming from the same place as well. I have not yet addressed it w/ the dealer. I was thinking spare tire movement possibly, but have not yet checked into it...I have only had the car for a few months - the sound has been notable for the last couple of months.

It is actually an anti sway bar. It could also be an exhaust hanger problem. I know that was a problem with some other Volvo's. Part of the exhaust was rattling against the vehicle. It's worth a look.

I have a 2003 XC90 T6AWD. I have had a number of problems with knocking sounds, mainly when braking and turning.

Over the past 2 years, I had the lower control arms, ball joints, steering rack, rotors, prop shaft and the rear right shock absorber.

The noise would go away and come back shortly thereafter.

One explanation I was given was that, when the rotor develops a lip, the brake pads 'mount' on that lip and fall back in place, to then mount again, etc. This would produce a series of 'clunks' when braking and turning, mainly at low speeds.

Regarding the answer you got from the dealer, I would simply tell them to do one of two things:

1- fix the problem
2- get Volvo to cover for their inability to do so.

In either case, it is not your fault and you should not pay for repairing that has failed while the vehicle was under warranty.

Hope this helps.

Diego

Ask the dealer to check the motor mount. Mine made knocking sounds during acceleration and it cost around $180 to get it replaced by a non-volvo mechanic.