Lamar I guess my last question, is there anything else I should be proactive on with this car ? I have Vida ( owned a couple S60 T5 in the past ) so I don't mind properly getting this car back to stage 0 as best as possible . I am feeling a bump in the steering , and am unsure if it's coming from the rack or something like the sway bar or links are bad.

It's worth checking over the engine and subframe mounts, squishy or cracked mounts can introduce all sorts of vibrations and steering vagueness.

Tie rods/rod ends and the rack are worth checking not least because by the time you're under there looking at engine and subframe, it'll take no time at all to wiggle everything around.

If the source of a leak is uncertain best thing to do is hit everything with parts cleaner or degreaser, get it all spotless, then drive around until the leak shows again, if still not obvious usually you can differentiate atf from engine oil by it's feel on your fingertips, the smell, or dab it onto a tissue and check if it's red.

    6 days later

    nh2868 You're absolutely brilliant! I've gone ahead and ordered everything from FCP, so now I'm just waiting on delivery.

    I managed to check the steering rack and all suspension parts, I'm about 90 positive the nut above the strut mount ( that you can see inside the engine bay) is waaay too loose!! So once again you're spot on , it's starting to freak me out . The right side strut and shock were replaced last year just before I bought the vehicle, so I'm thinking maybe they didn't torque it down to spec.

    I managed to get under and take off the exhaust bolts and have a look at the prop shaft, it's absolutely toast … unfortunately for whatever reason I didn't have the right size Allen key so I went and got it today.

    Also , is it normal for these V8's to run so hot ? I noticed the mechanic used a 40 weight oil and I'm wondering if that's causing a heat issue?

      Volvo recommend 5W30 with 15000km service intervals. With 200km on it, we run W40 oil as well. Mine has 450,000km so I'm buying 5W40 or 5W50 in mine, (Penrite HPR5 or HPR10, whatever is on special) but always 10,000 intervals. The 5W30 special spec oil is an attempt to meet the ULEV pollution goals, I'm more interested in long life. Absolutely no difference in fuel consumption. Always use 98 fuel though.They seem to run "hot" under bonnet, just slightly under half on the gauge. I've towed an S40 up from Wollongong in 45 degrees with 5 people and A/C on full…never got hot. Only seen one get warm when the fan wasn't plugged in properly. Relax, and trust the product.

      5 days later

      Awesome thanks, I managed to get the prop shaft off fairly easy. Upon removing the bearings flew out the top and there was alot of broke debry in the lubricant.

      Now onto another issue, since removing this. When I get up to around 15 kmh a loud consistent rotating scraping sound/ metal clanging is audible. This is so loud to the point I don't want to drive the car too long. I've checked everything to do with exhaust bolts ect and they're all tight as tight can be. Have you ever run into this issue ?

      Is the crossmember still installed for the centre bearing ? It supports the thin heat shields and they will bang around without the centre bearing support installed. Is the output from the angle gear still OK ? Sometimes the output shaft will destroy the output bearing and the shaft rattles around without the prop shaft there to contain it. Lastly, without the resistance provided by the prop shaft perhaps the stripped splines on the angle gear collar are still making contact occasionally. Mine made a clicking noise for 10,000km or so after they stripped last time.

      Lamar,

      I'll be driving through Brisbane in just over a week. Can I drop the transmission valve body to your place on the way through ?

      If I ever get around to repairing my angle drive, I think I'll weld the coupler sleeve to the angle drive. You need to make up a locating plug to make sure it's centred, but apart from a new angle drive I think it's probably the best option.

        nh2868 Hi I'm so sorry for the late reply . I received no notifications that you responded and I guess that's my fault for relying on email notification. Yes 100% happy to do that 🙂

          nh2868 I'm honestly seriously thinking about getting it welded as you have shown. Luckily I've got a mate that's a top notch welder and he's always keen to help. I've also decided to go ahead and buy a proper engine crane and pull the engine out, I'm going to sort this engine out properly and give it the TLC it needs.

          While I have it out I'm going to address any and every problem area and bring it back to stage zero as much as possible. The timing chain cover leak needs to be addressed sooner than later.

          Random question, I have a badge in the back of my XC90 that says "Pole star" I think… any idea why this would be put on the car ? I thought only the electric Volvo's are pole star , excuse me for my ignorance.

            Polestar were the in-house tuning company for Volvo at the time. Our C30 manual has the polestar tune, which raises power of the 2.5 from 230hp to 250 hp. On the S40/C30 cars it's just a software flash - I'm pretty sure it just raises the turbo boost and remaps the accelerator pedal. Polestar tunes were (are still) available for most of the Volvo models. I don't know what the tune would do for the V8, but the torque output already stresses the rest of the driveline. I wouldn't want any more power.

            Polestar did the engine modifications to the V8 to run in the Australian Supercars.

            Polestar are still linked to Volvo technically - the Polestar 2 shares the platform with the XC40 I believe (which is why it still has a transmission tunnel in the cabin…)

              a month later

              nh2868 I can't thank you enough for dropping that valve body to me , I owe you a ton and you're a good man for that.

              I've had about a month of due to a leg injury and have finally managed to get the engine lifted out and have pulled the transfer case off.

              I think I've identified the rattling noise and it's the collar that connects the transmission to the transfer case. The splines that connect into the transmission are perfect but the angle gear side is completely toast.

              I guess I'm curious what you think are the best steps here ? Should I rebuild it or just by an entire new one. I have attached some photos, let me know what you think.

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                Hi Lamar,

                That looks pretty typical. If you bought a new angle gear collar, you'd find that it's quite a sloppy fit on the angle gear splines. Hardly any interlocking means the new sleeve will strip out "prematurely" - within 10m when I did mine last time. I had an angle collar with perfect splines, but the gear had several missing teeth and it made a hell of a clicking driving along.

                I've bought 2 replacement angle gears now, from reputable wreckers and "low mileage" cars…all the same junk.

                I think you've got only 2 choices.

                Spend a fortune and a lot of machine time, and weld the collar to the angle drive permanently. Means the angle gear can't easily be rebuilt again, but I figure it's basically junk now anyway. Then you've got to overhaul your prop shaft as well, which isn't technically rebuildable but can be…but expensive as well

                Or, just leave the prop shaft out, put it together again as it was (grind out the angle gear stripped splines if you want to have no clicking or rattle in the future) and just use it as FWD.

                I've tried the expensive way, but couldn't find a good enough angle gear. My sister's and my friend's V8s have functional AWD (and it works great when it works) but theirs have way less kms. Mine just isn't worth throwing that kind of money at, unless I can find a salvage wrecked XC90 with no kms for cheap. I looked into whether the diesel angle gear may have had a gentler life (because I understand the D5 only kicks in the AWD when it slips, the V8 has 80kW going to the rear every standing start…but I could be wrong there)

                  I've had an angle gear strip a tooth, but have usually only come across stripped splines in the angle gear side of the coupling sleeve. I think a coupling made of swiss cheese together with excessive clearance on the angle drive splines leaves very little bearing surface under load. The other 2 x V8s I play with have noticeable wear on their splines as well, but don't chew out the new sleeves I've installed like mine does. I had thought that the pressure sensor in my Haldex could be providing too much grip on take-off but I've changed the pressure sensor and serviced the Haldex again. The pressure sensor was uprated from 4 something or others to 8 (all you can buy now).

                  If you partially lock up the Haldex (ie "Instant Traction") and take off on full lock often in the city then I think the torque applied to a weakened /worn / sloppy spline is what kills them. The transmission splines are a much closer fit and never seem to wear at all.

                  If I have the angle drive out at some time I'll look at welding it as an experiment (since I have a good Haldex and prop shaft at quite some expense) but I clocked over 456789km last week and I'm not pulling it apart just for the fun of it.

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